new store marketing

i GM at a shop, and deliver on some days. my goal in the next 2yrs is to open up my own shop (out of range of my current shop) i live in a town (not where the shop is) where there are ALOT of shops, but lack good product (in my opinion) and customer service. the shop i work at is a very friendly place and we have so many regulars that i know what grade their kids are going into, pets names etc. you get the point. what are some really good marketing tips i can think about when i do open up my store to get customers to come in and stay???

I think you answered your own question there! It sounds like you’re a great GM. My GM and myself are the same way… we know are regulars by name, we know what they like, we know their kids and we know how their football teams are doing, etc.

That’s the kind of personal touch you need to gain regular diners and not “coupon hunters.”

My recommendation is to start looking at the web. Most small biz owners immediately run to direct mail, coupons, magazine ads etc… That’s all fine and good. Nothing wrong with that. But more and more, people are using the internet to find their local restaurants, coupons, directions, reviews etc…

Locally, I found that over 47,000 people searched for pizza places just in my city within 30 days using Google. Not much competition online for those 47,000 people as most don’t have an effective web strategy or lead capture website in place. Just something for you to think about…

  • TLM