Instructions for setting up free meal offer

for the ‘Restaurant Letter’

1.     Select a restaurant, which you like going to and is either a client of yours or you would be proud to have as a client.

2.     Go and visit the proprietor at a time other than a busy period.

3.     Tell the proprietor that you would like to offer each of your clients the opportunity of celebrating their birthday at their restaurant.

4.     Explain that what you would like is the right to offer the client a free meal (entree, main course, sweets) on their birthday for that person only, liquor not included and choosing from the normal menu.

5.     The proprietor will want, at this juncture, to tell you how much this is going to cost you.

6.     Explain to the proprietor that you expect that they will give the whole meal to the birthday person at no cost to you (or the birthday person).

7.     Be ready to either catch the proprietor if they look like fainting dead away or have oxygen available if they hyperventilate.

8.     Explain to the proprietor that you are doing them a favour by introducing a huge number of potential regular patrons as their birthdays come up over the next year. Point out that their meal cost is not the menu price, nor is it the normal average cost per diner, since these are extra patrons they would not have got and thus the overheads can not be charged against these “bonus diners” either. The real cost is the cost of the raw materials only.

9.     Stress that since it is your client’s birthday it is likely that they will be accompanied by one or more people (unless they are Australians) to celebrate with them who will, of course, pay normal prices.

10.  Emphasize that because the birthday person is not paying it is rather likely that they will spend what they save, and more, on alcohol on which the profit margin is hugely satisfactory.

11.  Highlight that, if the restaurant staff are adept at capitalizing on the add on, upselling and cross selling opportunities, the potential to increase revenue and profit from each of these birthday groups is huge.

12.  Finally mention that the beauty of this proposal is that it only costs the proprietor money when somebody takes up the offer and comes into the restaurant. Compare this to any form of advertising where the bill must be paid regardless of success.

13.  Once agreement is reached, show the proprietor the voucher you have prepared or the letter that your clients will present when dining.

14.  Mail the attached birthday letter to each of the clients you like (why worry about the problem clients, the whingers or complainers?) to arrive a couple of days before their birthday.

15.  Sit back and bathe in the rosy aura of goodwill that will emanate from your clients in appreciation of your generous gesture.

16.  Remember to stay in touch with the restaurateur from time-to-time. Write them up for heaps of business in due course… that’s the least you can do by way of accepting their gratitude.

17.  Dependent on the geographical spread of your clients you may need to have several restaurants involved… and anyway you’ll probably need a different restaurant for the next year, so its worth starting the cultivation now.