Top 3 Industry Tips This Month: June

In the current climate of rising costs and staff and product shortages, we know that caterers and business owners need all the help they can get to help them save time and make more money.

We’ve spoken to a number of customers to find out what they’re doing to be more profitable and efficient, and if they have any words of wisdom for their peers. We’ll be publishing our findings on a monthly basis via our email subscription service, our blog and social media. Some of these suggestions will also come from Birchall employees and industry bodies.

We’re really keen to get more hints and tips from our customers, so if you have a great idea that you’d like to share, then please send it on to our marketing team at [email protected]

Here are this month's top 3 tips:

1. Use Local Ales in Stews, Pies and Casseroles

Diners are passionate about supporting local businesses, more so than ever before, so considering teaming up with a local brewery and use their beers in your dishes. Make sure you highlight this on your menus, marketing and social media pages.

You could also offer a 'Beer and Pie' sampler, where the customer gets 3 mini pies with 3 mini beers and some sides.

2. Use A Text Message Service For Booking Reminders

To help cut down on no-shows, consider using a text messaging service to remind people about their bookings. You could also ask them to confirm that they will still be making their booking by replying to the text with a simple YES or NO. Diners who confirm will be less likely to pull out of their booking, reducing the chances of you ending up with empty tables.

Popular services include:

3. Create Your Own Hashtag

Don’t forget the power of social media, particularly Instagram. Diners will often take photos of impressive looking meals and then share them on their social channels, which is great free advertising for your venue. You could encourage shares and brand awareness by coming up with your own hashtag.