Market Research Strategies for Restaurant Owners

While I was in college, I spent some time working in a restaurant. As a marketing major, I had an opportunity to experiment with many of the theories and tactics that I had learned. One of the most valuable marketing practices is having the ability to grow and adapt your business to meet the needs and wants of your customers. To do this, you must learn to listen to your customers and find out how they feel about your products, customer service, and competitors. Here are some simple strategies to conduct your own market research for your restaurant.

Comment Cards

Many restaurants have cards that customers fill out to let management know about their visit. Using the information from the cards, restaurant management can see if there are underlying problems that would normally go unnoticed. The only downside to using comment cards is that a majority of the time, you will get mostly negative comments. Why? Because unhappy customers are more motivated to let the restaurant know about an unpleasant experience.

Tip - To make sure that every customer gets an opportunity to fill out a comment card, use your servers to distribute them. Direct them to give one to every table when they deliver the check. You might get a better response if you offer some sort of discount or free item in exchange for a completed card.

Field Research

While conducting research inside the restaurant can help you learn about your current customers, it is important to learn from potential customers outside the business. A great way to do this is through field research. If your restaurant is located in a heavily traveled area, you may be able to interact with potential customers who pass by. If you are more secluded, you may need to visit a local shopping center. Your goal is to find out what the perceptions and "word on the street" is about your business from non-customers.

Tip - Send out a street team to give out free samples from the restaurant's desert menu. While the consumers are trying the samples, use the opportunity to find out how they feel about their past experiences with the restaurant.

Focus Groups

Focus groups can be a great way to gather information about the establishment. Entice about 5-10 customers to participate in a focus group by offering them a free meal. After they have visited the restaurant, get them all together to share their thoughts and opinions about their experience. Take the negative feedback that you get to make improvements to the restaurant. A few weeks after making the changes, invite your group back to give feedback to see if the changes improved their perception and experience during the second visit.

Get your Managers and employees Involved

Nobody knows your customers better than the people who interact them on a daily basis. Encourage your managers and employees to share the positive and negative feedback that they receive from customers. A great way to do this is to have monthly brainstorming meetings. During the meetings, ask your employees to share areas of the restaurant that need improvement. As a group, try and come up with solutions to fix each of the discussed problem areas.

More from Associated Content:
Easy Ways to Negotiate a Car Lease
Understanding the Four Ps of Marketing
A Project Manager's Guide to Negotiating with Contractors