Identify three unique things about your restaurant.

Your three uniques are what sets you apart from the competition.

When you look at the competition in your trading area, a few restaurants may share one of your uniques. There may be a couple that share two of your uniques. However, there is no other competition in your trading area that have all three of your uniques.

Your trading area could be 5 blocks, 5 miles or for a destination restaurant, it could be the entire city.

The important part is you need to concentrate on marketing these items to help your restaurant stand out in a crowd.

Competing on price should be left to the fast-food chains.

If your restaurant isn't achieving sufficient revenue, it's not that your prices are too high; it's the value perceived based on the price is too low.

Price your menu in a way that allows you to be profitable and create a marketable experience that justifies that price based on the value received.

A good sales and marketing process will magnify the value of the experience.

Before you invest in a sales plan, make sure the product you deliver exceeds the value you charge.

Being social should be about building relationships, genuine connections.

It seems that restaurants spend a lot of time pushing out content in "hopes" that someone will like it. Most restaurants measure their social media strategy through engagement with the post.

So when someone comments from a different city who probably will never come into your restaurant, that is considered a win? That is considered being social and engaging with your guests?

Last time I checked, you can't pay your staff with Instagram follows.

Got 60 seconds? Check out the video

There are many reasons why guests stop coming in.

Life circumstances
Relocated
Someone new opens up

The thing is that just because a guest visits frequently doesn't mean that they will be coming in forever.

You need a plan that brings in new guests consistently.

If you are paying for marketing with your time or dollars and you can't track how many new guests are coming in, then you need to reevaluate your strategy.