FULL COMP: The Voice of the Restaurant Industry Revolution

Jeremiah Tower is the father of contemporary American cuisine. From Chez Panisse to Stars, he impacted cuisine and culture. He stepped off the line and into the dining room, creating the role of the celebrity chef, I believe that, as an industry, we need to blaze a new trail and I thought it was a good idea to talk to the guy that blazed the trail for Alice Waters, Danny Meyer and, well, me. Click to sign up for our weekly newsletter. Click here to book time on my personal calendar. Click here to download our Restaurant Recovery Guide. Want to streamline your front-of-house operations and increase sales? Head over to http://restaurants.yelp.com/fullcomppodcast to claim your free page and learn more about these powerful tools for your business.

What does the COO of a $350 million restaurant conglomerate have to teach independent restaurateurs? More than you can imagine. Kat Cole worked her way up the ranks from a waitress to executive vice president of Hooters, went on to become the president of Cinnabon and now sits as the COO of Focus Brands, a corporation consisting of household names like Schlotzsky’s and Jamba Juice. Click to sign up for our weekly newsletter. Click here to book time on my personal calendar. Click here to download our Restaurant Recovery Guide. Want to streamline your front-of-house operations and increase sales? Head over to http://restaurants.yelp.com/fullcomppodcast to claim your free page and learn more about these powerful tools for your business. HIGHLIGHTS A new perspective on education Mentorship Establishing a leadership position within a organization Pivoting to leadership within an industry  The role of women within the hospitality industry  Dealing with press The role of tech in hospitality  Taking a bowling alley approach to management Connecting with your story Big wins, big mistakes

Jon Taffer knows what's up. Though he's made a name for himself as a television personality, Taffer is a stone-cold operator. This guy knows his sh*t. On this episode he presents revolutionary ideas on what the restaurant can do to survive today and what the industry will look like tomorrow.  Click to sign up for our weekly newsletter. Click here to book time on my personal calendar. Click here to download our Restaurant Recovery Guide. Want to streamline your front-of-house operations and increase sales? Head over to http://restaurants.yelp.com/fullcomppodcast to claim your free page and learn more about these powerful tools for your business. HIGHLIGHTS A vision for the kitchen of the future The 3 key functions in a restaurant Safe dining protocols Pricing adjustments Elements of leadership Alternatives to discounts Being honest with yourself Reaction management Enforcing customer masking and safety protocols Resetting America

Picking a favorite episode from season one would be like a parent picking a favorite child. Having said that, I do favorite lessons. Here are my top three from Shawn Walchef, Josh Holtzman and Sam Marvin.  We’ve have much more planned for Season 2 which begins October 6th.  Be sure to tune in next week for the Season 2 premier featuring Jon Taffer. 

Be sure to check out FULL COMP Season 2 beginning October 6th featuring: Jon Taffer Kat Cole Seth Godin Antonia Lofaso Jeremiah Tower Brooke Williamson Ari Weinzweig Sam Nazarian and many more!

A look back at some of the most inspiring moments with several of our most notable guests including Matthew Jennings, Andrew Zimmern, Joe Sasto, Jet Tila, Daniel Shemtob and Nyesha Arrington. 

He was the Chief Restaurant Officer of Union Square Hospitality Group with 20+ locations. Then he became the president of BarTaco, a restaurant group with 30+ locations across 10 states. In his spare time became a master sommelier. By all metrics, Sabato Sagaria is a huge success.  But with such a high failure rate in the industry, what elements are required to achieve that level of success? Today, Sabato teaches us the lessons he learned while working with the best to become the best. Click to sign up for our weekly newsletter. Click here to book time on my personal calendar. Click here to download our Restaurant Recovery Guide. Want to streamline your front-of-house operations and increase sales? Head over to http://restaurants.yelp.com/fullcomppodcast to claim your free page and learn more about these powerful tools for your business. Highlights Redefining leadership at Union Square Hospitality Group Rolling out a zero-tipping initiative The importance of trust and transparency A one-size-fits-one approach Possessing a growth mindset/focus Can every job be your dream job? Creating growth opportunities within your company The importance of word-of-mouth advertising How to create word-of-mouth advertising Guest communication strategies 100% table touches WTF moments The perils and benefits of integrating with a larger company Lessons learned from a giant corporate structure

What are the best investments that you can make in your restaurant or in our industry? Eduardo Rallo is an investor in restaurants, in restaurant tech and in people. In this episode, we explore his winning strategy for seeing and seizing the opportunities out there. Click to sign up for our weekly newsletter. Click here to book time on my personal calendar. Click here to download our Restaurant Recovery Guide. Want to streamline your front-of-house operations and increase sales? Head over to http://restaurants.yelp.com/fullcomppodcast to claim your free page and learn more about these powerful tools for your business. HIGHLIGHTS The story behind creating and scaling the World Wrap brand The importance of being naive Setting up roles for success The importance of investing in talent Taking on venture capital The pressures of institutional funding Expanding from restaurateur into restaurant investing Early investment in Opentable The story behind Pacific Catch The next big gold rush in hospitality The future of tech in the restaurants

Carlos Santana said “there nothing is more contagious than enthusiasm.” Wil Slickers is living proof that he was right. He has carved out his own place in the hospitality landscape through ingenuity, authenticity and transparency. On this episode, we follow along on Wil's entrepreneurial journey beginning with his first gig in the industry. Click to sign up for our weekly newsletter. Click here to book time on my personal calendar. Click here to download our Restaurant Recovery Guide. Want to streamline your front-of-house operations and increase sales? Head over to http://restaurants.yelp.com/fullcomppodcast to claim your free page and learn more about these powerful tools for your business. SHOW NOTES Beginning in the hospitality industry Good with people but no job skills Hired at the front desk of a hotel Starting the podcast Wil moved from the original hotel job to Oregon Working in a boutique hotel Had a thirst for learning more abut the industry Inspired by a Tony Robbins and Gary V video on podcasting Started the podcast in 2018 Wil was 25 years old Growth of the podcast Interviewed first guests Acquired sponsors Growth in audience Quit job to pursue the podcast full time End of 2019 The formula for the podcast Other industry podcasts were boring and monotone Short, simple and to the point Gary V type sound Showing authenticity is the key to growth Podcasting is a new exciting medium 900k active podcasts in the world Far fewer than YouTube channels Possible to grow other mediums from the podcast What is a destionationnaire Alternative term to “hospitality provider” Someone wired to create remarkable experiences that are anticipated and shared Destinationnaire awards Using podcasting creatively in hospitality businesses Creating a private podcast for hotel guests Information on the hotel Hisory of the hotel Local amenities Creating a private podcast for staff Creating a private podcast for restaurant patrons Covid19 - have sanitisation conversations in realtime with customers via all of these different mediums Advice for new podcasters Learn something from your guests Focus on being adaptable Learn editing and distribution Engage with your community Put your audience first Create value through multiple media mediums Podcasts create a direct line between industry leaders and the listening audience Podcasts as a service It is scary to put yourself out there Never been a better time to do it Future for Wil Slickers Constant evolution of the podcast concept Doing podcasts interviews himself Starting in real estate and owning hotels Future of hospitality Industry standards will be raised post pandemic Transparency is key to the new generation of hospitality businesses Words to industry Enjoy the down time Be open to new opportunities Say “f***” it and get out of your comfort zone

Great food, drinks and service are only half the battle. What's the point of offering a world-class product and service if no one knows about it. As hospitality professionals we are as responsible for marketing our wares as we are for perfecting them.  But how? Enter Brett Linkletter of Misfit Media. Brett and his team have been working for years to master social media marketing and advertising. On this episode, Brett runs us though his tips and tricks for sharing your vision with the world. Click to sign up for our weekly newsletter. Click here to book time on my personal calendar. Click here to download our Restaurant Recovery Guide. Want to streamline your front-of-house operations and increase sales? Head over to http://restaurants.yelp.com/fullcomppodcast to claim your free page and learn more about these powerful tools for your business. SHOW NOTES Beginnings of Misfit Media Marketing vs Advertising Marketing articulation of what makes your product or service good Advertising is to create awareness Misfit Media three stage process Difficulties during Covid 150+ clients pre-covid 25% clientele canceled wiith no warning 25% paused until further notice Pivoting during Covid Optimizing systems for online Develop new systems Becoming more effective as an agency Investing more during Covid DineLine Integrated solution from marketing to sale enables online ordering for restaurants POS integration Misfit Media marketing integration delivery from third party apps Restaurants haven’t changed much in the past 100 years Opportunity to do things differently Josh has done physical advertising e.g mailers Found more success with digital paid advertising Paid advertising works so well because it is hyper focussed Underutilized - restaurants are slow to move into technology Misfit Media find the best results with Facebook and Instagram advertising Next Door and Yelp marketing have good results too Budgeting for paid social media advertising Ad spend of $500 per location per month No need to spend more than that Frequency of an ad - number of times someone has seen the ad Wasting money if the same people are seeing the same ad again and again Messenger is also high open rate Average engagement rate for followers is 0.5% Advertising to grow followers arre not useful Create a custom audience after collecting data Enables you to exclude customers already collected Every dollar spent is going to acquisition and building database Advertising group should be min 30,000 people Key KPI Cost per contact Good average is $1-1.20 per lead If 20% of leads collected convert to customers, that is a $5 acquisition Biggest advertising mistake Boost posts No KPIs for success Lazy way to advertise Learning abut social media advertising Restaurant Accelerator course by Misfit Media Billy Gene marketing programs Reopening campaigns step by step