Every operator knows that the bar is the revenue center that drives a restaurant. That’s just a fact. But not paying enough, or the right kind of, attention to your bar program can quickly turn it into a massive cost center.
Below, Christie Lawler, gives us five takeaways from her Bar & Restaurant Expo (formerly Nightclub & Bar) conference session, which was all about boosting your bar business and putting more cash into the drawer.
Review Your Actual Sales
Forget what you’re buying, and look at what you are selling. Commonly referred to as a PMIX evaluation (Product Mix) or review, taking a hard and unbiased look into what you are actually selling is the simplest way to sell more! A single ‘dog’ on the menu happens, by which I mean an item that doesn’t sell. But a pack of them means wasted money in inventory, and a disconnect with the guest. So, look at what’s already popular and lean into it. For example, if bourbon flies off the back bar, make sure there are enough bourbon-based cocktails taking up the hot spots on the menu.
Talk to the Humans
The staff, the guests, even personal friends will have ideas on your bar programming. You know that person in your life that knows everything? Don’t be that person! Show your ego the door and find out what everyone wants and expects when they come to your establishment. As the saying goes, this isn’t personal, it’s business. Unless you are running a non-profit (kudos if you are), make sure that you are driving that revenue with new ideas, innovations and twists that make your guests excited to see what’s new. Involve your staff, too. Giving them ownership and equity in the bar program will have massively positive side effects. You never know where the next brilliant idea is coming from, so open up to the potential.
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It’s All About the Copy
Never overestimate the value of solid menu copy. This means spelling everything correctly, paying attention to accent marks, proper punctuation and most importantly – using language to describe your items in a way that is both tantalizing and enticing to the reader. In a perfect world, your guest is so torn between all the amazing offerings they have to ask their server for a recommendation. Guess what? That builds trust with your team, and can lead to increased sales and larger gratuities. If the menu is poorly written, why would the guest trust that the food and drinks are not also poorly crafted?
A Clean Menu Means A Clean Bar
This is a game of aesthetics as much as it is a game of physical cleanliness. Let’s start with the aesthetics of a menu – the layout, colors and use of graphics and design elements. Making sure your menu matches your establishment is critical to your credibility. A polished casual concept shouldn’t have laminated menus, any more than a fast casual should have a leatherbound wine list. Presentation is important. It shows the guest that you care enough about their experience to spend the time creating a menu that fits the level of care you invest in your food and beverage programs. Make sure your branding is consistent from the outside of your establishment all the way to your menu. Highlight your signature items with boxes or borders and place them at the top right and middle sides of the menu. Inversely, locate your lowest margin/profit items on the bottom left where the eye rarely lingers. And always keep your menus clean! Even pre-COVID a sticky menu is as bad for business as a sticky table.
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Let’s Get Social!
Chances are, you have someone on your staff that is constantly Tweeting, TikToking or Instagramming. Are they saying anything about your establishment? Provide an opportunity for your most “InstaFamous” in-house celebrity to put their skills to work for you. Incentivize them, give them a title or a bonus/raise, give them the positive stories to promote around your business and let them work their magic. Create a task force to generate ideas to drive guests in on slower nights and then have that social media butterfly run with the ideas and promote them heavily.
The bottom line here is that there are a ton of ways to get creative on your marketing strategy without making a significant financial investment. Improvement often requires either time or money. The question is, which one are you willing to dedicate yourself to? Because one can always take care of the other.
Christie Lawler is the Founder & Owner of CJL CONSULTiNG, a beverage marketing agency that houses a nonprofit organization – The WITI Group, and a line of infusion and mixology products – JAB MiXOLOGY. She is a public speaker, host of the Lawler Out Loud: Mixing Up the Mainstream podcast, and a member of the Female Founders Collection. She is also a CORE Ambassador and an advisory board member for “The Bar” with Datassential, and serves on the Glancy Wine Education Foundation Board of Directors.
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