Are you leaving a positive restaurant Brand upon your customers?

It's an important question and one that you as an entrepreneur should not take lightly.

And I'm not just refering to your markee, or the design of your logo, or even the theme/style of your restaurant.

No, brand goes far deeper than that today. In part, perhaps because we've forgotten to slow down and manage the small things. Everyone is on a tear to the next big problem. Hurry, hurry, hurry. But that's not the mindset you need to get trapped into and it's not the mindset that you should impart to your staff.

When people hurry, short cuts get taken and quite often something gets missed. I'm not saying that we shouldn't find ways to make ourselves leaner or find ways to effectively reduce costs. What I'm saying is that you need to be sure that you aren't going to do something that is going to hurt your brand in the mind of your customer.

It's important to recognize that from the moment your customer arrives at your restaurant that what they see, hear, feel, not just eat, is impacting them in regard to your brand. Here are a few questions to consider in areas we sometimes lose sight of or take shortcuts on.

Is there trash or unsightly dead plants in your parking area? Or is it clean and spuced up?

When they walk in the door are they greeted immediately or do they have to wait?

Do your servers have a pleasant demeaner and greet each customer with a smile and do their best to be a servant?

Is there dust on your lighting and on your picture frames? Or food particles smashed in the corner baseboard?

How's your bathroom look? How's it smell? If a customer had to set at a table an look at your bathroom walls and floor would it sour their meal?

What do the customers see your staff doing? How do your staff interact with each other?

Do your staff take pride in your establishment?

All this is branding/marketing and it's an impression that can make or break your restaurant.

You want your customer to have an experience that makes him or her feel confident and comfortable within your walls. And you want them to tell other people how great their meal was at your restaurant. They will, trust me.

Talk about these things with your staff. Impress upon them the importance of brand and how each customer is an opportunity to carry that brand beyond your doors into the world that can reap further rewards for them.

We are more connected today then ever and brand can spread like wildfire beyond your doors. Make sure it's the kind of fire you want to spread.

Harold for
SellMoreMeals.com