**AVAILABLE NOW: COVID-19 E-Book: 7 Tips and 21-Point Checklist to Prepare For Reopening. Download Your Free Copy.**
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Ladd Biro is the founder and principal of Champion Management, a marketing, public relations, social media, strategy, really an everything-agency specializing in serving restaurants and helping them grow. On this installment of “Give an Ovation”, he offers 6 recommendations on how restaurants can get ready for the post-covid industry.
1. Be Overly Cautious
You can’t be too safe with this – it’s definitely time for extra measures, such as making one of your employees a sanitary captain, someone whose primary focus is cleaning the store. Speaking of, you need to be cleaning all surfaces very often. We suggest every 30 minutes.
2. Make Your Efforts Visible
The average Joe has now shaved his head and become Mr. Clean. Going forward, customers are going to be very sensitive of health and sanitation. Ladd explained that someone at your restaurant will expect to see waiters wearing gloves, masks, and cleaning very often. To keep your restaurant from seeming too much like a hospital, try wearing branded masks, bandanas, or other things to keep it fun.
3. Have A Plan In Place
Whether it will be a hard or soft re-open for you, Ladd put it this way: “It all starts now. You gotta plan for it now. The restaurant leaders who are ahead of the game and are thinking through how they’re gonna re-open and what their future restaurant of the future is gonna look like, the ones that are doing that right now are the ones that are gonna win.”
4. Curbside Isn’t Going By The Wayside
While third party delivery can be tricky and expensive, curbisde pick-up should be a profitable part of a restaurant’s business plan. Ladd explained that it’s not going away, so if you aren’t totally on board yet, do it. He also noted that there’s most likely going to be a 2nd wave of COVID-19, so to remove curbside would be premature.
5. Capture The Eat-ertainment Market
There’s a lot of people who would normally be eating at sporting events, concerts, and other venues that are stuck at home right now. Ladd suggested creating special kits that customers can order to take advantage of the gap in the market. For example, football kits with hotdogs and drinks, or movie kits with popcorn.
6. Show Health Care Workers Some Love
Front line nurses and other workers are the new national heroes right now, and they can be a loyal group for you. Try healthcare happy hour once a month, special discounts, nurses eat free on Wednesdays, etc.
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Thanks for reading! Make sure to check out the whole podcast, as well as other interviews with restaurant/business gurus by checking out “Give an Ovation” on YouTube, podcast.ovationup.com, or your favorite place to listen to podcasts.
Also be sure to visit championmgt.com, or email lbiro@championmgt.com to learn more about Champion Management and Ladd.
