It is no secret that it is easier to sell beers and cocktails during busy times of the year, but what can owners and operators do to keep up the selling pace during slower times?
Promotions
The slower times for business must be counter-acted with exciting times that will make customers want to come back for more. Nightclub & Bar provides the bar professional with a promotional planning guide in which all holidays that can be capitalized on are listed; take that planning guide and, of course plan promotions out around those holidays, but also think about the times between. What can you do to get people in your bar on non-holidays? Could you throw a party? Have drink specials? Maybe host a game night? Yes, yes and yes.
Re-Training
How often do you train your staff? If the answer is once when they're hired then your staff is behind as is your entire business. In this fast paced industry, trends, spirits and strategies are continuously changing and if operators do not change with it, it is inevitable that their customers will move on to bigger and better things. Take time once every three months to retrain your staff on the core values of your establishment, new ideas, new technologies and anything that will give you an edge. Keeping a tight knit staff is key to running a successful, happy work environment and if your staff is happy and polite, up to date with menu renovations and your protocol, there is no way that you will not grab repeat customers throughout slower business hours. People respond to kindness; it is called the hospitality industry after all.
Keeping Up-To-Date
Speaking of training, it is the owner and operator’s responsibility to put the work in to stay in the know involving the industry. What can you actually teach your staff? What is selling? What’s not selling? What are the newer technologies? What new products are out? What are people eating more of? It is important to stay on top of the industry news in order to train and retrain your staff on what to upsell and how to make customers respond to the business positively. If the research is done, it is much more simple to hone in on promotions and training which, in turn, will help to increase sales during slower times.
There are many things that you can do to keep the revenue flowing into your bar during slower times. By staying informed, keeping your staff informed and unceasingly running creative promotions, people will continue to come to your bar.
Stay on top of industry trends and new product releases at the biggest on-premise operator event of the year, the Nightclub & Bar Show, celebrating 30th years March 30-April 1, 2015 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Visit www.ncbshow.com today!