Cart
You own a restaurant. Step one. Step two is most likely getting customers. It is a fine line between being customer focused and being restaurant focused.
It serves you well to make the customer’s first visit spectacular. A flawless first course keeps the customer intrigued. Early positive impressions make them wonder what else could delight their palate, but there is more to the art of encouraging decadence.
If you are looking to get your customers to spend more money, it takes an environment that is just right. Having everything set may make the average customer order another bottle of wine or let their inhibitions down. From the right song to the right descriptions, making a client feel important is not unlike the art of seduction.
Here are tactics honed by menu engineers and consultants (and even color experts) to help you optimize the revenue out of your customers.
1. Keep the dollar signs for your income statements
Flickr Image, Sarah Corriher, https://flic.kr/p/8VmWE1
Turns out that there is a big difference between $10.99 and 10.99. 10.99 has a less aggressive stance. In the customer’s perspective, it feels less like money. It’s just dinner. Whether you are a high-end restaurant or not, the dropping of the subtle currency marker can make your establishment look fancier.
The Cornell University School of Hotel Administration has researched this point and found that no dollar signs meant that customers spent more on average. The conclusion? No dollar signs for your customer means more dollar signs for you in the long run.
2. Get psychological with your pricing
Flickr Image, cara fealy choate, https://flic.kr/p/pTEY3
To further add to the point of numbers that matter, we all know that people are more likely to shell out when an item ends in .99 (or 0.95) rather than a big 0. Even though the majority of people round up in their heads, they are still much more likely to spend on an item that is one penny less.
Those copper coins can make a big difference, as outlined by William Poundstone in the book Priceless. According to Poundstone, ending your menu items with a 9 can increase sales by a whopping 24%. Maybe we should start coining the expression a penny spent is a nickel earned.
3. Know the words that sell
Flickr Image, Greek Twitters, https://flic.kr/p/5YJs3b
What’s trendy today can be retro tomorrow. Even though your parents have not moved beyond the word “groovy” there are people that are dedicated to the art of customer lingo.
Take Bob Goldin, executive vice president with the market research firm Technomic, who analyzes the words that matter. “Free from” and “healthy” are big ones, but you might want to get on the “gluten free” bandwagon (especially for foods that have been gluten free all along).
There are no federal definitions for buzzwords like “artisan” “sustainable” or “local,” according to Arthur Whitmore, health communications specialist for the Food and Drug Administration. That means they can be easily added to your restaurant menu descriptions, encouraging the gourmet-inclined to try your restaurant.
Buzzwords mean that you will be higher on Twitter feeds, Google searches and in your customer’s preferences.
4. Highlight what you think is your selling feature
Flickr Image, USA Army Africa, https://flic.kr/p/7jH6Yp
Much like trying to impress your first date with all of your good qualities, you want your menu to be dazzling on the first read. The items that you highlight will be sold more easily. This may mean you put an item that you would like to sell in a separate box, or change the font to make it bold.
Some restaurants like to create separate sections for vegetarian or healthy living items. A small survey conducted by the Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C. noted that chains that offered “low calorie” items rose in revenue by 5.5% in a 5 year period. Use the lingo and the highlighter and it appears that you are golden.
5. Choose for the customer
Flickr Image, Amber DeGrace, https://flic.kr/p/ciVALU
According to American psychologist Barry Schwartz, author of The Paradox of Choice – Why More Is Less, having more choices on the menu does not benefit the psychological health of Americans. Make it easier for them; limit their choices.
A study by Bournemouth University found that the optimal number of menu items is 7 to 10 items in fine dining establishments (and even less for the lower end food choices). So, having a novel for a menu may seem like you are giving the customer what he or she wants, but in fact you are just adding to their stress.
6. Get creative with your colors
Flickr Image, jean-louis Zimmermann, https://flic.kr/p/9iSeBh
Not only is there price psychology, but also color psychology. Kenneth Fehrman wrote a book on it: Color: The Secret Influence. It turns out orange is a color that increases appetite.
Color and feng shui expert Dana Claudat also gives squash-colored yellow the go-ahead. Claudet says that these colors offer “a stronger sense of physical attachment to live and promote more cheerful overall responses to a space.”
As well, greens and browns are optimal restaurant colors, as they encourage people to relax and enjoy themselves. Warm earth tones set the tone in higher end establishments or can make lower budget restaurants look classier.
Just stay away from the reds, unless you are the Golden Arches.
7. Don’t always keep it in English
Flickr Image by Didriks, https://flic.kr/p/ahpwTn
Having the food appear on the menu in its original language by using an ethnic or geographic marker will make the food appear worldly and exotic. Oxford Experimental Psychologist Charles Spence found that this tweak helped people to see the food as more authentic.
See for yourself:
tomato and mozzarella salad or Caprese?
They’re both the same thing, but one sounds like something that could easily be made at home, while the other sounds like a dish that requires an Italian cooking course.
8. Have your customer experience the food before they even taste it
Flickr Image, Dave Worley, https://flic.kr/p/662Len
Evocative language doesn’t just belong in 50 Shades of Grey. Find a true voice to describe your dishes. If writing isn’t your forte, hire a writer. The best menu descriptions can induce salivation, making the customer think with their palate rather than their wallet.
Cornell University found that restaurant items that were described beautifully were also ordered more regularly. Reel people into the experience by being as descriptive as possible. The Inn At Little Washington restaurant has on its menu “Carpaccio of Marinated Matsutake Mushrooms Accented With Local Asian Pears.” Even the addition of the word “accented” can make all the difference in the world. If only all of business were that easy to tweak.
9. Set the mood with the right tunes
Flickr Image, Emi Yanez, https://flic.kr/p/mqKJa
The choice of music not only makes your workday go by faster, but it also can affect how long your customers spend in your restaurant. A study done by Clare Caldwell at the University of Strathclyde in Scotland found that slower tempo sounds encouraged people to stay longer at restaurants. Customers will also under-estimate the time they spend in the restaurant and spend more time if they are listening to relaxing music.
Leave those techno beats in the kitchen. If you must have something higher tempo, think about building a playlist with songs with food references. That’s Amore by Dean Martin comes to mind.
10. Incorporate technology into the experience
Flickr Image, brownpau, https://flic.kr/p/dMF6zH
Admit it: you are probably reading this on a Smartphone, tablet or laptop. Even your grandmother has a Facebook account. We can no longer deny it: we live in a hyperconnected world. Even so, customers are seeking more platforms for their wired lives.
Wireless payment and iPad menus are a big draw for some people, as the National Restaurant Association predicted a surge of interest in these areas. People also tend to like restaurants with fast response times for reservation, including text messaging. It turns out being a slave to your phone is great for business.
11. Don’t neglect the importance of smell
Flickr Image, Ian Sane, https://flic.kr/p/dK4wdW
Chances are that there will be a lot of scents mingling in the air when your customers walk into the door. You would assume that people would be drawn to the obvious ones: onions simmering in butter, the smell of freshly baked bread or a pie steaming hot from the oven.
Interestingly, the scent that made people eat more in restaurants was not even food related. A small study done by Gueguen and Petr found that (of all things) the scent of lavender led to a 20% increase in spending at restaurants. Perhaps the soporific effect helps people to let their guard down. Time to invest in a diffuser (at the very least, in the bathrooms!).
12. Two portion sizes are better than one
Flickr Image, Vladislav Bezrukov, https://flic.kr/p/6aUpeA
Offering two sizes, a smaller and a larger portion size, will convince many restaurant patrons that they are getting a good deal, because, hey, it’s cheaper. This is known as bracketing. This under-utilized technique may get more people ordering an appetizer, a side dish, or something to take home.
People love the illusion of saving, and it costs you less money in raw materials to make the smaller portion. Everyone wins.
Conclusion
People go to restaurants for many reasons, one of which is to celebrate (even if they are celebrating just getting through another workday). By making your customers as relaxed and as happy as possible, you will be doing more (and better) business.
Celebration all around. Is it time to break out the champagne yet.