Pizza City,
Okay, good stuff. We’ve actually got a little in common because I’ve got a military base with about 24,000 army guys running around. You are in a situation I’d like to call, “can’t miss”. Here’s your problem in a nutshell, ready?
Over half of the people there have either never heard of you or don’t really care one way or the other that you’re even there. Don’t get down on this fact because it’s a very easy situation to turn in your favor.
The biggest asset you’ve got going for you is that you’re the new pizza place in town… CAPITALIZE ON THAT! Every piece of print you’ve got make sure you’ve got something to the effect of “Now Open!!!” written on it.
Now, before we get started, let’s first take a look at some of the things you’ve done:
- 7,000 doorhangers - Awesome! Doorhanging should net you somewhere between a 5-8% return. The only bad thing about doorhanging is that it should never end. This excercise (and I do mean excercise) should be done in your store to the tune of around 1,000 D.H. per week… EVERY week.
- 2 radio promo’s w/ 50-60 ads in 3 day blocks - Good… but a waste of money. While it IS good to be on the radio (I am), you don’t want to sink all of your money into that medium. Radio is what you call “Passive” advertising where you just want to get your name out there and create a little brand recognition. That’s not the type of advertising you need right now. Right now you need “Direct” advertising, where it’s a numbers game. By saying numbers game, I mean you get an immediate return on whatever type of advertising you put out there… we’ll talk about that in a minute.
- 2 chamber of commerce paper ads - Good… but another waste of money. Whenever I get those chamber ads I throw them away. While yes it is good to capture some of the businesses in town for lunch sales, you’ve got much bigger problems that you’ve got to attack. So, let’s hold off on the chamber ads for a moment.
- 3 ads in the military newspaper - Good idea… BUT there might be a way to increase your return, as I’m sure this one probably isn’t giving you everything you’d hoped it would.
- Parking lot car flyering - Great idea. No buts. Is this your parking lot? If it is, make sure you get those people in your doors while they’re already in the neighborhood by giving them an offer they can’t refuse… more on that in a sec.
- Business exchange with Gold’s Gym - That’s not really doing anything but hopefully giving you a free membership.
- Business exchange with the mall - Passive advertising, but don’t stop, especially if it’s free.
- Business exchange with car repair - Same answer as 7
- Direct flyering to businesses - How many times are you doing this? This is a good idea. Make sure you do it on a consistent basis with specials that are around a $5.00 price point.
- Direct flyering to barracks - This we will talk about in depth, because this is your Golden Goose.
- Radio remote - Good job on the Grand Opening.
It looks like you’ve been pretty busy trying a whole bunch of things. Kinda like throwing a whole bunch of crap up against the wall to see what sticks if you will. Let’s condense down to just a couple things to concentrate on and get you on your way…
- Flyering in the barracks - Like I said, this is your Golden Goose. Everytime you flyer you should immediately see an average of a 10% return THAT DAY. Do NOT go the safe route and put them at the front desk or in the common area. That route will get you averaging $4,000/week (which, if I’m not mistaken, is what you’re doing now). Put your print materials UNDER THE DOORS of each and every room. Of course, you’ll have people tell you you’re not supposed to do that and that it’s against rules and regulations, blah blah blah. It’s always better to ask for forgiveness than it is to ask for permission. This is what you call “guerilla advertising” and if you want your store to take off, do it! Do this religiously on a weekly basis and watch your delivery sales take off like a rocket.
- Military paper - Call the paper and ask to speak to the person in charge of advertising. Ask how much it would cost to do a “wrap”. A wrap is defined as a piece of your advertising wrapped arount the front page of every paper. By doing this, the first thing everyone sees is YOUR AD. This way you will make sure your stuff doesn’t get lost in the 30-80something pages of black and white. Depending on circulation, a wrap shouldn’t cost much more than what you’re paying now and will give you 3-5 times the return you’re getting now. My philosophy when it comes to that kind of stuff is that if you’re going to do something, MAKE SURE PEOPLE SEE IT! I’ve never been a fan of “bulk advertising” specifically because it gets lost. However, you increase the odds to your favor by putting your ad on the front because there’s no way in Hell it’ll get lost then.
- Parking lot flyers - A VERY effective way to increase carryout sales. However, price point has got to be key because you’re trying to create new customers who would normally just pass you by without even thinking about it. Suggestion: 1 Large 1 Topping $5.99… or $4.99… or even $3.99. Yes, $3.99 is God-awful low, but do you think you’d be able to keep up with the business if you put flyers out with that price-point on them?
- Pricing - Now, this might or might not be a problem. One thing you’ve got to realize is that you’re in a military town and that is your target. Military boys will order the entire kitchen sink from you but the only thing that’s going to make them call is a price-point that will get them interested, so create coupon specials that leave room for upselling. Here are some examples of coupons I use in my store:
Extra Large 1 topping pizza - $10.99
Large Pizza with up to 5 toppings - $10.99
2 medium 2 topping pizzas - $12.99
2 Large 2 topping pizzas - $16.99
Large 1 topping pizza - $8.99
Notice how these specials only advertise pizza? When they call to order, that’s when I hit them with drinks, and wings, and cheesestix, and breadstix, etc. My most popular coupons from this bunch are the Extra Large for $10.99 and the 2 mediums for $12.99, but my average ticket is over $16.00 each and every week. Why? Because I upsell the other stuff.
I’ve got a copy of a flyer I can send you. Give me your e-mail addy and I’ll shoot it over to you. This flyer is distributed to the barracks and these guys go crazy over it.
In conclusion… If you concentrate on just the four basic things (Barracks, wrap, doorhanging, and windshielding) you’ll see a vast improvement in sales at your store. These three excercises will get your sales up, but should NOT be the only form of advertising in your store. Stick to the other things we’ve discussed but focus on these four primarily for the next 6-8 weeks. What this will do is create your “core” of customers. Once you’ve got your “core” established you can start to focus on infiltrating the rest of your market… including “School Nights” - which is another discussion. Hope this helps. -J_r0kk
