BROPHY BROS. VENTURA
No one knows how long this situation will last, but one thing you can do is send a message to your customers that your restaurant is a safe haven from the pandemic outside.
Make an abundance of caution part of your brand. Put language about your efforts on your site and in your booking flow. If you choose to put more space between tables, broadcast that on social media. Do everything you can to make guests seek out your restaurant as a place of refuge.
It’s a good opportunity to minimize no-shows by communicating with guests to confirm existing reservations, reassuring your guests of the precautions you’re taking, and offering any promotions you have to get them to complete the reservation: a complimentary appetizer, drink, loyalty rewards, etc.
In general, make sure your team has a plan in place for dealing with a sick customer. Protecting your employees and making the other customers feel safe remains your number one priority.
While some diners may end up going to restaurants less frequently during the lingering pandemic, they may still come together for notable calendar events, such as Easter, Passover, Mother’s Day, Graduation celebrations, and so on.
This is another reason why it’s essential to market your restaurant as a particularly sanitary environment: if you can convince guests that you’re offering a safe place, where better for families to meet?
And because so many businesses have pivoted to a remote working structure, you’re surrounded by a population of confined people going stir-crazy.
Think of it this way: this unfortunate crisis has ended up putting an entirely new daytime audience of locals close to your restaurant all day. People still want to connect and help one another out, and they’ll need a venue to do that.
Market your restaurant as a safe place to gather. Reach out to your local customers and encourage them to come in for a lunch promotion; print up T-shirts; make it a genuine place of social gathering — again, a refuge — and you’ll probably end up making them into long-term customers.
BROPHY BROS. VENTURA
Photo Credit Kcruts Photography
1559 SPINNAKER DR. VENTURA, CA 93001
805-639-0865
BROPHY BROS. VENTURA