Gobpile, we all want to know how your Monday Massacre went

[system]

It might be later tonite, but update us on how your sales went, what was good, what wasnt good.

All the details please, we are rooting for you.

 

[gobpile]

Re: Gobpile, we all want to know how your Monday Massacre we

Well . . . Not quite what we hoped for but considering our average Monday net sales are around $350.00 to $400.00 tonight our net was . . . .

drum roll please

$780.00

What went wrong? Nothing really, I think we could have done a lot more door tagging and I wish we could afford to start up our direct mail again - I really think that would have made us over $1000.00 net.

What went right??? Well, Bill got the sound system to work and we now have piped in music, my managers decided to be real waitresses and got the customers their drinks, pre-bussed the tables, asked if everything was okay, etc. They made some good tips tonight also - something we don’t normally get for dine-in.

Our night buffet opens at 4:00 p.m. We had customers coming in at 3:30 p.m. (who wants to eat supper that early) and just waited until the buffet was up.

Needless to say, the bet that Bill had with Amber (our shift manager) he lost as we made over what Bill predicted (sometimes he’s a pessimist) and he owes her $5.00.

All in all, we are pleased. Thanks for asking!!

 

[NicksPizza]

Re: Gobpile, we all want to know how your Monday Massacre we

gobpile:

Well . . . Not quite what we hoped for but considering our average Monday net sales are around $350.00 to $400.00 tonight our net was . . . .

drum roll please

$780.00

I’d do lots of embarrassing things in public for that kind of take on 1st night of the week. Rock on, pizza pros!

There are lots of good signals in what you posted to tell me you are laying great foundations for building more and more customer base and loyalty . . . waiting for doors to open . . . tips when not normally received . . . big increae in revenues on slowest night . . . managers laying on the customer service . . .

You guys are looking good from my side of the keyboard.

 

[system]

Re: Gobpile, we all want to know how your Monday Massacre we

only a mere 95% increase from previous weeks.

Well Done.

 

[gobpile]

Re: Gobpile, we all want to know how your Monday Massacre we

Did I sound greedy??? Was hoping for a $2000.00 nite asking too much??? ha ha ha ha

Thanks for the support guys!!!

 

[gobpile]

Re: Gobpile, we all want to know how your Monday Massacre we

I wanted to add that what was even nicer was that my manager told Bill and me to go home (we’d been there since 8:30 a.m. that morning and it was 5:30 p.m.) that she could handle the night and did so with only 3 other employees and one she sent home at 8:00p.m. One of the other employees was my other shift manager, who along with Amber is also salaried. So, really only one hourly worked until close.

I wish I could clone Amber and Regeanna!

 

[system]

Re: Gobpile, we all want to know how your Monday Massacre we

gobpile:

I wanted to add that what was even nicer was that my manager told Bill and me to go home (we’d been there since 8:30 a.m. that morning and it was 5:30 p.m.) that she could handle the night and did so with only 3 other employees and one she sent home at 8:00p.m. One of the other employees was my other shift manager, who along with Amber is also salaried. So, really only one hourly worked until close.

I wish I could clone Amber and Regeanna!

Oh how I remember the first time my assistant manager told me to go home early after being the store long hours for weeks after we first opened, and how I though - what a great guy What would I do without him?

And oh how I remember sacking him about a month later for the things, I found out later, he did when I wasn’t there.

Kevin

 

[system]

Re: Gobpile, we all want to know how your Monday Massacre we

Congrats gobpile.

Funny thing kevin, I read your post and thought ya know there is always someone who has to rain on the parade but then I realized when I read it my gut sunk too. Thinking the same thing.

gob, be careful I love all my employees and have had most of them for over 5 years but never will I let my guard down…never.

Buffet is a wierd thing, hard to keep control because people can easily steal. I think it is easy for employees to steal anyways no matter how much we try and control.

One more thing to add to your plate-huh. I can hear your mind right now…they just dont know Amber and Regina. They would never steal. That is the first sign of a thief.

Congrats on your first Monday. And so the ride continues only a moment of celebration.

 

[system]

Re: Gobpile, we all want to know how your Monday Massacre we

yeah… i agree… its totally possible. her entire family comes in to eat every other night. get a friend to drive you there and sit there in the car for a few hours outside in the parking lot. You would be amazed what goes on there when an owner isn’t around.

We’ve all been thru this … so keep your guard on.

 

[brandy7279]

Re: Gobpile, we all want to know how your Monday Massacre we

I hate to be a pessimist but I thought the same thing- great job just don’t rely too much on those managers. Was that you that said that girl works for 300 a week? I used to have two managers that were so awesome, I felt confident about leaving my store with them. Had to fire both for basically stealing. One actually bought his own case of guest checks so it was very hard to catch him. These were both people that I knew over 5 years, knew their family and everything. The one guy is in prison now! You never know what people are getting into. Just be careful- its taken me a long time to get past what these two have done, both personally and in business. Hope next monday you triple!!
Kay

 

[gobpile]

Re: Gobpile, we all want to know how your Monday Massacre we

This Monday night absolutely SUCKED!!! $350.00 net. What happened??? We doortagged it all last week, up on our signs, etc. We even door tagged today. We thought it was going to start off good again as we had people coming in at 3:30 p.m. for it.

In fact, our sales are actually down and we don’t know why since everything is so much better.

As far as my managers - don’t think I’m that naive. We spot check all the time. In fact, we showed up at 9:30 p.m. last Saturday night. My manager was cleaning the woman’s bathroom, my front line was wiping tables and my kitchen was pressing dough, making dessert pizzas, doing what they are suppose to be doing.

I won’t trust anyone 100% anymore. Not after what I went through with my own children and the restaurant.

Bill and I have been sitting here trying to figure out what has happened in the last week and half to bring our sales down so much.

 

[system]

Re: Gobpile, we all want to know how your Monday Massacre we

Gob, we’ve all been there. And I know its very hard not to overreact. But you can’t beat yourself up on the daily sales, especially early in the week. Just keep doing your very best on every shift, and have confindence the week will add up.

Don’t forget, the busy nights are busy because that’s when customers go out to eat. Your are trying to fight a hard up hill battle to build monday-wednesday sales. Thats why other restaurants do Wacky Wednesdays, and kids eat free on Tuesdays…

Stay focused on your priorities, and stay confident. Everyone is with ya!

 

[Napoli_Pizza]

Re: Gobpile, we all want to know how your Monday Massacre we

previous is me, forgot to log in

 

[system]

Re: Gobpile, we all want to know how your Monday Massacre we

Gob,

Gosh I feel your pain. RELAX, it is all okay. I posted a long winded response on the other thread so I will try and be brief. Hang in there. We all have slow days. It really takes time. And fortunetly for us there is plenty of that.

Hang in there in 6 weeks look your sales over and I bet you will see some improvement.

 

[system]

Re: Gobpile, we all want to know how your Monday Massacre we

I really think you need to decide what you want to do on ALL days, not just Monday.

What I mean by that is for a pizza buffet your regular price is too high. Monday night is a bad night no matter who you are, so the best it could ever be is limited no matter what.

I personally think you should reconsider the pricing and design of the buffet. Slim it down and cut the price on all the days. You could still have Monday be a cheaper night, or you could change the pricing on all the days and promote some sort of awesome deal with pickup/delivery.

Make a lower price point work. If you want to generate higher sales and better profits, I really think you must seriously decide if you want to make a go of the buffet and what you will do to accomplish that task.

It is possible to run a buffet at a lower price point and make MORE money than a higher price point with a gazillion items on the line.

 

[j_r0kk]

Re: Gobpile, we all want to know how your Monday Massacre we

Gobpile,

What you were suffering from on Monday was a lack of a customer base. Until you build your customer base up to around 3,000-4,000 customers, you will always have a stupid day where nothing happens.

It’s actually quite simple once you think of it: The more “customers” you have in your database, the less likely are your chances for a subpar day. When I first opened my restaurant here I had the same problems: One Monday I’d do $800, the next I’d do $350. Now that my customer base is building I rarely see sales of any day below the $800 mark.

Your goal in life is to create new customers. You should also track this to give yourself some goals and incentives. Try goaling yourself at 100 new customers per week. Your marketing price points should be low enough to garner some attention right off the bat. You should offer price points like the $3.99 buffet just to create new customers. Also, the word “FREE” in your advertising will also greatly help influence new people to try you. Every piece of marketing going out of your store should have only one focus: TO GAIN NEW CUSTOMERS. Yes, eat a little food cost now (nope, pun wasn’t intended… but clever) to gain these customers. The results will be paid tenfold in the end. I guarantee you within 12 weeks you’ll be disappointed with $600 Mondays.

I’m a little different than you in that I concentrate more on the delivery/carryout aspect of the business. I’ve never worked in a store with a large dine in capability so it’s not much of a “comfort zone” for me. I’m sorry, I can’t remember, are you offering delivery service at your restaurant? If not, have you looked into it? -J_r0kk

 

[NicksPizza]

Re: Gobpile, we all want to know how your Monday Massacre we

j_r0kk:

What you were suffering from on Monday was a lack of a customer base. Until you build your customer base up to around 3,000-4,000 customers, you will always have a stupid day where nothing happens.

It’s actually quite simple once you think of it: The more “customers” you have in your database, the less likely are your chances for a subpar day. When I first opened my restaurant here I had the same problems: One Monday I’d do $800, the next I’d do $350. Now that my customer base is building I rarely see sales of any day below the $800 mark.

Your goal in life is to create new customers.

This is exactly what I was trying to get to, but not saying it half so clearly. More customers means more predictability and stability of sales. You’ll get a wide mix of occasionals, biweeklies, weeklies, and multuiple times a week customers. With a wide enough base, they will all spread out and fill in the peaks and valleys.

Even with our small town, when we get to near 1000 customers (out of 2500), we felt the levelizing effect during the week . . . and the pain of the weekends. We got stable and predictable sales, and could focus on building new customers, plus increasing average tickets for existing customers. So, to sum up what I got from j_r0kk and what I said:

1. Find ideas and methods to get new customers through the door; increase the number of customers who frequest your store, however often they may come . . . they are all valuable
2. Build average ticket sales to existing customers with upsells and specials intended to garner higher average tickets, even if the percentage goes a little lower, the higher dollars coming in are good.
3. The same principal works for dine-in as for the delivery and take-out. Your specials and coupons and menu upsells may vary, but the above 1 and 2 are the same.
4. Consistent, systematic marketing will work to get your company in front of more people and potentially drive more first-time customers. Off and on marketing will get off and on results. Creative, less expensive ideas float around on the Think Tank pretty often, so those can help offset a little expense.