How To Deliver Perfect Ambience
And A Memorable Customer Experience For Your Restaurant
(And Why 83% Of Your Prospects Will Choose Your Restaurant Over Others)
I know I’m talking to many different types of restaurateur, many different producers of fine cuisine, talk one-to-one but I hope that all of you have something in common; that you are passionate about what you do. Also, that you are always looking to improve your customers experience, and create that magic unique selling point.
Your USP is more important than your food in many ways, because everyone will be saying they do the best food, so it’s up to you to make yourself stand out in the crowd.
So now, I want to tell you about an often over-looked way to create/enhance the wonderful/magical ambience in your restaurant, and therefore how to create a more memorable experience for your customers. Of course it then follows , that your customers become ambassadors for your business, and as you know, word of mouth is the most powerful way of increasing our trade.
And the magic word is…Candlelight. Most people love it, very few dislike it. When given a choice between two similar restaurants, eighty three people out of a hundred would prefer the one with candlelight to the one without. (Clearcraft survey 2006), and if you don’t have it, then eighty three out of a hundred people may walk by. They may never get the chance to taste your fantastic food, because they weren’t drawn in by the magic of candlelight. And they’ll never be out there telling everyone how wonderful your restaurant is.
So it seems like a pretty simple concept doesn’t it. You stick some candles in the restaurant and you’ve got instant ambience, instant romance, instant success. Well maybe so, for one night. But then, if you’ve chosen the wrong ones, you may have saddled yourself with a whole load more work, and expense, that you hadn’t counted on.
Worse still, your staff may get fed up with them, stop using them, and suddenly you’re back to square one and out of pocket. Remember, the aim of the exercise is to get more people in, and keep them coming in.
So take some time and make the right decision, because not all candles are the same.
Candles come in three main guises.