This story appears in the
April 2004 issue of
Entrepreneur.
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Q: How do I get concierges to
recommend my restaurant to tourists?
A: It's essential to market
your business to influential referral sources. Barry Potekin, who
owns Gold Coast Dogs in Chicago-and who is featured in the book I
wrote with Debbi J. Karpowicz, Off the Wall Marketing Ideas (Adams
Media)-marketed to cabbies when money was tight. He'd take a
cab around the corner and talk the driver's ear off about his
restaurant. Potekin would tip the driver $5 and say, "The next
time you're in [my part of] town, come in and have a hot dog on
me." What a great way to spread the word about your eating
establishment, considering how many cabbies picking up passengers
from the airport are asked where to eat.
The lesson here is to cater to influential people-in your case,
concierges. Bring them a desktop lunch, compliments of your
restaurant. Host an after-hours event, and invite each concierge to
bring a guest. People do business with people they know and trust.
Create relationships with concierges by visiting them at their
workplaces, inviting them to your "private" events, and
continuing the conversation with correspondence (via thank-you
notes, newsletters, postcards and so on). Find a way to track the
number of responses or referrals so you can identify who sends you
the most customers, and pay closer attention to those sources.
Nancy Michaels is president of ImpressionImpact.com, a marketing consulting company.
Reach her at nmichaels@impressionimpact.com.