Day 144 – The Puzzle – Day One Of Wing Fest

Day 1 of Wing Fest, and the show’s BEST MARKETING, has to be Double Dubs.  They are SHOW stoppers every year, but this if the first year I’ve seen the school bus.  In episode 710 of my podcast, Restaurant Marketing Secrets, I spoke about Grassroots Marketing. 

WELL, this is Grassroots Marketing on top of Grassroots Marketing.  They could have shown up, had their booth, and then went back home and told the world about their success at the National Buffalo Wing Festival.  But no, they showed up and SHOWED OUT! 

The bus blew me away, but then you go into the venue, and they’ve got a fantastic display of the crazy chicken below out in front of their booth to stop traffic.  

My friends, you can go all out and then go DOUBLE DUBS all out. 

Stay tuned for a few blog posts and podcasts this week on Wing Fest.  

Day 143 – The Puzzle –

We are going to create an industry first.  

The first-ever “Restaurant Customer Management Software.”

In the business-to-business world, we have what’s known as a “CRM.”  

CRM = Customer Relationship Manager

Hubspot and Sales Force are the big boys.  We use Hubspot for our company.  EVERY customer we work with, or every restaurant lead that we have goes into Hubspot.  Then, our teams use that to manage the relationships, and our sales and marketing programs also run off that.  We build marketing funnels inside of our CRM so that we can take customers on different journeys based on where they are in our lifecycle. 

But in the restaurant business, CRMs don’t exist.  Everything is a one-off solution.  Restaurants commonly have customers in many different software and programs going down different paths simultaneously.  Email software they use for their customer marketing, a text program for one-off promos, a loyalty program for their best customers, and review programs for relationship management are the common ones.  

With DRYVER I aim to change that.  When we acquired Repeat Returns, we knew this opportunity existed, but we didn’t realize how badly it was needed. Just this week, we discovered that one of our restaurant clients with MANY locations only has a fraction of their customer data landing in DRYVER.  You see their POS integration and program inside of what was Repeat Returns was built 100% for loyalty.  So customers may order online or inside the restaurant but not opt for loyalty (which only 15% do) and then become GHOSTS!  

This is BAD!  These are customers who are doing business with this restaurant, and they need to become part of a marketing program. Consumers aren’t stupid. They know when they give their email or phone number to a business that, it will more than likely trigger a marketing message, AND IT SHOULD…EVERY TIME!

But here is where the program lies: this customer, and many others, were only using Repeat Returns for Loyalty, so there really needed to be a natural place for non-loyalty customers to land.  So unless these restaurant owners get a secondary program and add those customers to a mass marketing list, then they will remain ghosts collecting dust on a spreadsheet somewhere.  

Well, I am going to change that!

 My team and I will alter the path of EVERY customer who enters DRYVER, and we’ll create the first restaurant CRM, or as I think it should be called a “Restaurant Customer Management Software.”  And now that I type that, we should go with CRMS, “Customer Relationship Management Software.

In the picture above, you can see what I’m talking about.  Every point in the equation where you gain customer data goes to the same place and a journey starts:

– Online Orders

– Marketing Acquisition

– In-Store Marketing

– Your Restaurants Point Of Sale

– Website Forms

– Emails To The Restaurant

– Catering Inquires

You name it, and they land in the same place.  But they must be greeted correctly.  If they don’t come in for Loyalty, they shouldn’t get a Loyalty email.  As an example, if it’s an online order that DOES NOT opt-in for your restaurant’s loyalty program, then they should get a “welcome email.”  This welcome email is your chance to say thank you and bride them for the next visit.  There are so many opportunities here, and it’s about time we solve it with DRYVER!

Day 142 – The Puzzle – I Figured It Out

I figured it out.  I figured out WHY my blog from August 23rd was relevant to you and your restaurant.  In day 136, CLICK HERE to read, I spoke about the new double drive-thru at Chick-fil-A with a “mobile app order lane only.”  

I was amazed, shocked, and pleased all at the same time.  I wrote that blog on it, and a podcast is coming soon.  But at the time of the 1st blog and when I started the podcast, I wasn’t sure WHY it mattered to you.  

But now I know.  Their ability to have that second drive-thru is the product of a massively strong brand.  A brand that took 50+ years to build.  One that has its customers waiting for what’s next.  The simple fact they can easily pull this off and get me, a person who does not do restaurant apps, to download the app and order twice to take advantage of this shows you the power of their brand.  

I think you should do this too.  This means you can build a brand so strong in your community that you can do things outside of the norm to drive sales.  But I’ll caution you.  To do this, you must be ok with doing stuff for years before the payoff.  You can’t be wholly focused on what the benefit will be this week or even next month.  You have to be prepared to take action for the long term. 

P.S. The book cover above is precisely how you can become a brand like I’m talking about. It would help if you started doing things that are OUTRAGEOUS.

Day 141 – The Puzzle – The National Buffalo Wing Festival & How Events Like This Can Help You Standout

For 10+ years, my bucket list event was attending the National Buffalo Wing Festival in Buffalo, New York.  I had it on my calendar to attend Labor Day of 2020, and the world shut down.  I was freaking bummed!  I thought, of course, the year that I finally decided to go, it was canceled.  

But it was back in 2021, and I decided to reach out to the organizer, Drew Cerza, to see how we could partner up for the event that year.  Drew didn’t reply to my email immediately; he called me INSTANTLY!  From that moment, a friendship was born.  

This year marks my 4th year attending Wing Fest.  America’s Best Restaurants has been the media sponsor since 2021, and this year is my 3rd year judging the wings.  

But today’s blog post isn’t about the National Buffalo Festival; it’s about the GOLD MINE of marketing that can come from your affiliation with events like this.  Today’s blog is about Grassroots and organic marketing at its finest.  In episode 710 of Restaurant Marketing Secrets, I covered Grassroots marketing and what it can do for your restaurant. CLICK HERE to listen after you read this blog 🙂

Let’s start from the beginning.

1st = Your restaurant needs to DRIVE SALES.

2nd = To drive sales, you need more customers.

3rd = To get more customers, you need more attention and occupy their brains more often.

4th = To dominate their attention more often, you need more social content

5th = To not have more of the same ole social media posts, you know, the ones about your FOOD, you need some GREAT content.

6th = Grassroots marketing gives you these moments. Just follow many of the restaurants I talk about in my content.

7th = What’s better than content from Grassroots marketing efforts, double dipping with AUTHORITY marketing! Being at an event, just being there, will give you bragging rights in your community.  Then let’s imagine if you can win awards, like the man pictured above, Andy LiButti of Booty’s Wings, Burgers & Beer.  Andy and his team have won over 20 trophies in the past 15 years of going to Wing Fest.  And he milks that for everything it’s worth through his marketing.  

Attending an event like the National Buffalo Wing Festival and capturing great content there could give you a fantastic marketing campaign you can tap into for years to come. It’s a great way to leverage someone else’s brand and perceived value. Customers will see, “WOW, they won an award at the National Buffalo Wing Festival,” and put you on a pedestal. And if you use that content throughout the year, you can get a lot of mileage.  

FYI, one of my BIG goals is to create and or be involved with a series of events like this, but in EVERY food category that exists.  That way, America’s Best Restaurants can give YOUR restaurant chances every year to be involved in something fun and beneficial.  

Hope to see you at Wing Fest,

MP

Day 140 – The Puzzle – Creating The Ultimate Restaurant Marketing Plan Software

We have a huge task ahead of us. My overarching mission is to build DRYVER into restaurant marketing software that allows restaurant owners to depend on it to help them run their annual marketing plans.  As I started working on a punch list of “What we have to do,” it got me thinking: where are we now with each of these items?  

I’m being 100% transparent with all of you and will build this company right in front of your eyes. The list above is the major features that my marketing firm, RMTW (Restaurant Marketing That Works), and Repeat Returns each brought to the table to create DRYVER.  This is a collaborative effort, and your input and expertise are invaluable. The 20 items listed above are what I deem to be the major points.  Yes, there are another 20 or so items, but these are the ones that we’ll be focusing on together. These are the marketing initiatives that DRIVE SALES!

I created this list and scoresheet with a goal in mind.  I want to give it to some of our customers and my team and get their opinions.  The first two columns represent what we each brought to the table.  The third column is where we are now, in August 2024, with the merger of most of our systems complete.  And the last two are where I want to get over the next 16 months.  

I still need to complete my scoresheet personally. I sent this to my team today and started to gain their feedback, but before I look at any of theirs, I will do mine. I placed a 0 where the feature did not exist prior. For example, Repeat Returns did not have a program for new customer acquisition through social media, and  RMTW did not have point-of-sale integration.    Where there’s a 10, that’s where one of the two was doing this at a VERY HIGH LEVEL!  And where it’s blank is where I think it’s somewhere between 1 to 9.

– New Customer Social Media Acquisition
– Social Media Retargeting
– Website Customer Acquisition (non sales)
– Account Management & Customer Consulting
– Graphic Design
– Retention Campaigns
– Offer Gallery Option – Multiple Offers At Once
– Lost Customer Win Back
– Charity Programs
– Point Of Sale Integration
– Frequent Customer Loyalty
– One-Off Promos That Drive Sales “Smart Offers”
– In-Store Marketing Programs
– Smart Surveys
– Smart Send & Delivery “Top Of The Inbox”
– Short-Term Program Reporting
– Long Term Reporting
– Weekly Program Reports
– Automated Marketing Calendar
– Email Lift Dashboard

That’s all I’ve got today. Stay tuned…

MP

Day 139 – The Puzzle – Having Friends To Bounce Things Off Is Priceless

Friendships are one thing, but business relationships where you can bounce ideas off trusted peers are another.  

From 2008 until 2016, Matt Plapp was on an island.  I didn’t have a “Tribe” around me to talk to.  I was a business loaner.  You know the feeling, I’m sure, grinding all day and staying quiet about your issues all night.  It’s tough and lonely.  But it doesn’t have to be that way.  

In the Fall of 2016, I got lucky. I attended my first business mastermind in San Diego and stumbled into a new group of marketing pros. This group gave me 20-30 solid resources to converse with—people on the same journey as me who I could trust for no-BS advice.  

As I sit here in 2024, I have an even larger tribe, but more importantly, I’ve become a resource for so many of you.  Just today, I got a call from the crazy guy above, Avery Ward, about some EOS questions.  When I hung up the call, I thought how cool it was to have calls like that every week.  I also thought about how important it was for our businesses to have friends we could turn to for advice and motivation.  

It’s too easy to get stuck behind a keyboard in an office and in your kitchen.  You need to learn to get out and build a tribe that reflects your core values and can help you get to the next level.  But also a tribe made up of people you can help as well.   

P.S. In the picture above, Avery talks about how their food trucks’ seatbelts were orange…which is even funnier because today’s podcast was about…BRANDING.  LISTEN HERE!

Day 138 – The Puzzle – Your Restaurants Point Of Sale Is The HEART Of Your Restaurtant

It never ceases to amaze me when I run into restaurant owners stuck in the 1990s.

This weekend, I attended the Performance Food Group show at Belterra Casino, hanging out in the Arrow Point Of Sale booth with co-founder Barry Brownhill.  Over the 5 hours, I heard the same conversation too many times, one that revolved around a Frankenstein system to run the restaurant.  In one instance, a restaurant owner told us he last updated his POS 14 years ago, and that company no longer existed.  Therefore, he used one system for in-store purchases and another for online purchases. On top of that, he had multiple credit card processing agreements, a website company not connected to his online ordering, and nowhere to manage his customer database.  

I almost had a panic attack talking to this customer.   The money he was more than likely losing from issues around this build could have bought a new point of sale for his restaurant every year for the past 14 years.  

Then there’s the marketing side.  He’s got so much leakage it’s not even funny.  The missed opportunities to drive sales through marketing to his customer base would probably have added a few hundred thousand dollars to his checking account over the years.

It’s 2024! It’s time to take your restaurant’s tech stack very seriously. It starts with your point of sale and then goes to your customer management software. If you don’t have these two pieces handled, 2025 and beyond are going to really hurt you. 

Day 137 – The Puzzle – What Are We Doing In Moskow?

Ok, maybe that was a little clickbait, but it had to be done:)

I wanted to talk today about the fantastic work our team at America’s Best Restaurants and the ABR Roadshow are doing.  What this show started in 2018 with me on my cell phone, to our first camera crew in 2021, to what it has become, WOW!

This show was created with one big goal: to create massive attention and excitement for independent restaurants in THEIR communities.  I wanted a show that aired on the restaurant’s Facebook page, allowed them to take that content, and ensured everyone in the community knew about their spot.  

Now, I want you to see how far it’s come. For this blog, I’ve embedded the YouTube version below, but remember, WE ARE NOT A YOUTUBE COMPANY. 99.9% of our show’s views come on the restaurant’s Facebook page because that’s where the attention needs to be.  

Below are my notes about what I saw and what I loved.

1st—The Kitchen segment to start the episode—I LOVE IT! Theo and the owner have great personalities, giving viewers a glimpse into what they can expect when they watch the rest.

2nd—The new show intro is FIRE! I love its 80s feel and the new neon graphics. 

3rd – Theo’s humor when he says, “No, not RUSSIA!”  LOVE IT. That’s one primary reason I’m not a host anymore. I don’t have that talent.

4th – The B-Roll.  That’s the extra footage of the restaurant our videographers film to fill in the gaps and use overtop of what we are talking about.  Michael Taylor, who shot this, did a fantastic job!

5th – The owner’s personality, Dave, crushed it.  The vibe he puts off on camera is why people want to support local restaurants.  He’s likable, has an incredible story, and is passionate about his work.  

6th – The editing!  Adam and Josh from my team did a phenomenal job.  The colors pop, the storytelling matches the footage, and the editing is on point.  

7th – The TNT BLT and how a customer gave him the idea for that sandwich; that’s what local mom-and-pop restaurants are all about.  Those are the stories we hang onto and what make us want to support a guy like Dave. 

8th – Dave brings up his family and his wife’s support.  This is the biggest differentiator for a restaurant like this.  That’s not what a McDonalds can’t bring to the community. 

9th – And last but not least, THE FOOD!  Did you see that, Pita, OH MY GOODNESS!  

When we created the ABR Roadshow, it was to make sure locals knew of the gems in their backyards and to find places that WE, the ABR Team, would want to eat at weekly. Paradise Cafe, my friends, is a place I would LIVE AT!

Oh, and I’ll let the Facebook launch of this episode speak for itself.  CLICK HERE to see what the stats are NOW, but when I typed this blog 12 hours after it debuted, we had 6,100 LOCAL views on their Facebook page (not a useless national cable channel), 60 shares, 25 comments, and 128 likes.  I’m sure within a month, these numbers will multiply. 

Day 136 – The Puzzle – Wow, This Is Crazy. Chick Fil A Needs 2 Different Drive Thrus?

This was eye-opening.  When I pulled up to Chick-fil-A, they had not one but two different drive-thrus. 

One was for regular customers, and the other was for mobile orders only.  

So, while most mom-and-pop restaurants need help finding customers, Chick-fil-A has a full dining room and drive-thru lines for multiple types of customers.  

The second part that got me was that they had a drive-thru where I had to download an app and order my food.  

Now, I’m not a big fan of apps, especially for mom-and-pop restaurants, because they don’t have the brand and demand of a chain. But even for a chain, this is wild.  

So Matt, what’s the point of this blog?  

Honestly, I’ve got nothing for you outside of what’s above.  Let me think on this and get back to you because I’m sure I’ll have more on the topic in the future.  

Day 135 – The Puzzle – I Gave The Same Advice To Restaurants In 2010

December 31st, 2010…Same Exact Message TODAY!

Today, we found this newspaper article from 14 years ago, and I had to share it with you.

WHY? Because it’s essential for you to see that what I’m talking about today is what I was talking about back then. 

Since 2008, I’ve been telling small businesses and a lot of restaurants about the power of social media. What’s even funnier is the number of people I speak with weekly who think this idea of using social media is new.  When, in fact, it’s the same opportunity that’s been around for a LONG TIME!

Yes, in 2010, “likes” and followers carried more weight than they do now, but engagement is still where it is.  

Even though sales messages worked more often back then than now, the most significant value has always been in content to your audience for the EXACT reason they are on the platform. This understanding should empower you to create more engaging content for your audience.

When I saw this article I just had to go look at what we were posting.  I knew what we did back then, but I wasn’t 100% sure.  Well, it turns out that is precisely what I thought: using social media because your customers are on the platform to be SOCIAL!

The counting contest looks familiar!  We do those every month STILL and get massive results.  

Then, there was my all-time favorite client promotion, their winter golf seminars.  At those seminars, we gave so much value and PACKED their stores during snowstorms to talk about golf.  They had record days, weeks, and months during those times.  We also tied in local restaurants and golf courses to leverage their audiences and show them some love.  

So, after 14 years, NOTHING HAS CHANGED!  Use social media to attract attention, build an audience, and then RETAIN them.