Discover Your Offline Solutions

During one of my inspiration training sessions, one of the participants mentioned that she often handed out flyers and that it worked well. Great! I’m a huge fan of using ‘offline’ channels to reach (potential) guests. Especially in the hospitality industry, it can make a massive difference.

Because that’s exactly where people expect personal attention, craftsmanship, and face-to-face encounters. The more ‘offline’ the better, so to speak. There’s a reason I dedicate a significant part of my training sessions to this. So, I fully support handing out flyers or using other offline channels, like newspapers or the local community newsletter.

But always IN COMBINATION WITH online marketing.

Because once you’ve handed out those flyers, what’s next? Just wait for the orders to roll in? And then what?

If your flyer campaign is a standalone effort without any ‘follow-up’, it’s simply a waste of your time.

Too often, I see a specific campaign that doesn’t align at all with a well-thought-out plan. You should use offline actions as an additional channel alongside your online marketing, so you can follow up on them.

That Valentine’s promotion is nice, but how do you ensure that the new guests you tempted to place an order then will do so again at Easter? If you’re lucky, guests will think of it themselves, but if you use data, you’ll eventually KNOW exactly WHAT percentage of them will actually place an Easter order or another follow-up order.

And it’s great to know that! It provides a lot of peace of mind. You can then use that time to give extra offline attention to your (potential) guests.

I’ll go into more detail on this during my free inspiration session, so if you’d like to join, you’re cordially invited.

In the meantime, I’m not done with you yet, because I have 6 super tips to help you on your way:

Superrrrtips:

1. Flyering
   So, it’s fine if you’re going to hand out flyers—I’m a big fan—but do it with a real offer. Just handing out a menu often isn’t enough to get people to actually order. A strong promotion that truly tempts people to order usually generates a much better response.
   
   Ideally, use the flyer to direct people to a digital link where they can order or redeem an offer immediately. This gives you data you can use later.
   
   
2. Informing customers via email
   Did you know that you can email people who have ordered from you before without prior consent? You don’t need to ask for permission beforehand or anything like that.
   
   
3. QR code
   I’ve written about QR codes before, and I’d like to remind you that you can always include a QR code on a flyer. Make sure that the QR code links to a website where people can order or sign up.
   
   
4. Face-to-face flyering
   Do you want to hand out flyers face-to-face in the city, for example? In many municipalities, you can do this without a permit. However, there are rules per municipality, so you should check those. Often there are fixed locations where it’s allowed, and you’re responsible for any litter that might be created. In these times, maintaining the 1.5-meter distance is obviously important, but with the help of a fun grabber tool or something similar, you can get to work.
   
   
5. Do it yourself
   A huge extra tip here is to DO the face-to-face flyering YOURSELF, or at least leave it to people who know exactly what they’re doing, rather than using hired staff who have little to no connection to your business. This allows you to provide an extra verbal message or explanation, making the results of your flyering much more significant.
   
   But doing it yourself is also a lot of fun, so I’d say don’t miss out on this chance to get out there and hand out flyers yourself! 🙂
   
   
6. Taking orders by phone
   Do you only take orders over the phone? Then make sure you have a phone script and always ask people for their email address when taking an order. Also, asking questions and making suggestions to increase the order value will help you seize more opportunities to boost your revenue.

Want to know more?

Want to know more about how to achieve better results with your restaurant, bistro, brasserie, or coffee bar? Then check THIS LINK for the dates of my free inspiration sessions, where I’ll take you through 5 steps and show you how to get started.

Have a great week!

Best, Suus

“Hi! I’m Suus, and I help hospitality entrepreneurs—even now during the lockdown—to generate more revenue by focusing on better (online) visibility and improving their ordering options.“