Disqus - Friends of ericbrown

Re: OpenTable and Restaurant Marketing

Jeffrey Summers — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 10:42:09 -0000

News is a commodity business whereas restaurants aren't (shouldn't) be. The whole point of branding is in it's ability to differentiate a business. OT defeats that for operators. A smart and savy operator can garner just as many if not more reservations by building a branded system that relies on building personal relationships. You can't get that with OT.

Jeffrey Summers, President
Restaurant Coaching Solutions

Re: OpenTable and Restaurant Marketing

Jeffrey Summers — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 16:10:02 -0000

You're welcome.

I mean the systems used by a restaurant's branding efforts to create relationships so good that guests wouldn't think of using OT to get a reservation because they wouldn't dream of either being disloyal or forgoing the personalized service they would get by choosing to contact the restaurant to begin with. All systems are a branding effort.

Ideally, news would be news but oh well. Lots of "strong" brands going broke these days. Which begs the question of them being strong brands don't you think?

Re: Inside the Minds of Twitter Users

Jeffrey Summers — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 15:47:10 -0000

I love the quote that 'social media is more about the social than the media' and it's very true. I get more from people who I follow back and who do likewise than anything/anyone else - even strangers (though they don't stay that way). Following twits back is easy and can be automated (even filtering out the spam) so why not? The more people you engage with the more ideas/thoughts/support can be shared. That makes for a true community.

Great article Ann. Followback in say 6 months A.O. (after Oprah) to see if anythings changed?

http://www.twitter.com/Jeff...

Re: My FollowFriday Tweeps

Jeffrey Summers — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 19:09:35 -0000

Right back at ya my dear! I miss you when I don't see you and smile when I do. The music's not the same without you. Thank you!

Re: Why Restaurants need to be on Twitter, or not. (In Tweets)

Jeffrey Summers — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 18:31:03 -0000

Restaurants do not NEED to be on Twitter. The only reason to be is if your guests are. If they are not then it's just a waste. It's also a waste if you do not understand Social Media Marketing.
http://foodrl.com/5g7mgv

Re: Why Restaurants need to be on Twitter, or not. (In Tweets)

Jeffrey Summers — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:21:09 -0000

Of course I read it. You misunderstood my comment. I simply disagree(d) with the notion that restaurants NEED to be on twitter to be successful - or unsuccessful. I simply said it in only four sentences and without the shades of grey.

Re: The Three Billion Dollar Cleaning Man

Jeffrey Summers — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:25:19 -0000

What the guy did/does/is is more then 'customer service'.

Re: The Three Billion Dollar Cleaning Man

Jeffrey Summers — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:26:54 -0000

Hmmmm. So price has very little to do with 'real value'...??!!

Re: 3 Social Media Lessons From the Restaurant World

Jeffrey Summers — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 06:00:56 -0000

The best reputation management program for restaurants and hospitality businesses is 'GuestPulse'. http://GuestPulse.com

Re: Frequency Does Not Necessarily Equal Loyalty

Jeffrey Summers — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 18:06:51 -0000

Totally agree Spike! Nothing equals true loyalty except authentic acts of loyalty. Too many businesses use "a lack of viable alternatives" as their success bar.

@Veronica Amen to that! Trying to generate real organic loyalty with a points based frequency scheme is like trying to fill your bathtub with the drain open.

Re: 5 Ways to Make Culture a Marketing Strategy

Jeffrey Summers — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 06:57:35 -0000

I agree 100% about replacing "Green" with "Cause Marketing". "Green" isn't a strategy unless you're in the business of selling "Green".

Re: 5 Ways to Make Culture a Marketing Strategy

Jeffrey Summers — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 10:59:06 -0000

Actually, I'm sort of relieved John you don't agree. I was beginning to wonder if we disagreed on much. = )

Being "Green" has absolutely nothing to do with any of the drivers for a consumer to choose his accounting services. While it may be an admirable personal value of the accountant to be a responsible human being, it doesn't add value to his services.

It also doesn't add enough value to prevent a client from switching services, were he to discover another accountant more capable of handling his affairs.

All things being equal with all choices for accountants in a specific area, if the client has a passion for "green" as much, then it may influence their decision to use his services. But then there would be bigger problems associated with such a commodity service and being "Green" wouldn't be my first point of distinguishing between my choices.

Re: Where fine dining and social media meet

Jeffrey Summers — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 13:47:20 -0000

No, this isn't a good article. This amounts to nothing more than old marketing using new tactics and it doesn't work. Using Blake to talk about restaurant marketing is like asking an atheist to talk about the existence of God. And using coupons and discounts to drive social media engagement by restaurants with guests is like trying to fill your bathtub with the drain open.

You can't buy loyalty and trying to encourage it with bribes is pointless. You can't buy loyalty - period. You have to earn it and that comes from establishing trust through the consistent action of adding real value to the guest experience.

I'm tired of reading articles by people who think they know how to market restaurants and hospitality businesses just because they eat out a lot or sleep in a lot of hotel beds.

Re: 10 Practical Steps For Making Change Stick [Day 17 – 30 Days to Changing Your Game]

Jeffrey Summers — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 11:07:50 -0000

You're more than welcome Molly. Change is a constant struggle for most, so I thought it would be beneficial to talk about what you need to do right now to get started.

One thing I will suggest is that you don't wait until you're asked to help someone else. If you see a need, fill it.

Re: 10 Practical Steps For Making Change Stick [Day 17 – 30 Days to Changing Your Game]

Jeffrey Summers — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 11:11:50 -0000

We aims to please! = ) Thank you!

Re: 10 Practical Steps For Making Change Stick [Day 17 – 30 Days to Changing Your Game]

Jeffrey Summers — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 11:20:05 -0000

While trust is important, here's a little story for you.

A man walking along falls into a hole and can't get out. His doctor walks by and he yells, "Doc, can you help me out here?" So the doctor writes him a prescription, drops it into the hole and walks on.

Then the guy's priest walks by and he yells. "Father, can you help me out here?" So the priest writes our man a prayer, drops it in the hole and walks on.

Then the guy's best friend walks by and our man yells, "Hey Joe, can you help me out here?" So his best friend jumps down into the hole with him. Our man says, "What are you doing Joe? Now we're both stuck in this hole" to which Joe replies, "Yeah, but I've been down here before and I know the way out."

That's what #8 is for.

Re: 10 Practical Steps For Making Change Stick [Day 17 – 30 Days to Changing Your Game]

Jeffrey Summers — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 11:22:29 -0000

You're welcome and thank you for stopping by and adding to the process!

Re: 10 Practical Steps For Making Change Stick [Day 17 – 30 Days to Changing Your Game]

Jeffrey Summers — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 11:25:50 -0000

You are more than welcome. No time for BS, life is too short.

"Either get busy living, or get busy dying." - The Shawshank Redemption

Re: 10 Practical Steps For Making Change Stick [Day 17 – 30 Days to Changing Your Game]

Jeffrey Summers — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 11:30:37 -0000

My pleasure Rachel! It's extremely important to remember you deserve it too! Thanks for sharing your story and Godspeed to you!

Re: 10 Practical Steps For Making Change Stick [Day 17 – 30 Days to Changing Your Game]

Jeffrey Summers — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 11:41:00 -0000

Absolutely Shelley! Straying too far causes too many problems and makes it that much harder to get back on track. Appreciate the reinforcement!

Re: 10 Practical Steps For Making Change Stick [Day 17 – 30 Days to Changing Your Game]

Jeffrey Summers — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 12:06:11 -0000

Love it Gina! We do lots of pro-bono work for non-profits as well and firmly believe in Cause Marketing as a way of doing just that. It makes the rest of what you do just that much more valuable.

Re: 10 Practical Steps For Making Change Stick [Day 17 – 30 Days to Changing Your Game]

Jeffrey Summers — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 12:34:02 -0000

Absolutely! Thanks for contributing bigtime!

Re: 10 Practical Steps For Making Change Stick [Day 17 – 30 Days to Changing Your Game]

Jeffrey Summers — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 13:30:30 -0000

I'm a reformed perfectionist myself! Still smarts sometimes. = )

Re: 10 Practical Steps For Making Change Stick [Day 17 – 30 Days to Changing Your Game]

Jeffrey Summers — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 13:43:25 -0000

Actually you can have too many #8's. This will cause you to lose focus and actually postpones action because you spend more time listening than doing.

You have to get up to bat. You have to do whatever it takes to get yourself in that batter's box.

"If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right." ~ Henry Ford

Re: 10 Practical Steps For Making Change Stick [Day 17 – 30 Days to Changing Your Game]

Jeffrey Summers — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 13:47:36 -0000

You're welcome!