That way, you can set priorities. Keep in mind, the restaurant marketing process does not have a beginning or an end. If you are going to make restaurant marketing work for you, it has to become a complete way of life in the running of your business.

You start out with the most important restaurant marketing programs that you are going to get the best return on and you take on one more issue at a time. When you get a little bit better, you take on two areas and you can build step-by-step into the marketing program so you do not get overwhelmed. You must slip into the marketing process at a speed that you are comfortable with, but where you can get the results that you want.

If you have single or multiple units, you would have an event for each week/month and a major event each quarter. There would also be a library of strategies that could be selected for different units where a different focus needs to be applied, but still under the marketing plan. One major marketing approach each quarter layered with monthly and/or weekly events. You need to plan a workshop for your management team so they can completely understand and participate in their marketing plan.

A Restaurant Marketing Program Workshop is very intensive but it is a fun time as well. Your management team can look at the marketing plan and say, "I created this. I was part of putting this plan together." The workshop creates a buy-in from the management Team and also helps in the execution. It is a great team-building experience for the company. The company gets a great benefit as it pulls the management team together and gets everyone on the same page.

The very talking about the opportunities and the possibilities of the business is really a big boost to the morale of your management team. There is a delicate balance between entertainment and education.

You should go through several restaurant promotional programs in 10-15 minutes at each meeting. You'll be able to identify your strengths and weaknesses by unit and identify very specific objectives that they will accomplish concerning sales, customer counts and/or improvement in operational evaluation scores and employee involvement. Each restaurant unit should run independent programs, as well as, overall company/area restaurant marketing programs.