Have You Done A Sound Check In Your Restaurant Lately?

The opportunity to enjoy an intimate conversation in many restaurants is diminishing. Part of this is due to construction of the interior space, partly it is caused by how the interior is decorated and arranged and in some cases it is intentional. Either way, as a restaurant owner you should take the time to evaluate and do a sound check in your own restaurant to be sure that the noise levels on a busy night are what you and your target audience are hoping for.

So if you own a restaurant that caters to a crowd that is looking for a noisy and energetic place to eat, most of what I will tell you here will not matter. But if your clientele has disposable income and wants a place to enjoy a meal and conversation with their friends and family, your job of making sure the noise levels are appropriate will have a huge impact on whether or not you can turn them into repeat diners.

The first step is to try and test the noise levels for yourself on a busy night. Just sit at a few of the tables with one of your managers or employees and quickly check how easy it is to hear each other. Do this in several different places in your restaurant as there will be big differences in the noise levels at different spots in your restaurant. Now keep in mind that there are many reasons why this subjective measurement can be difficult. Here’s a great blog on the pitfalls of measuring your restaurant’s sound levels subjectively.

Once you know where the louder and quieter places are, perhaps you can train your hostess to try and be more perceptive about the clientele and put them in the most appropriate seats at noisy times. Is anyone in the party wearing a hearing aid? Is it a large party or a party of 2? What age is the customer? All of these factors could help you make this decision.

Think about what is creating the noise levels in your restaurant. Hard surfaces will reflect noise and drive up the overall din. How much is the noise of your kitchen contributing? What about music? Is the music simply driving up the overall noise level as people attempt to talk over it? Perhaps background music is important and valuable at some times of day and should just be turned off at others.

Hanging tapestries or other items on the walls will reduce the reverberant noise in your restaurant. Likewise, tablecloths and carpets will also reduce noise. And watch out for sky lights as their domes can create white noise spots where it is difficult to understand conversations even when no one else is in the restaurant.

Every restaurant is different and each might have a different goal regarding music and noise levels. But what is important is that you take the time to monitor the noise levels at different times of day and night and make sure that your restaurant is providing the atmosphere that you want for your patrons.

At Clinard Insurance Group, in Winston Salem, NC, we specialize in insurance for restaurants in North Carolina and South Carolina. We have helped hundreds of restaurant owners with their restaurant insurance from Charlotte area restaurants to Raleigh restaurants and many small towns in between. We also work hard to increase our restaurant clients’ revenue with our Partners Program. If you would like help with your restaurant insurance, please feel free to call us, toll free at 877-687-7557 or visit us online at www.TheRestaurantInsuranceStore.com.

The source information for this article can be found at www.restaurantinsuranceguy.com.

Restaurant Insurance Guy Tip – Manage Those Reviews

Most of my blog postings here are designed to help you navigate the ins and outs of your restaurant insurance program. And inherent in that plan is the concept of managing risks. But there is one risk out there that insurance cannot manage for you and you need to take proactive steps to protect yourself right away. If done right, this form of risk management can turn a big risk into a huge reward.

I’m talking about Google reviews. You should know by now that your customers and even your competitors can hurt or help you with the reviews of your restaurant that they post on Google. So you must begin the management process by making it a point to read those reviews regularly. You must know what your clients are saying about you and you must address the negatives in the way you manage your restaurant.

The quickest way to see your reviews is to type in the name of your restaurant , followed by your city name and state in a Google search. Then find the Google maps page link and read the reviews. If no reviews are posted, then you are working with a blank slate. That’s a good thing. Think of Google reviews as search engine gold. The more of these that you have, the higher your ranking with Google and the easier it will be for your clients to find you amid all the internet clutter of competing restaurants.

Now, the next step is to stuff the review box full of positive reviews. You might be tempted to open up a bunch of different Google accounts and do your own reviews. Don’t fall for this. When Google catches you at this game the punishment will be severe and quick. You will probably see your search engine rank drop off the face of the map pretty quickly. Rather, put in place a way to ask for these reviews from your clients that love you, your friends and family and your customers who tell you something good about your restaurant. Make sure that all of your employees have a system for asking for these reviews from customers who tell them how much they enjoyed your restaurant. Once you have set up this plan you need to make sure everyone is on the same page for getting it implemented and you must follow up to check to see that the reviews are being posted.

Now you probably think of your current insurance agent as the guy who sells you a policy and hopefully gives you advice about what policies you should buy. But is your agent taking the time to help you understand what you need to know to survive and prosper in the new digital age? What is your agent doing for you to directly increase revenue and sales opportunities? If you like the information in this blog, you may want to check out another feature that we offer to our clients at no charge at all. This is a coupon posting page on our web site called the Clinard Insurance Partners Program.

At Clinard Insurance Group, in Winston Salem, NC, we specialize in helping all different types of restaurants with their restaurant insurance policies. We work hard to help them become informed insurance consumers and we also know that not every restaurant is the same. We don’t want you to be put into a restaurant insurance program that lacks the special coverage your type of restaurant needs, or one that forces you to purchase coverages you will never need. To that end, we have developed 5 distinctly different restaurant insurance programs: A Fine Dining Restaurant Insurance Program, A Casual Dining Restaurant Insurance Program, A Fast Food Restaurant Insurance Program, a specialized insurance program for Bar and Grill and Taverns, and finally a Caterer Insurance Program. If you need help with your restaurant insurance questions, or if you feel that your agent isn’t working hard to help you develop more top line revenue, then please feel free to call us, toll free, at 877-687-7557 or visit us on line at www.TheRestaurantInsuranceStore.com.

The source information for this article was pulled from other articles which can be found at our restaurant insurance blog at www.restaurantinsuranceguy.com.

Restaurant Owners – What Are Your Customers Saying About You On Yelp?

If you own a restaurant, you know your lifeblood is in the words and statements your clientele says to their friends and family. Most of this you will never know, but there is a place to find out what some people are saying publicly about your establishment. I’m talking about a web site called yelp. If you don’t know about it, you should take the time to find out.

Your digital marketing strategy must include monitoring what people are saying about you to others. Not only that, you simply must have your best customers, your raving fans, help you out in this area. Take the time to visit the yelp web site and poke around in there. Is your restaurant listed? Have you been reviewed? Is the review favorable? You just cannot afford to be ignorant about these types of digital feedback sites. Remember as more and more people begin to rely on their smart phones for help, directions and advice, restaurants are on the cutting edge of businesses most affected by these changes. Take the time to make sure that you are on the leading edge of this huge technological and cultural shift in consumer habits. Then ask your best clients and your friends for help in giving you positive reviews on Yelp.

At Clinard Insurance Group, in Winston Salem, NC, we specialize in helping dining establishments all across North Carolina and South Carolina with their restaurant insurance policies. But we don’t stop there, we want our clients to be successful businesses. For that reason, we have developed our business partners page to help generate inbound traffic to our customers’ businesses. If we can help you with your restaurant insurance, or if you would like to know how we can help drive more customers to your restaurant, please call us, toll free, at 877-687-7557 or visit us on the web at www.TheRestaurantInsuranceStore.com.

The source information for this article was pulled from other articles which can be found at www.RestaurantInsuranceGuy.com.