TT,
Been open for 10 years have a great lunch buisness, but I need a new idea to get the new retail & dr. offices to start ordering lunch.Drop off menus with coupons, pizza, etc… Just need a “home run idea” . I’ve been brain storming for a month and i don’t like any of my ideas.
Thanks What
There is a large business park next to my shop. There are some big companies that do multiple pie orders. I’ve only been open about 2 years so they already have a pizza shop that they order from. This week I started calling the main line and asking the receptionist who places the big orders. A lot of times it is the receptionist, or they transfer me to the right person. I offer to send them lunch and drop off menus. To soon to tell how well it will work but I’m only out a couple of pies. Also try car dealerships, most places order food on the weekends.
Nate
Our lunch business is 90% business related. Coupons have never been an effective means of gaining business here. In our experience, just getting your name out there and showing what you serve is the trick. They like sandwich packages. Be convenient, easy to order from and quick. Business lunch people are on a short time frame. We don’t open until 11 am but have people in at 9:30 to start taking orders. The people placing the orders want to get their order in “before” lunch so it is taken care of (although they will keep calling back making changes throughout the morning).
The above post had a good idea about calling the receptionists at local businesses. Offering them a free lunch for the opportunity to drop off some menus is a good idea.
Thanks,
I think the biggest problem is getting past the person at the front desk. You hand them a stack of menus & when you walk out they trash’em.I run 6 lunch specials a day & we do 20-40 office deliveries for lunch. I just want to
pull in some new customers. I’ve been faxing 200 offices a day for the last 10 years( please don’t tell me that faxing doesn’t work or that you would never order from a place that faxes, because in my town that is the way all the food places do it.Yes, I have waives from all the places that I fax to. i don’t want this to turn into a fax debate.) I drop menus off 4 times a year ,I send holiday cards for free pizzas, I fax, I have a manager hand out coupons at the offices 2 times a year. i haven’t direct mailed them because i think it will just get tossed in the trash by the mail clerk. Any more ideas would be great. thanks What
I think you are doing what you should. Just keep doing it.
A couple of things we have tried is to give the clerk a free lunch (with no conditions)
Where is everyone going and why?
Could a new lunch menu item stir up some business. We have customers who eat at our place day in and day out. They are just bored. We try and bring in new items just to add excitment.
You may also want to make some box toppers or smaller menus for the offices and factories. We took our lunch menu and made boxtoppers off it.
We have one called 1st shift Factory lunch specials. and another which is called 2nd shift Factory lunch specials.
We promise to have it delivered on time or it is free. (They call in at around 10 and we deliver it around noon)
Overall, I think you just keep doing what you are doing and do it better than anyone.
Kris
The only thing I can add is to be sure to tailor your pitch to the needs of the company. Brainstorm what you think a business office needs from a lunch vendor . . . . and even ask some of them. Some key elements to remember are reliability and convenience. If you are including cups, napkins, and forks then your service may be a little more attractive. Offering box lunches is another convenience. Make it so ludicrously simple to order and serve your products that people feel silly NOT calling.
The person ordering risks being ridiculed for poor choices, so find a way to earn that trust. I have almost finished preparing a portfolio that I will put into a 3-ring binder that I will use for presentation. I plan to dress for the appropriate office, make an appointment to meet with the key person, approach them with the idea of providing services . . . and SELL myself. the portfolio will include licenses & certifications, newspaper articles about activities and accomplishments, photos of the facility and staff, as well as menu and other sharp looking branded materials. I’ll have a proposal/price listing in addition to a standard menu. Leave behind a sample lunch/snack for the business staff to enjoy with no strings. Follow up call in a week.
This may be complete overkill for most places I would approach . . . but I can GUARANTEE no one else in my county is doing it, and I will be remembered as “that professional pizza guy in Grantville (where’s Grantville?)”.
Anybody email daily lunch specials? What