Day 20 – The Puzzle

Next week I embark on a unique experience. 

Me and two of my team are hitting the road to tackle two tasks.  First to deliver the new van for America’s Best Restaurants ABR Roadshow to the West Coast.  Second, to talk to 30 or so restaurant owners about what they’re trying to accomplish with their restaurants.  

I feel like I know what most of our clients are aiming for and what they are struggling with, but it never hurts to go directly to the source.  So for three days, we will drive 32 hours from Northern Kentucky to Durango Colorado and then all to Las Vegas.  

As I type this I’m thinking about what I want to ask these owners.  We’re going to incorporate our travels into our new documentary series, The Hereo’s Of Hospitality.  This is a series we created to chronicle the journey of 2024 with my company.  The journey of how we plan to reinvent the restaurant marketing industry.  And this trip will give me a great opportunity to ask what restaurant owners need to help them accomplish their life goals.

So stay tuned, more to come. 

Day 18 – The Puzzle

Who’s your squad?

Who’s your coach?

Who’s in your corner?

Who’s giving you advice?

But more importantly, WHO are you listening too?

In my daily podcast, Restaurant Marketing Secrets Episode 580, I tell a story of a restaurant owner asking for help and taking the advice he was given by 3 other owners with regards to making a Facebook post he’d hope would get some attention and go viral.

This got me thinking about the people and companies restaurant owners surround themselves with, or honestly DON’T!  You see, too many of you are trying to do this alone.  And then when you do reach a boiling point and reach out for your help you don’t stick with it.  You blame ROI and not seeing traction, yet you didn’t take the action and or do it long enough. 

All too often you’re not really looking for the solution you’re looking for an easy route, and that route DON’T EXIST.

Click above and go have a listen.

Day 17 – The Puzzle

You only get one body, take care of it and LISTEN to it!

As you know I do what I can to take care of myself, which is eating much better than most and working out 5-6 times per week.  

I strongly feel that if you’re not taking steps every day to grow your business and your body, then you’re taking days off the life of each.  Growth is the only option and when that comes to you body that is making yourself stronger and harder to kill, EVERY DAY!  

And that includes, LISTENING to it.  Last week ended with 4 solid days of working out for me, honestly, probably a tad too much.  On Monday as I’m in the office playing ping pong and making quick moves to get the ball (we have some solid pongers in our office), I felt a slight sting in my achilles.  

On Tuesday I felt it more and opted to take the day off and be smart in how I moved about that day.  The achilles is nothing to mess with and part of staying in shape and becoming stronger is being ABLE to do the exercises.  I also started icing and heating it that night too.  And then throughout the week I took it easy and didn’t push it.  On Saturday I was due to complete in a small CrossFit competition with some friends and didn’t want to miss it, but I also didn’t want to miss the next 6 months 🙂

So on Saturday I scaled the movements that could have issues and on the 3rd workout which had a lot of moves I should avoid I bowed out and let someone else sub for me.  And on Sunday, the day I do my 4.6 mile hill and stairs run every week I’ll take a week off, the first since August of 2023.  I’m totally bummed about that, but I know it’s the right thing to do to stay healthy.  

My friends, I hope you all choose to live a healthier life than you are now, but I also hope when you’re on that journey you can put you ego to the side and listen to your body.

Day 16 – The Puzzle

Massive Attention & Excitement

That’s what we aim to bring to independent restaurants ALL OF THE US O A!

This same email happens 100+ times per week, Google letting me know ABR is getting the spotlight for a local restaurant we are visiting. Traditional media LOVE what we are doing, because they know where consumers attention is in 2024…THEIR PHONE!

The hard work happening every day inside the 4-walls of these restaurants is insane and NO ONE is telling their stories, except America’s Best Restaurants.

In the past 3 years we’ve visited and filmed at over 1,300 restaurants, 50x what the biggest TV show on old school cable did.  Oh and by the way, our shows get 100X more local views than theirs 🙂

But the ABR Roadshow is just the tip of the iceberg.  IN 2025 we’ll roll out 5 new shows built for bigger platforms that will drive traffic to our online series the ABR Roadshow and then www.americasbestrestaurants.com.  BUT ULTIMATELY that traffic will end up in restaurants dining rooms as we drive massive sales through this media and marketing funnel.  

Y’all are only seeing a piece of what we’re building.  We will supplant the TV and online restaurant brands THAT YOU KNOW, like Yelp & Food Network, within 24 months as the DOMINATE brand for restaurant media and marketing.  

And we will have the Ultimate Restaurant Marketing Platform that drives sales!

Day 15 – The Puzzle

Todays podcast of Restaurant Marketing Secrets, Episode 577, is about the “no & know” funnel.  

In another word a funnel could be called an opportunity.  

An opportunity to DRIVE more customers through the door.

An opportunity to SELL MORE FOOD at your restaurant.

The term FUNNEL is common in the marketing world.  It’s a term we use to explain our plan with each particular opportunity to sell something.  When you get oil at the gas station and they give you that little paper funnel, it’s to help you get the oil into that small oil fill hole more efficiently and with out making a mess. 

In marketing, we aim to do the same.  We aim to gather your customers into a database and take them on a journey.  And that journey for your restaurant should ALWAYS end with them visiting for a meal.

So what are the “opportunities” in the restaurant space?  What funnels MUST exist or COULD exist?

Here are some of my favorites:

– New Customer Acquisition

– Frequent Customer Acquisition

– Lost Customer Acquisition

– Birthdays

– Catering & Business Decision Makers

– Charitable Affiliations

– Sports Teams

– Beer Drinkers

– Wine Drinkers

– Special Events

These are just 10 off the top of my head.

I want you to close your eyes and visual this with me.  Picture these 10 marketing funnels in front of you. Each funnel has new people being added every day.  Sometimes they are added to 4-5 funnels at the same time and working their way through it. Every day while you run the business and sleep these customers are working their way through an email, text, messenger and social media campaign.  They are being exposed to your brand and constantly given an EXCUSE to spend money with you.

AND NOW picture hundreds of customers dropping out of the bottom of those funnels and walking into your restaurant and spend money (Scroll down to see my amazing drawing of this ).  

The issue I see with all restaurants is predictable sales and customer traffic.  And that 100% comes from a marketing plan.  And that plan all comes down to not having these funnels created.

This is why we acquired Repeat Returns, to help restaurants get access to a software that puts people into the funnels they should be in and market to them DAILY with one simple goal, DRIVE SALES!   Stay tuned this year, we aim to create a 1 of a kind restaurant marketing platform that helps owners drive sales on auto pilot with funnels like this.  

Oh and be the way,  I highly recommend you watch our free trainings on funnels in ABR U, CLICK HERE to check those out.

Day 14 – The Puzzle

A recent question I got while speaking to a private group of restaurant owners for Performance Food Group was: “How can I use coupons on the front end of my marketing to attract customers?”

This is a question I love, because it shows me the restaurant owner is looking for solutions to acquire new customers.  But more importantly, they are willing to invest in acquiring new customers.

Unfortunately, too many restaurants think that “word of mouth” will build their business and new people will magically appear every day.  We all wish that were the truth, BUT IT’S NOT!  You must, MUST, have a strategy running every day that is not only gaining the attention of new customers, but also getting them to give you their contact information to add to your restaurants customer database.

So back to the question, how would I suggest they use coupons to attract customers.

Short answer, I wouldn’t.

Coupons SUCK!  They brand your restaurant wrong and send the exact opposite message you want to send, that YOU’RE FOR SALE!  Meaning, you’re willing to pay them to eat at your restaurant one time and if you’ll do it once, you’ll do it many more times.

Offers on the other hand, RULE!  And an OFFER is exactly what you should be using on the front end of your marketing to attract new customers.  

“But Matt, what’s the difference between a coupon and offer?”

A coupon is a discount.

An offer is something for FREE that comes with strings attached, and those strings are for the exchange of said offer for THEIR contact information.  You’re horse trading.  Here’s a free burger, but first what’s your name, email, cell phone number and birthday. 

Now tomorrow we’ll dig into why you shouldn’t send your best customers coupons either.  You should send them REWARDS and incentives…WORDS MATTER MY FRIENDS.


Day 13 – The Puzzle

What makes you and me different when compared to our competitors?

My competition are MASSIVE ventured backed marketing firms and heritage media companies.

Your biggest competitors are the chains with massive budgets.

So what makes us different?  WE DO!  Our difference is US.

Those companies are faceless and their voice is that of advertisements and business catch phrases.  

This is why I feel so strongly about you and I being visible in our marketing.  Blogs, podcasts and social media video are ALL FREE and an amazing way to associate a personality with a business.  

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard from restaurant owners about their comfort in doing business with America’s Best Restaurants and Repeat Returns due to the fac that they know who’s behind it, see me online every day and know I’m a phone call away. 

And that’s on a national level, imagine the power you could have in your backyard…it’s a GOLD MINE and it’s how you build a legendary business. 

Day 12 – The Puzzle

Your BODY is the next piece of the puzzle. 

Mind, Body & Spirit is a saying I live by.  Every day I need to do more to improve my mind, body and spirit.  And if there’s one of those 3 I see WAY TOO many people in the restaurant business neglect, it’s their body.  

I hear the excuses all the time “I’m too busy to workout” or “I’m around food all day, it’s so tough.”

I get it, we’re ALL BUSY and we all have those temptations every day.  And while you may have think you have it worse being around the Mountain Dew gun and fried foods, you’re also around trained chefs that can make PERFECTLY balanced meals for you everyday. 

Your body is what will unlock your ability to run faster and harder than you ever thought you could.  

What got me thinking about this was the transformation I made the past 14 ago was the past 4 days.  On Thursday night I went for a 30 minute walk while in Vegas.  On Friday night I had a tough CrossFit workout that included Ring Muscle-Ups and burpees box jumps.  On Saturday I got up and did some weight lifting with some friends from 7am-8am, did the 8am CrossFit class, did a 10am Kick Boxing class and then walked 1.5 miles with my wife (and this lady walks FAST).  And finally on Sunday I ran my 4.6 mile hill and stairs run I do every week.  

I’ll be honest, on the way down the hill for my 2nd lap I was HURTING!  I was not feeling it, but then I remembered a quote I had heard recently talking about how proud you feel after you accomplish something tough, and I sucked it up and finished the run.

Saturday alone was crazy.  I can tell you that 15 years ago the weights and MAYBE the walk would have happened, but no way CrossFit or the Kick Boxing better yet stacked on top of those items.  

This is why I can fly coast to coast in two days, speak all day at conferences, run my business and still find time for my family.  I’m priortized my body, and I’m begging you to do the same.

It’s not tough and you don’t need anything special.  Go outside and WALK.  Do some squat sits on a chair, do some situps and curl a case of coke. You don’t need a fancy gym or trainer.  You just need to move every day, a little more than the day before.  

If you’re just starting out with this, here’s a VERY easy yet highly effective workout.

1st – EVERY week you’re going to increase this by 1 minute on the walk and 1 rep on the movements

– Walk for 10 minutes

– 10 air or chair squats

– 10 pushups

– 10 lunges

– 10 situps

DO THIS EVERY DAY!  

And like I said, add to it. So in week 2 it’s an 11 minute walk and 11 reps of each.  Within a year you’ll have an hour walk and 60 or so movements to do on each and I can PROMISE YOU this one change will change your life.  

Day 11 – The Puzzle

Now that we have started building your restaurant’s customer database for your best customers, it’s time to talk about the OTHERS!

But first, let’s talk about WHY.

There are 3 ways to grow your sales

1st – Get your best customers (AKA Frequent or Loyal ) to visit more often or spend more when they do visit (like buying an appetizer or dessert)

2nd – To find NEW customers

3rd – To bring back lost customers.

The importance of knowing exactly who your customers are is massively important.  In the blog 2 days ago I talked about creating messaging in your emails that talks to the customers based on WHO they are.

I commonly teach restaurants about not sending the same thing to every customer, they need a unique journey in your marketing.  

Now it’s time to develop a plan for customers who’ve never been to your restaurant, NEW customers and what I like to call the “sometimes” customers, you know the ones you haven’t seen in a while.

This is where an amazing offer comes into play, you have to have a HOOK to get the to raise their hand.

Let me tell you a great story about a recent case study we did with a client.

We have a client who owns a restaurant point of sale company and 4 restaurants.  We ran a customer acquisition campaign for him to showcase what our Acquisition Engine and Retention Rocket programs can do.  These 4 restaurants have been using Repeat Returns for many years and it works great for them.  But like all restaurants, there are LOST customers inside their database.  

At the conclusion of the test he noticed something major.  There are A LOT of customers who were already in his database but had not visited the restaurant, WHO we found through our Facebook Retention Rocket campaigns.  These are social media campaigns designed to get people to comment. Then once they comment we drive them to Facebook Messenger to engage them to gather their information.  He was amazed the number of LOST customers we found through this tactic, and especially the ones that walked into the restaurant within a week.  

Gaining the info from your FREQUENT customers is much easier than others, you get most of that information through your POS or your restaurants online ordering system.  

But new and lost customers aren’t coming going to be found that easily.  

For starters, new customers haven’t been given a good enough reason to raise their hand.   And lost customers, well, ARE LOST!  How awesome is it that Facebook campaign asking locals to tell us who’s going to win the “BIG GAME” that Sunday got customers who’d stopped coming to his restaurant two years ago, to not only comment, but come back for a meal.  

It’s what makes me smile, it’s GOLD!

But here’s another part of the equation.  By getting them to tell you how often the come to your restaurant, or the fact they never have, you now can have a different conversation with each one of those customers. 

New customers need to know your hours, directions and to get indoctrinated to your menu.  Lost customers need a hug and high five.  And when you know who they are, you can easily craft these messages in order to customize their experience with your marketing. 


Day 10 – The Puzzle

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“Where’s Austin”

 

Long story short, he’s at the TOP! 

 

But first, let’s talk about where this all started.

 

The date was April 15th, 2021 and I was in need of some help moving into our new offices and starting the remodel process.

 

I did what I always do in those instances, I made a post on Facebook asking for help.

 

A friend Casey tagged a guy from the gym named Austin.   Little did I know the important piece Austin would become in our company.

 

For two weeks Austin helped out in the office.  Moving desks, helping me demolish stuff and honestly, pretty much anything I asked of him. He was a beast, and when I say moving desks, maybe I should explain. The office came fully furnished and there were around 60 HEAVY wood desks, many of them L-Shaped.  There were many instances in which he moved the same desks, many times since I couldn’t make my mind up 🙂

 

Then about a month later he responded to another post I made looking for an assistant.  The decision was pretty easy, so Austin was now a full time employee. 

That was also the same month we set out on the road with the America’s Best Restaurants Roadshow.  The ABR Roadshow and America’s Best Restaurants was an idea I’d been working on for 4 years, and this time we were UPPING our game.  Instead of Matt Plapp filming on a cell phone, we were doing it RIGHT

I’d tasked our marketing director, David Schlotter, with helping me develop the show and put together our crew.  Unbeknownst to us, Austin was familiar with cameras and loved the idea of being a videographer.  So within a month I lost my assistant and America’s Best Restaurants gained it’s first full time employee (now that division has 28 just 3 years later).

So with that Austin was off and running, in fact he would end up being on the road for 2-3 weeks per month for 2 years filming at independent restaurants nationwide.  He was never sick, never missed a shoot and never complained.  He was what they call A COMPANY MAN!

During that time we created the saying “where’s Austin”.  It was a saying with multiple meanings.  It seemed like every time we were around Austin, in the office and on the road, he’d disappear.  And then later it morphed into “where’s Austin”, as in what city is he in now.  

So with that, to have some fun, we made shirts that said “where’s Austin”.  

Last week as I saw the shirt laying on my dresser I thought about his journey with me and the company.  And then I looked at the shirt and thought “he’s at the top baby!”   A guy who started off moving desks, is now helping run a multi million dollar media empire.  The saying “ride or die” was meant for him.  It gets me emotional to type this.  It’s so cool to see a guy start where he did and be where he is today.  But it’s even more humbling to know that he did that for me. 

On Wednesday April 10th I emailed myself to write the post titled “where’s Austin”, and then this happened.  

Today, at 2am I’m awake for some reason and my phone alert for our office alarm goes off.  I do the math, it’s 5am back home.  Who they hell is in the office that early I think, hoping it’s one of my peeps getting an early start 🙂

When I look at the cameras I see Austin, running through the building.  I’m thinking, shit, what’s wrong.  What’s he doing.  So I text him and find out that he’s in a hurry to catch a plane, no details.  

So of course I pry, and ask what’s up.  I’m thinking something happened on the road with one of our crews, but that wasn’t the case.  It turns out one of our vans was having maintenance done during the off week and Austin wanted to make sure it was ready for the crew Monday morning.  In fact he’s picking the van up and driving it MANY hours to get them closer to the first restaurant Monday.

WOW, are you kidding me. How did I get this fucking lucky!!!  How did I find this guy.  Damn I’m lucky.  

I always say the universe knows.  It knew that in my inbox was an email to write this blog about Austin, and it had to show me just how awesome he really was, as if I didn’t already know!

Thank you Austin, I’m glad we found you in 2021 and I’m even happier to know WHERE YOU ARE 🙂 

And my friends, that’s todays PUZZLE PIECE