Keeping It Clean In The Restaurant

We all see the signs in the bathrooms of restaurants stating the rules for employees washing their hands on each trip to the lavatory. But there are some other places in restaurants where the washing and cleaning doesn’t always get the top priority. And it is making your clients sick. Take a moment to read over some of my pet peeves when visiting restaurants regarding cleanliness and be honest with yourself. Are you paying attention to these details? If not, this may explain why some of your customers only visit once.

Let’s face it, people have different tolerances for cleanliness in restaurants but if you are overlooking some of these areas that I will discuss below, you may be running off a certain percentage of your repeat customer business and the fixes for these are cheap and easy.

Bear in mind that if you are a restaurant that serves food that is sometimes eaten by your customers without utensils, then this problem gets magnified. That means breads, rolls, French fries and so on. You get the idea. If I’m eating with my hands, then I don’t want to touch anything that I perceive to be dirty while I am visiting your restaurant. And this perception can sometimes have little to do with the actual bacteria count. So consider that your restaurant needs to not only be clean, but also to look and feel clean.

Are your tables clean? A tablecloth certainly helps this problem because it removes the tactile feeling of filth. So often I enter a restaurant and the busboy takes a pretty filthy rag and makes a cursory wipe at the table just before or even after I sit down. Done right, this procedure can assure me that you are doing all that you can to allow me to eat in a sanitary environment. But if the rag is dirty, stained or otherwise looks inept at the job, or if the job is done in a cursory way, then you are emphasizing to me that this establishment doesn’t put a high priority on keeping things clean. Take the time to train your staff and give them the tools to make this a show of effort on your part to prove your dedication to sanitation in your restaurant. Also, it goes without saying that if I am sitting at a table that is in any way sticky, I’m losing my appetite. So show us your care and then make sure that the table really is clean.

Are your menus clean? So many restaurants don’t pay close attention to their menus but this is the face of your restaurant to your patrons. If your menus are sticky or greasy or otherwise feel that they have been handled by too many other hands (and they have) then reminding me of it by letting me see or feel the grunge is a big turn off. Take the time to regularly clean your menus as they are a very important first impression.

How about your salt and pepper shakers? These are handled by almost every patron that eats in your restaurant. They are a haven for germs and bacteria and I remember this almost every time I reach for one and feel that it is sticky or just feels dirty to the touch. Take the time to clean these regularly to protect your clients and to keep their impression of your restaurant favorable.

These are just a few of my pet peeves and I am giving you an outsiders view of things you may forget about or take for granted and you rush around to deal with the daily pressures of running your restaurant. But they leave impressions on a certain percentage of your diners and you should take the time to establish policies that will not only protect your customers but will put your restaurant in the best light in their minds As a side note, you also have a lot to worry about trying to keep up with food borne illness issues to keep your customers safe. To keep up with what is going on in that arena, be sure to keep an eye on the blog at http://blog.usfoodsafety.com/.

At Clinard Insurance Group in Winston Salem, NC, we specialize in helping restaurants all across North Carolina and South Carolina with their restaurant insurance policy. We not only want to help restaurants cut their insurance costs, we also work hard to help them generate more customers and make more money. We understand that not every restaurant is the same and so we have developed specialized programs for different types of restaurants to help you get the coverage you need at a price that will surprise you. We have a fine dining insurance program, a casual dining insurance program, a fast food insurance program, a bar and grill and tavern insurance program and a caterer insurance program. If you would like help with your restaurant insurance, please visit us on the web at www.TheRestaurantInsuranceStore.com or call us, toll free, at 877-687-7557.

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

Restaurant Insurance – Have You Read Your Lease?

Not every restaurant owner owns his or her building. And not every lease is the same. But if you have not taken the time to make sure that your lease requirements match up with your restaurant insurance policy, then you may be leaving yourself open to an uncovered claim and as a result, potential downtime or a huge hit to your cash flow.

Consider the case of James, the owner of a small family restaurant. James signed his lease with his landlord but did not really study it carefully. One of the stipulations in his lease was that he was responsible for all repairs to the heating and air conditioning units on the roof. Two years into the lease, lightning strikes the roof units and destroys them. The cost to replace them is $24,000.

Here’s the problem. James has a businessowners policy which covers the contents of his restaurant - so everything not attached to the building. In addition, James did think ahead and had his agent add coverage for betterments and improvements to this policy. This betterments coverage is for items that are part of the building, which the tenant added – could be paint on the walls or even attached booths for the diners. The problem for James is that he didn’t add the rooftop air conditioning units to the building so technically they don’t fall under the tenants betterments and improvements coverage.

So how could James have protected himself? Well, for those air conditioning units he would need to add building coverage to his policy. The problem is, there is a coinsurance clause on the building coverage that would reduce his claim payment. (For more help with coinsurance clauses, read my blog about it by clicking here.) The answer is that James should have added an Agreed Value Building coverage endorsement to his policy to cover the HVAC equipment. This Agreed Value form should be written with no coinsurance penalty.

There’s one more area of concern in James’ claim that needs to be addressed. Without the air conditioning units he is going to be in trouble keeping his restaurant open. He needs mechanical breakdown coverage to protect him from the loss of earnings he will suffer while he is waiting on his HVAC system to be repaired. To read my blog about mechanical breakdown coverage, click here. To see a short video about mechanical breakdown coverage, click here.

This real world example shows how important it is to take the time to review your lease and make sure that your restaurant insurance policy seamlessly integrates with that lease. When choosing a restaurant insurance policy it is very important that you select an agent that specializes in restaurant insurance. At Clinard Insurance Group, in Winston Salem, NC, we do just that. We write insurance for over 100 restaurants all across NC and SC. We understand that each restaurant is different and that they don’t all need the exact same coverages. For that reason we have developed 5 different restaurant insurance programs to help you find the program that best suits your needs. We have a Fine Dining Restaurant Insurance Program, a Casual Dining Restaurant Insurance Program, A Bar and Grill Insurance Program, A Fast Food Restaurant Insurance Program and a Catering Insurance Program. Visit us on the web at www.TheRestaurantInsuranceStore.com or call us toll free at 877-687-7557 and find out how we can help you find the coverage you want and a price that will astound you.

The source information for this blog was taken from blog articles which can be found at www.RestaurantInsuranceGuy.com.

Business Income Insurance for Restaurants

Running your restaurant business involves risk of course and you can look around you and see the things you need to insure in case of a large loss like a fire. Dishes, equipment, furniture, supplies, all of these seem obvious. But there are also some hidden, less obvious things for which you should insure. This article will help you understand one of the tools for covering these hidden assets and liabilities – The Business Income Insurance Form.

These days, most restaurant owners have a package policy called a businessowners insurance policy as the centerpiece of their insurance program. This policy can cover the building, your contents, any improvements and betterments that you have made to the building as well as more esoteric items like employee theft and employment practices liability insurance. One of the coverages that is often included in this packaged policy is Business Income Insurance.

Business Income insurance coverage is triggered when you have a covered loss that is large enough to close down your operations for some period of time. During this time of shut down, you will have ongoing expenses that will continue even though you are not bringing in revenue. This can vary from rent to monthly fees on equipment leases and marketing products as well the profits that you lose by being out of business. In addition, there are also extra expenses that you will incur in order to try and expedite the process of getting back into business more quickly. These can be temporary rental of a new location, overnight shipping costs etc.

Sadly, few restaurant owners take the time to understand before a loss is how this built in Business Income coverage will affect their employees. Policies vary of course but the most common language in North Carolina business owners policies for restaurants will allow you to continue to pay for employee payroll as long as you can put these people to work in some capacity, even if that is helping you get back in business quicker. If keeping your employees available to you after you have been out of business for 4 or 5 months is important, then you should tailor your Business Income protection to make sure that ongoing payroll expense is included. In some cases this may mean that the businessowners policy is not the right form and you may need a true commercial package policy that will allow a more customized business income plan.

Last of all, I would be remiss in this discuss if I didn’t mention to you the importance of putting together a disaster plan before the disaster strikes. Take the time to think about what types of things could put you out of business temporarily and how you would deal with that particular situation from a non insurance standpoint. Take the time review what is available to you in terms of disaster recovery plans and do a bit of pre-disaster study of some of the companies out there that specialize in restaurant disaster recovery and restoration programs.

At Clinard Insurance Group in Winston Salem, NC, we specialize in helping restaurants across North Carolina and South Carolina with their restaurant insurance programs. We go a step further with our Partners Page which helps our clients find new customers from our customer base. We understand that not all restaurants are the same and they don’t all need a one size fits all insurance plan. For that reason we have established 5 different restaurant insurance programs; the fine dining insurance program, the casual dining restaurant insurance program, the fast food insurance program, the bar and grill insurance program and a specialized program for caterers. If we can help you with your NC or your SC restaurant insurance needs, please visit us on the web at www.TheRestaurantInsuranceStore.com or call us, toll free, at 877-687-7557.

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

Restaurant Insurance – Employee Theft, The Silent Profit Killer

As the owner of a restaurant you have many things to worry about. Where are the clients coming from? Am I putting out the best product I can? Does my targeted demographic fit my marketing plan? Where do I find quality employees? And on and on it goes. But I find that very few restaurant owners take the time to study carefully how to prevent and protect their business from employee theft.

Employee theft takes on many faces, from free meals while the boss isn’t looking to taking home food for family members and giving out free food to friends. These are annoying and a drain on profits, but each restaurant owner has the responsibility to make sure that each employee understands the rules and the guidelines and that these rules are followed without exception. There are many resources to help you prevent employee theft and spot employee theft and I will tackle this in more detail in a future blog. This blog is about setting up a last line of defense that will protect your restaurant from destruction should you have a serious and determined thief on your payroll.

Most restaurant insurance programs have an option to include a minimum amount of protection on the businessowners policy for employee dishonesty coverage. This is an excellent way to build in last resort protection for your restaurant. But don’t just gloss over this add on coverage. Take the time to think carefully about what you stand to lose and how you would deal with it. In most cases, you can purchase high limits of coverage here. My insurance agency was attacked in the late 1990’s by one of our employees who made away with over $10,000 before we caught here. I have a neighbor who lost $300,000 over a very short time frame when one of his employees found a quick and easy way to steal from him and his partners. The point here is that if you might need higher limits, be willing to buy them. At the very least, think carefully through the process.

Another thing to consider with employee dishonesty coverage on your restaurant insurance policy is that in most cases the company will not pay off unless you prosecute the thief. For some employers this is a hard thing to instigate so don’t buy the coverage if you aren’t going to be able to go through what you have to do to make the claim legitimate. Also, your deductible will also apply but bear in mind that in most cases if the insurance company decides to prosecute and if they are able to collect any money from your employee, then your deductible will be reimbursed first.

At Clinard Insurance Group, located in Winston Salem, NC, we specialize in helping restaurant owners all across North Carolina and South Carolina with their restaurant insurance needs. It doesn’t matter if your restaurant is in a metropolitan area like Raleigh, Durham, Charlotte or Greensboro, or if you are located in a small town like Kernersville or Oxford NC, we have the knowledge and the tools to help you keep your restaurant insurance costs low. And we go a step further by implementing our Partners Program to help drive new customers to your establishment to help you grow your top line revenue as well. In addition, we know that not all restaurants are the same so we have developed specialized programs for the different types of restaurants out there. We have a Fine Dining Restaurant insurance program, a Casual Dining Restaurant insurance program, a Fast Food Restaurant insurance program, a Bar and Grill insurance program, and a Caterer insurance program. For more help with your NC or your SC restaurant, please 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 in its entirety http://www.restaurantinsuranceguy.com/

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.