#110 - INTERVIEW with Sarah Gavigan, Founder of Nashville's Otaku Ramen ***** This week's episode is brought to you by: OVATION Get more feedback, more reviews, and more revenue with Ovation. Get started with 2,000 FREE text messages by visiting ovationup.com/chip ***** This week's episode is also sponsored by: RESTAURANT FUNNEL Generate leads, turn those leads into contacts, and then convert those contacts into actual guests that will rave about their experience. To get started, they offer a free Marketing Report Card for your business. Visit restaurantfunnel.com/chip *****Food had always been a big part of her life, but it wasn't until her Secodn Act when Sarah Gavigan considered making it a business. After a long career in Hollywood, she returned to her howetown of Nashville and launched a culinary career with a series of pop-ups. Those eventually led to a restaurant of her own - Otaku Ramen.  On today's episode we talk all about starting over, going big, finding space, and finding a market for your product! IMPORTANT LINKSOtaku Ramen website - https://www.otakuramen.comOtaku Ramen IG - https://www.instagram.com/otakuramen/Otaku Ramen FB - https://www.facebook.com/OtakuRamen1Otaku Ramen Cookbook - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0735220069?tag=randohouseinc5606-20 *****Come join the community on Patreon where a monthly contribution will give you access to a bunch of different perks and benefits like monthly Q&A sessions, podcast swag, and one-on-one coachings with me. SUPPORT US: https://www.patreon.com/restaurantstrategy

#109 - Dealing with Difficult Guests ***** This week's episode is brought to you by: OVATION Get more feedback, more reviews, and more revenue with Ovation. Get started with 2,000 FREE text messages by visiting ovationup.com/chip ***** This week's episode is also sponsored by: RESTAURANT FUNNEL Generate leads, turn those leads into contacts, and then convert those contacts into actual guests that will rave about their experience. To get started, they offer a free Marketing Report Card for your business. Visit restaurantfunnel.com/chip ***** There’s an old cliche that says, “The customer is always right.” And I think that’s largely true, but misunderstood. We often forget about the second part of the quote. The whole thing goes like this: “The customer is always right; they’re just not all your customers.”  This week I want to talk about those people who may not be your customers. In the restaurant industry we call them difficult guests. *****Come join the community on Patreon where a monthly contribution will give you access to a bunch of different perks and benefits like monthly Q&A sessions, podcast swag, and one-on-one coachings with me. SUPPORT US: https://www.patreon.com/restaurantstrategy

#108 - INTERVIEW with David Schneider, Director of Ops at Portale Restaurant This week's episode is brought to you by: BENTOBOX BentoBox is a website, e-commerce, and marketing platform for restaurants. Over 6,000 restaurants worldwide rely on BentoBox to drive high-margin revenue and connect with guests through their websites, including those of José Andrés’s ThinkFoodGroup and Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group. To further support the restaurant community during COVID-19, Restaurant Strategy listeners will receive 50% off their setup fee when they sign up by March 29. To learn more, visit: www.getbento.com/restaurantstrategy ***** "Marketing of the thing can’t make up for the thing." The best way to market a product is to create a product worth buying. On today’s episode I had the great pleasure of sitting down with my longtime friend and colleague, David Schneider. He spent years wiorking with Chef Michael White at the Altamarea Group and is now the Director of Operations for Portale restaurant here in NYC. We spend a good deal of the conversation talking about relationship between operations and marketing. He’s one of the smartest guys I know and also perhaps the nicest. I hope you enjoy this week’s interview.  IMPORTANT LINKS: David Schenider's Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/davidschneiderny/Portale Restaurant - https://www.portalerestaurant.com *****Come join the community on Patreon where a monthly contribution will give you access to a bunch of different perks and benefits like monthly Q&A sessions, podcast swag, and one-on-one coachings with me. SUPPORT US: https://www.patreon.com/restaurantstrategy  ***** Happy listening,Chip Klose

#107 - The Best Ways to Increase Check Average This week's episode is brought to you by: BENTOBOX BentoBox is a website, e-commerce, and marketing platform for restaurants. Over 6,000 restaurants worldwide rely on BentoBox to drive high-margin revenue and connect with guests through their websites, including those of José Andrés’s ThinkFoodGroup and Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group. To further support the restaurant community during COVID-19, Restaurant Strategy listeners will receive 50% off their setup fee when they sign up by March 29. To learn more, visit: www.getbento.com/restaurantstrategy ***** A few weeks back I launched a Patreon Page for people to support the show, and as one of the key perks I decided to create a daily private podcast for all of my supporters. The show is called The Daily Special and episodes are released every weekday. Short, snackable where I share tips and tools you can implement right away.  I love the format of the show and I’m having a lot of fun with it. So far we’ve got about a dozen patrons over on Patreon and I want to continue growing that community. To entice you to come join us, I’m sharing the first week of episodes with you here this week on this podcast… 5 back to back episodes that all add up to 25 minutes of fun. I hope you enjoy this special episode of Restaurant Strategy.  *****Come join the community on Patreon where a monthly contribution will give you access to a bunch of different perks and benefits like monthly Q&A sessions, podcast swag, and one-on-one coachings with me. SUPPORT US: https://www.patreon.com/restaurantstrategy  ***** Happy listening,Chip Klose

#106 - Discussing the Marketing Revolution with Bestselling Author, Mark Schaefer This week's episode is brought to you by: BENTOBOX BentoBox is a website, e-commerce, and marketing platform for restaurants. Over 6,000 restaurants worldwide rely on BentoBox to drive high-margin revenue and connect with guests through their websites, including those of José Andrés’s ThinkFoodGroup and Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group. To further support the restaurant community during COVID-19, Restaurant Strategy listeners will receive 50% off their setup fee when they sign up by March 29. To learn more, visit: www.getbento.com/restaurantstrategy ***** Mark Schaefer is an educator, marketing strategist, public speaker, and bestselling author. One book in particular is called MARKETING REBELLION, and on this week's epsiode we're talking about the best way to incorporate his ideas into restaurants.  IMPORTANT LINKS:  Mark's Website - https://businessesgrow.com Get the Marketing Rebellion book - https://businessesgrow.com/rebellion/ Get the coloring book - https://businessesgrow.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Marketing-Rebellion-Coloring-Book-.pdf Get the Cumulative Advantage book - https://businessesgrow.com/cumulative-advantage/ *****Come join the community on Patreon where a monthly contribution will give you access to a bunch of different perks and benefits like monthly Q&A sessions, podcast swag, and one-on-one coachings with me. SUPPORT US: https://www.patreon.com/restaurantstrategy  ***** Happy listening,Chip Klose

#105 - Transactions, Value, and Price This week's episode is brought to you by: BENTOBOX BentoBox is a website, e-commerce, and marketing platform for restaurants. Over 6,000 restaurants worldwide rely on BentoBox to drive high-margin revenue and connect with guests through their websites, including those of José Andrés’s ThinkFoodGroup and Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group. To further support the restaurant community during COVID-19, Restaurant Strategy listeners will receive 50% off their setup fee when they sign up by March 29. To learn more, visit: www.getbento.com/restaurantstrategy ***** Transactions, Value, and Price... three words we use often that sort of lose their meaning after a while. But this week I want to give you a new way of thinking about them. Tune in!  *****Come join the community on Patreon where a monthly contribution will give you access to a bunch of different perks and benefits like monthly Q&A sessions, podcast swag, and one-on-one coachings with me. SUPPORT US: https://www.patreon.com/restaurantstrategy  ***** Happy listening,Chip Klose

#104 - INTERVIEW: Round Two with Chef/Owner Nathan Mergen This week's episode is brought to you by: BENTOBOX BentoBox is a website, e-commerce, and marketing platform for restaurants. Over 6,000 restaurants worldwide rely on BentoBox to drive high-margin revenue and connect with guests through their websites, including those of José Andrés’s ThinkFoodGroup and Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group. To further support the restaurant community during COVID-19, Restaurant Strategy listeners will receive 50% off their setup fee when they sign up by March 29.  To learn more, visit: www.getbento.com/restaurantstrategy ***** Way back on Episode #30 of this podcast I interviewed Nathan Mergen, the chef/owner of 107 State out in Madison, WI. We're coming up on the restaurant's two year anniversary, and given the tumultous year I thought it might be worthwhile to sit down and chat with him about where the restaurant is at and what the future looks like.  IMPORTANT LINKS 107 State Website: https://107state.comInstgram: https://www.facebook.com/107state/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/107state/ Come join the community on Patreon where a monthly contribution will give you access to a bunch of different perks and benefits like monthly Q&A sessions, podcast swag, and one-on-one coachings with me. SUPPORT US: https://www.patreon.com/restaurantstrategy  ***** Happy listening,Chip Klose

#103 - A Constant Evolution This week's episode is brought to you by: BENTOBOX BentoBox is a website, e-commerce, and marketing platform for restaurants. Over 6,000 restaurants worldwide rely on BentoBox to drive high-margin revenue and connect with guests through their websites, including those of José Andrés’s ThinkFoodGroup and Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group. To further support the restaurant community during COVID-19, Restaurant Strategy listeners will receive 50% off their setup fee when they sign up by March 29.  To learn more, visit: www.getbento.com/restaurantstrategy ***** This week we're shifting our conversation from the PIVOT to an EVOLUTION, and I'm excited to announce the launch of our Patreon Page, as well as a new private podcast called The Daily Special.  SUPPORT US: https://www.patreon.com/restaurantstrategy If you have $5 to spare, please come support this show. It will grant you access to our new private podcast... and at the higher tiers you'll find a bunch of other great perks like Q&A sessions, podcast swag, and one-on-one coaching calls with me.  Thanks to everyone for helping to grow this community. I'll see you over on Patreon! Happy Listening!Chip

#102 - Can Technology Make Restaurants More Hospitable? This week's episode is brought to you by: BENTOBOX BentoBox is a website, e-commerce, and marketing platform for restaurants. Over 6,000 restaurants worldwide rely on BentoBox to drive high-margin revenue and connect with guests through their websites, including those of José Andrés’s ThinkFoodGroup and Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group. To further support the restaurant community during COVID-19, Restaurant Strategy listeners will receive 50% off their setup fee when they sign up by March 29.  To learn more, visit: www.getbento.com/restaurantstrategy ***** On this week's episode we're talking all about the intersection of technology and hospitality. If implemented properly I believe technology can help operators cut expenses, drive revenue, and improve guest experience. Curious to know how? Listen in! IMPORTANT LINKS Wisely - https://www.getwisely.comSevenrooms - https://sevenrooms.comTock - https://www.exploretock.comToast - https://pos.toasttab.comLavu - https://lavu.comBreadcrumb - https://upserve.com/platform/restaurant-pos/BentoBox - https://getbento.com E-MAIL: chip@chipklose.com THREE SMALL REQUESTS:  1. Leave a review and rating on Apple Podcasts2. Follow us on FB and IG: @restaurantstrategy3. Support our Sponsor: www.getbento.com/restaurantstrategy   ***** Happy listening,Chip Klose

#101 - The ABCDs of Marketing This week's episode is brought to you by: BENTOBOX BentoBox is a website, e-commerce, and marketing platform for restaurants. Over 6,000 restaurants worldwide rely on BentoBox to drive high-margin revenue and connect with guests through their websites, including those of José Andrés’s ThinkFoodGroup and Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group. To further support the restaurant community during COVID-19, Restaurant Strategy listeners will receive 50% off their setup fee when they sign up by March 29.  To learn more, visit: www.getbento.com/restaurantstrategy ***** On Episode 101, I'm reviewing a framework I've developed for marketing any product or service. I call it the ABCDs of Marketing - a systematic approach for understanding any market.  A is for AUDIENCE B is for BRANDING C is for Competition D is for DIFFERENTIATION I take you through each one and introduce an exercise to help you apply the ideas to your own business. Before you do any sort of promotion, you need to understand these four areas. Getting clear on this will help you as we move forward.   THREE SMALL REQUESTS:  1. Leave a review and rating on Apple Podcasts 2. Follus us on FB and IG: @restaurantstrategy 3. Support our Sponsor: www.getbento.com/restaurantstrategy   ***** Happy listening,Chip Klose