Birthday Prospecting and Your Business - How Entrepreneurs Are Turning Birthdays Into Big Business
By Julie Escobar
With more than ten billion dollars in annual birthday market revenue to capture, marketing conscious restaurant management teams are making birthdays a timely treat for local consumers and a huge new profit center for their establishments. Why? Statistics shared by the National Restaurant Association® tell us that seven out of ten adult consumers dine out on their special day. Even in today’s budget-focused economy, birthdays still rank up there first for eating out, followed by Mother’s Day and Valentine’s.
So, how are savvy business owners connecting, attracting and keeping these valuable customers? They deploy a powerful combination of data, relationship and direct response marketing. “Targeted and timely are the key components our customers rely on for successful marketing campaigns,” shared Jim Schimpf, Executive Director for Opportunity Knocks Direct Mail Solutions. “There’s simply no budget in today’s economy for ‘buckshot marketing.’ Precision data, delivery and direct offers are no longer should-haves, they’re must haves. Relevance delivers response, and there’s nothing more relevant than a personalized birthday offer on someone’s birthday! So much so, that we’re quantifiably tracking an 11.2% response rate for some of our birthday mailing customers.”
Donna Anderson, Owner of Hospitality Resource Solutions, a Florida based restaurant training organization, says, “There really is a ‘perfect storm’ out there right now in the minds and buying habits of today’s consumers. Their expectations are at an all-time high and their tolerance for less is at an all time low. It’s not just about price points and portioning any more. Everyone is in that game. To compete for both the NOW business and long-term, repeat customer loyalty, restaurant managers and staff have got to truly step up their game in terms of service and smart marketing.”
Let’s take a look at the winning elements that top restaurants and clubs are using across the nation:
Precision data: While not a new strategy; database marketing is the turn-to choice for entrepreneurs eager to get the most from their marketing dollars. Data specialists repeatedly tout the importance of successfully matching your message to your market segment by drilling down using geographic and demographic factors such as age, birth date, income bracket, proximity, etc. to dramatically increase your response rate. For example, the National Restaurant Association statistics show that the average consumer chooses a restaurant within 3.0-3.7 miles of their home. Another study showed that consumers with a household income of $35,000 or more, those with two-member or dual-income households and college students were more likely to eat out on their birthdays and that three out of ten married respondents were likely to eat out on their spouse’s birthday.
Smart restaurateurs are now leveraging that type of valuable demographic information to plug into powerful systems like Opportunity Knocks and take a more “laser-beam” approach to how they spend their marketing dollars. “Having an extensive consumer database certainly gives our customers a competitive edge,” shared Mr. Schimpf. “We can drill down their ‘hit-list’ of best customer prospects by age, miles from their business, household income and of course, allow them to pinpoint anyone with an upcoming birthday! This way, they’re not spending precious dollars marketing to unlikely customer candidates — only those with the highest potential to frequent their restaurant.”
Relationship Building: While we are on the topic of how to most wisely spend your marketing money, consider nationwide statistics which indicate that return customers spend, on average, 33% more than new customers and are more than 100% likely to provide valuable referrals than non-customers. Add to that the fact that sales and marketing experts tell us that it takes roughly $10 in “new customer business” to replace every $1 of lost business and you have pretty good incentives for treating your customer base like the VIPs they truly are.
How do you effectively build relationships? Start by building trust through consistent, high-quality service, regular recognition and genuine appreciation. Here are a few ideas on how to start (or keep) building that trust:
- “Touch” your customer base monthly. This creates a “top-of-mind” awareness that breeds familiarity and comfort. Remember the wise words or internationally known businesswoman and entrepreneur Elizabeth Arden, “Repetition makes reputation and reputation makes customers.”
- Get everyone in on the action. In a restaurant, make sure EVERYONE is aware of the vital importance of customer service. There is something each individual can add to a customer’s positive experience. Employees in a high percentage of businesses feel their opinions are undervalued or not even considered. Change that trend in your organization and you’ll empower your staff with ownership of ideas and watch proudly as they step up to the plate. “Motivate them, train them, care about them and make winners out of them,” said hotel icon J. W. Marriott, Jr. “We know that if we treat our employees correctly, they’ll treat the customer’s right. And if customers are treated right, they’ll come back.”
- Ask and listen. Ask your best patron what they’d like to see by way of special offers, new items, or service. Then listen to what they’ve shared and implement their best suggestions. Be sure to follow that up with a thank you note to each.
- Under-promise and over-deliver. Nothing can sour a relationship quite so much as a failure to deliver on a promise. If you can’t deliver lunch within twenty minutes for example or the lowest priced steak in town, don’t say it.
- Commitment. Building business relationships are much like maintaining friendships or life partners. They take work and commitment. Go the extra mile every day.
Direct Response Marketing: “Build it and they will come.” “Ask and ye shall receive.” Both are good illustrations of how success truly does require ACTION. You have to invite customers to do business with you. Building your brand and your long term business depends on it. “Sophisticated brand managers are now using direct response to accomplish so much more than generating sales transactions,” shared Jim Warren, owner of Infomercial.com. “They employ a direct-to-brand approach to create or enhance a brand, enhance a company’s image, drive sales, and generate leads, just to name a few - all with the goal of developing long-term customer relationships, not merely single transactions.”
Successful direct response marketing is comprised of these five components:
- Personalization (one-to-one marketing variables)
- The Offer
- The USP (Unique Selling Proposition)
- The Call to Action
- The Hook
Done right, birthday marketing offers a unique and historically effective way to wrap all of these key ingredients up in a tidy birthday bow. “High personalization coupled with an irresistible offer such as free meal, bottle of wine, dessert, etc. are really what drive those double-digit response rates,” added Mr. Schimpf. “The real beauty of birthday marketing is that people rarely celebrate alone. So if you received just a 10% response from a mailing of 500 personalized postcards that would mean 50 new parties for your restaurant. Consider the average party ranges from 4-8 even in today’s market, and you’ve got a new marketing focus that just makes good sense.”
In a challenging economy, tapping smart, outside-the-box systems and solutions can be a gift you give yourself as a restaurant owner. Any time you can generate new business, make customers feel appreciated and special and increase word-of-mouth referrals, you’ve got a winning combination. Start today to look at the elements outlined here to discover how and why birthday marketing may be just the boost your establishment has been looking for!
Julie Escobar has more than 24 years experience in the sales, marketing and speaking industries, and is a contributing editor for several nationwide sales publications. In her spotlight this month: Opportunity Knocks, a Florida-based, Nationwide marketing organization which works hand-in-hand with customers and business leaders across North America to develop powerful, open-door, direct marketing solutions. With a dynamic direct response creative team and cutting edge industry technology, they consistently deliver high-impact, results-producing, AUTOMATED systems that meet and exceed entrepreneurs and business owner’s expectations.
To learn more about how your organization can leverage these direct response tools, grow your business and develop customers for life, contact them today. Visit them on the web at http://www.birthdayprospecting.com, http://www.oppknockspostcards.com or call them toll free at 1.800.287.5710. To reach Julie, call 1.866.405.3641 or email Julie.Escobar@prospectsplus.com today.
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