Using Your Restaurant Music For Employee Retention

Music can inspire, sooth, motivate, energize and activate the human mind. People everywhere love to listen, shake, rattle, rock, roll, twist, cry, jump, rap, bump, slam, disco, waltz, polka, relax, sleep and even learn to a variety of recorded sounds.

Bringing my passion of music to training was a natural progression for me. The strategic use of music to train restaurant employees has proven to be an invaluable tool to engage employees, impact learning and affect behavioral change.

Music sets the mood and atmosphere; and also touches emotions, breaks walls of resistance, energizes, and relaxes. Here are some examples of how music can be used in ways that are appropriate, motivating, and memorable:

New Menu Item Rollout
We had a restaurant that was going to be adding a line of rollup sandwiches to their menu, so we tied training into a “Shake-Rattle-and Roll” theme. We used Joe Turner’s old “Shake-Rattle and Roll” song as the theme for the staff training and even called it “The Shake-Rattle-and Roll, Rollup Menu Roll Out” training session. It was a blast and we had every team member shake, rattling, and rolling rollups!

Clean Is Mean!
During cleaning and sanitation training for a restaurant that employed mostly high school-aged workers, we created a “Clean Is Mean” rap contest. I used rap music during the training session and then we had the employees team up in small groups and compose a rap song that was called “Clean Is Mean” (mean meaning “cool.”) The objective was to include all our major cleaning and sanitation points covered in the session into their songs. We then had the teams perform their composition and awarded rap CD’s for prizes.

Holiday Specials
I once used a surfing music theme before, during, and after a training session focusing on our Memorial Day weekend specials. We played surfing music from the 1960’s during the training and throughout the weekend in the restaurant. We used music from the Beach Boys, The Ventures, The Trashmen, Dick Dale and the Deltones, just to name a few. We even called our servers, “surfers” for the weekend and had them all “surfing” up food.

It’s important to choose the right music for the right situation and the right audience. Before you embark on using music to engage employees, remember the following “4 P’s”:

• Preparing - Choose, in advance, the music appropriate to your audience and purpose.
• Precaution - Music published before 1900’s is considered Public Domain and can be used free of charge. Most modern music, however, is protected by copyright laws, unless used by non-profit organizations. Contact ASCAP at 800-505-4052 or BMI at 212-586-2000 for details.
• Practice - Be comfortable with the equipment and music chosen.
• Premier - Your use of music slowly. Test it out to make sure it produces the desired results.

No matter what the training topic or setting, I never leave my office without my CD’s and boombox! Have fun and rock on!

Article by Lanny N. Okonek, member and past President of the restaurant training Council of Hotel and Restaurant Trainers (CHART)

Restaurant Marketing - Online Coupons - RunningRestaurants.com

Yesterday at 3:32pm, Jaime Oikle gave me a call. The 5 minute planned “event” morphed into a 35+ minute session on marketing strategies for restaurant’s today.

We didn’t cover everything of course, but he got me to totally spill the beans on a number of secrets and tactics I use in my business and for my clients.

Normally Jaime would make a long form informational call like this available to paid members only. But it just has too much in there of value that folks can use and grab for their business. So he chose to host it in the public arena (for now). He’ll most likely move it to the member area in a week or so get to it ASAP.

Click here to listen to RunningRestaurants.com - Using Online Restaurant Coupons Interview

In the call we hit on:

• Nathan’s “CSER” system
• Why “BOGO” is dead
• What a “clever coupon” is
• How to think about and do email list building
• Why tracking results is key
• Calulating return on investment
• Lifetime value mentality
• New way vs. the old way
• Challenges of “same-ness”
• Relationship building through email
• Secret method to having a wildly successful Tuesday night
• Why “hyper-responsive” customers are so important

Video: Restaurant Coupons and Customer Databases - CSER Part 1

Restaurant Revolution’s marketing strategy video series is being posted live… for free… for you.

Click here to watch Overview: Coupons and Customer Databases

Part 2 is completed and being edited — it should be posted by the end of this week.

Currently each episode is approximately 45 minutes long. (DON’T let that scare you, the videos can be paused and you can return to them another time… nobody’s gluing you to the chair!)

Your questions and comments are welcomed. I’ve already received a number of requests to discuss the requirements of a successful email campaign. Great requests = great content for Restaurant Revolution readers, so don’t hesitate.

Restaurant Internet Marketing - Exclusive Video Series

Exclusive marketing video series… headed your way.

• Do you want to know the “secret formula” to a thriving restaurant in the 21^st century?
• Do you want some basic action steps to earning more profit for every advertisement you pay for?
• Is Email all that it’s cracked up to be?
• Are coupons a marketing technique to avoid or will they invigorate and boost sales?

Join The Revolution and receive access to a series of videos exploring these topics and more. As I type this, there is over 3 HOURS of “non-fluff” video content that will shed light on restaurant internet marketing of the future.

Restaurant Owner, What Are Your Sales and Marketing Goals?

After reading seven periodicals a month, frequenting blogs, attending restaurant group meetings and tradeshows, reading books, listening to audio tapes and frequenting seminars etc etc… I’m surprised at how many times are the BASICS are not reinforced.

Seriously. Did our businesses meet the goals set for 2007?

Do we have EXACT figures for restaurant business sales and marketing that we hope to meet in 2008?

For all the “strategies” and “tactics” that Restaurant Revolution and others will bring to you, please don’t lose sight of basic goals. And remember: Goals are SPECIFIC. They can be MEASURED.

When we have a plan, complete with goals that can be measured and tracked, we have CLARITY. The more CLEAR we are on what we want to accomplish, the easier it is to filter out the noise that’s encountered on a daily basis… including the phone calls, walk-in salespeople and everyone else that wants a piece of us.

So, with all the great information that is (and will continue to be) available… please remind yourself at the sub-conscious level to write down your restaurant business goals and stick them in a place you will see them every single day.

I’m warning you now that 2008 is only going to deliver another truckload of new information. It will be interesting, some of it will be amazing… and most of it will do absolutely NOTHING for you… but the only way to really know is if you have a plan to judge it by.

Check the next post on How to Reboot Your Brain for more in-depth information on exercises I recommend and personally use.

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