Ken Burgin

Restaurant Productivity

Sales & Marketing

Community Support

Podcast 20: Building Community Support for your Local Cafe

July 4, 2022 No Comments

Every cafe owner likes the idea of building ‘community support’ and having loyal local customers, but how do you make this happen? Ken Burgin interviewed Mike Matich from Crooked Spire Cafe in Perth, about how he’s built strong local support in his area. What makes it a place that appeals to everyone in the community, from street people to tradies, families and office workers – including the local Member of Parliament? His enthusiasm for business

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social media marketing

Podcast 14: Smarter Marketing for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and Celebrations

April 11, 2022 No Comments

In this podcast, Ken Burgin talks with Mark Khoder from YourSocialChef. He develops and manages social media and marketing campaigns for a wide variety of cafes, restaurants and food brands. As you will hear in the discussion, he is 100% focused on getting the best return on investment, to help your brand and income grow. There’s no shortage of social media options, and it’s easy to be excited by the latest ‘shiny object’ – but

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Rise Menu Prices

How to Raise Restaurant Menu Prices without Negative Pushback

October 19, 2021 No Comments

Inflation is back, following dramatic rises in energy costs, wages and all the food & beverage supplies we purchase. Operators still holding the price of meals to what they were 12 months ago are bearing the brunt of massive increases in the cost of ingredients. And profitability is suffering. Setting prices is approached with fear and anxiety by many restaurant and cafe operators, but it’s a unique opportunity to use your marketing and financial skills

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Restaurant Training Quiz

How to Use a Trivia Quiz for Restaurant & Pub Training, or to Keep Customers Connected

August 17, 2021 No Comments

A good Trivia Quiz is a great way to lift the spirits and stretch the brain, and in the time of Covid lockdowns, it’s also an excellent way to stay connected with customers, staff and friends. Staff Training: I’ve had a lot of success with quizzes lately, using a Trivia Quiz to train staff in a new business product – an otherwise very dry subject. Technical details had to be learned, and there’s a limit

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Customer Experience for Restaurants

What’s the Net Easy Score (NES) for your Restaurant or Cafe?

August 4, 2021 No Comments

You’re probably heard of NPS or Net Promoter Score, a simple measurement of how likely people are to do business with you again. Another way to measure your business is with the Net Easy Score or NES. Based on work by Sue Barrett, it looks at the restaurant customer experience – all the ways your business is easy, or difficult, to deal with. Here are ten ways NES could measure this in restaurants, cafes and

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Google Alerts for Restaurants

How to Use Google Alerts for Restaurant Marketing

July 25, 2021 No Comments

Using Google Alerts for Restaurants is like having a magic wand that finds new sales opportunities and shows what your competitors are doing. In fact, Google Alerts is a content change detection and notification service, based on the Google search engine. It sends emails to the user when it finds new results—such as mentions on web pages, newspaper articles, blogs, or research about a topic. It’s a great way to find out who is talking

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Covid Lockdown for Restaurants

Plan B for a Covid Lockdown for Restaurants or Cafes

May 9, 2021 No Comments

As COVID controls and vaccination helps businesses return to more normal operations, government policy in Australia and New Zealand now seems to be using selective lock-downs to control spot fires and coronavirus outbreaks. Planning is essential for when there’s another Covid Lockdown for Restaurants or Cafes. Your Lockdown Plan B needs to cover three critical areas, so you can move within hours to protect your business, and alert customers, staff and suppliers. First, diversify your

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Restaurant Forecasting

Smarter Restaurant Forecasting to Boost Sales & Stop Cost Blowouts

April 11, 2021 No Comments

With smart ‘future-watching’, you can adjust staff and purchasing to reflect expected business much more accurately. Covid disruption has shaken up a lot of business patterns, but it’s still possible to make good predictions about future sales and customer numbers. Caterers work with 100% certainty for much of the time – they get low food and wage costs because they work with exact numbers, not guesswork. So how can a café, restaurant or bar also

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C.R.C. – 3 Words to Get Much Better Results

March 22, 2021 No Comments

If your staff management, menu updates, and marketing is inconsistent, these 3 words will get you back on track. They create much-needed discipline in an industry that’s often ‘hit and miss’, and they also show staff and public that your business is professional and reliable. Calendar + Reminders = Consistency. And consistency is what makes the difference between smart ideas, and the implementation of them that creates results. Consistency is what your competitors rarely achieve

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10 Ways to Celebrate Your Restaurant’s Birthday, and Make a Real Impact

November 20, 2020 No Comments

People love to see a business succeed, and if they’re regular customers, they have watched your growth and development. An annual birthday celebration is a great way to share the love and build loyalty. Not sure when it is? No problem, make it up! Once you’ve set the date, here are some easy ways to spread the word, and remember, social media is your #1 friend for this! Birthday Week, not just One Day: milk

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