Industry Trends: Letting Diners Pay What They Want

Some brave restaurant owners are trying out the idea of allowing customers to pay what they believe a meal is worth.

Take for example a restaurant that was featured in a recent http://www.reuters.com/ article "that is combating the recession with a menu ranging from Wagyu beef pie to fresh lobster that lets diners decide the price. Like scores of restaurants in Sydney, Sobo on Bondi Beach has been hit hard by the economic downturn, which has driven many Australians to trim spending and cut back on eating out. To bring the clients back again, restaurateur Adam Gerondis is offering, for a limited time, a menu that contains empty boxes where the price of each dish usually is.

Diners fill in the price they want, and the bill is calculated accordingly.

"My main goal is to have a full restaurant every night and for people to enjoy it so much during the promotion that they will come back afterwards," Gerondis told Reuters.
The promotion that starts on Tuesday and runs until April 9.

"People have been watching what they spend and like all restaurants ours has been quiet, so we just want to give them the opportunity to pay what they think it's worth," he added.
Starters on the menu include blue cheese tart with caramelized onions, mains range from beef to salmon and there are also desserts such as creme brulee, as well as daily specials. Drinks, however, must be paid for.

Sobo main dishes are usually priced between A$24-A$36 ($16-$25), but Gerondis said he would be happy with whatever diners decide to pay for their meal.

"We have no preconceived ideas of what we will get," Gerondis said. "Whatever people pay, is whatever they pay."

As the credit crisis bites all over the globe, several establishments are asking people to pay what they want to keep their business going. "

Ultimately, we're still waiting to see whether the risks outweigh the benefits with this type of promotion. But it shows that restaurant owners are willing to try new things to keep people coming thru the doors.

Click here, to read an article from the Wall Street Journal which further explores this idea.

Using Bribes ("Free Gifts") to Boost Your Profits

Here's an excerpt from an article titled "Guerilla Bribes" by Jay Conrad Levinson, the creator of Guerilla Marketing. Every entrepreneur, especially small business oweners, can benefit from doing a little Guerilla Marketing. This article discusses how effective bribes can be at generating leads, increasing name awareness, thanking customers, boosting store traffic, and the amazing results they have with every demographic.

"The polite phrases for bribes are "advertising specialties" or "free gifts." Whatever term you use, know that bribes work on all demographic groups. Bribes do a bang-up job of empowering your marketing. Unlike premiums, which may require a purchase, bribes are given for free and offered for free. Their primary purposes are to generate leads, increase name awareness, make friends, thank customers, boost store traffic, introduce new things, motivate people to act, and create an unconscious obligation to do business with you.

During the nineties, the most popular bribes in the United States have been T-shirts and baseball caps, jackets, headbands, writing instruments, desk and office accessories, scratchpads, and glassware and ceramics. Mousepads and screensavers are moving up fast. So is free information.

Marketing people invest over $15 billion on bribes each year. Reasons: they fit almost any marketing budget; they complement other media; they can be directed to selected audiences; people jump through hoops to get them for free. About the only disadvantage is the teeny-tiny space available to say anything to the recipient. There's usually room for your name, possibly your theme line and logo, but that's it.

So, do these bribes work? Well, 40% of people can remember the name of the advertiser as long as six months after receiving the free gift. And 31% use the gift at least one year after receiving it. That's not even counting the high response. And the goodwill.Probably the most popular of the old-time bribes were calendars. Today, with the average household having four calendars, you might be smart to consider them again.

A recent study proved that free gifts not only increased mail response, but also raised the dollar purchase per sale a whooping 321%. Naturally, they generate positive feeling about you. And those feelings often lead, not only to sales, but also to closer relationships. Guerrillas are always trying to increase the number of their close business relationships.

Once you've made the decision to try a bribe, ask these five questions: 1. How many people do I want to reach? 2. How much money do I have to spend? 3. What message do I want to print? 4. What gift will be most useful to my prospects? 5. Is this a unique and desirable gift? Would I want it?

If you can show a handsome color photo of the enticement while offering it for free, you're about to be hooked by this sorta sleazy, but very human method of increasing responses, traffic, leads and profits.

Every guerrilla knows that the most powerful word in the language of marketing is "free." They've learned that it correlates directly with the most powerful goal of marketing a business -- profits."

To read the original article, click here.

This is one of the many reasons why TaDa came up with our Incentive Certificate Program which allows our members print an unlimited number of certificates for complimentary vacations that they can use to market their business.