Delivering on the promise of expectation

We’ve all seen it: foodservice businesses that go all out to promote themselves on their social media feeds, with Instagram accounts and Facebook pages bedecked with stunning food shots, smiling influencers and the promise of an unforgettable experience.

Yet too many times customers visit these venues only to find the food, the service and the overall experience falls far short of what they were expecting from the imagery promulgated in cyberspace.

If repeat business is what you’re after, this is obviously not the way to approach your foodservice marketing. It’s more likely to lead to a whole string of disgruntled customer reviews and half-star ratings.

The smart operators in foodservice are those who recognise the importance of delivering on the promise of the expectation that’s been built up in the minds of potential customers. FSR spoke to two foodservice professionals who use social media wisely and carefully to ensure it enhances rather than detracts from their business success.

Focus on face to face training

Steve Sidd is Managing Director of Catering HQ, which runs the food offerings in multiple clubs throughout Sydney and has just opened its latest venue at Cronulla RSL. Steve’s business utilises a wide social network which embraces Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

“We’ve got a really big online presence, but at each of our venues our key focus is on face to face training with our teams, at both a leadership and frontline level,” Steve tells us. “We invest a lot in our corporate training, it’s Foodservice 101 to ensure the front of house service not only meets but exceeds customer expectations.

“Our leadership team is constantly roaming the floor checking in with customers and making sure they’re happy – and if we do encounter any issues, we try to defuse them at that initial point of contact because we always want the customer to leave happy. In fact we pass out Google review cards to satisfied customers which contain a QR code so they can easily post a review which helps to increase our online presence.

“At the same time in back of house we ensure food is consistently presented each and every time – we put a lot of effort into training here too, making certain our food prep and presentation is correct. This has never been more important, because we know consumers are extremely price conscious right now given the increased costs of living.

“When they’re deciding where to spend their last $50 we want them to give them sound reasons to choose our venues over others. We know that if we want to be the customer’s preferred choice, we need to deliver excellent food that’s consistent every time, coupled with the best customer service standard. If we can provide that every time, they’ll keep coming back, so we put a lot of focus into delivering a value proposition that exceeds their expectations.”

Steve makes the point that it has become commonplace for foodservice businesses to “photoshop their images and stick them online to make the food look great”, but adds: “You have to be able to deliver on that promise. Every time we roll out a new menu we do a full photoshoot and I’m always there to supervise it. We use those photos not only on our social media but also on our recipe cards and cheat sheets – they’re a reference point for how the meals need to be presented every time. They’re in the kitchen and on our software so the chef can match every aspect of the presentation while they’re prepping and plating the dish.

“Obviously there is a lot of food styling that goes into shoots, but the dish still needs to be able to speak for itself, and as we run the same menu items across multiple venues, it’s imperative we make sure each dish is presented the same way at each.

“It doesn’t matter where our customers go across the Catering HQ group, they can have an expectation that if it’s been served a certain way at one venue it will be the same at the next. The colour of the plates may vary but the dish itself is exactly the same because it’s to our specs every time.”

Helping to ensure this consistency of presentation is a centralised production kitchen which Catering HQ has built at Gregory Hills. “All our main ingredients, slow cooked items such as sous vide lamb, backstrap etc, and our portioned meals are done there, then supplied to our venues,” Steve explains.

He adds that a key element for success in the club environment is investing in the kitchen and food. “Food is often not the club management’s forte, it’s left up to the executive chef. But the club really needs to invest in its food offering, not just in its bars and gaming, because increasingly it’s food that brings people in.

“I think some clubs really need to up the ante with their food and make sure they’re doing it right – especially given the new gambling reforms that are coming in.” You can reach out to Steve via his website www.stevesidd.com and see examples of Catering HQ’s autumn menu at https://www.instagram.com/cateringhq/

“You have to give an honest presentation of what you do”

Pete Dillon is General Manager of Hotel Canberra in Ballarat and brings to the role extensive experience in both foodservice and marketing. “I started out in hospitality when I was not quite 16, doing my chef apprenticeship in regional Victoria. I worked around the country and overseas and then came back to Victoria in 2004 to help care for my mum. At this time I undertook a formal qualification in marketing communications and worked at the ABC as a journalist for seven years, then from 2010 began consulting to other businesses.”

Looking for a fresh challenge, Pete, his husband (and ex-Rockpool chef) Jigs Liwanag, and Pete’s brother Paul who has a sales background decided to combine their skills in running the Hotel Canberra, a grand old pub which dates back to the 1800s and sits on the main road between Ballarat and Creswick. In the 18 months since opening they have established three distinctive food and beverage offerings at the venue: Bobby’s bar, the Stables Café & Bar situated in the property’s former stables, and the Vesta x Jigs dining room which serves a degustation menu.

Pete’s background in marketing comes to the fore in ensuring that what Hotel Canberra puts out on its socials is reflected in the in-venue customer experience. “When you make a promise to a customer, especially when it’s a digital promise through something you’ve put out there that’s part of your ethos, the actual experience has to meet that expectation. Customers are very savvy and all the marketing in the world can’t make up for that shortfall – it’s the old metaphor that you can bring a horse to water but you can’t make them drink.

“We decided very early on that our dining room would be an extension of the dining room at home – beautiful food that Jigs cooks with his team and a very relaxed, unpretentious style of service. We don’t dress formally, there are no starched napkins, because that’s not what our customers are looking for.

“We champion as many Victorian producers and culinary adventurers as we can find – little single person businesses who do one thing exceptionally well, showcasing the incredible produce to be found in this state. Our dining room has no a la carte menu, it’s degustation only, but we also have a fairly sizable snack menu in the bar so if you don’t want to have six to eight courses you can have equally as good food – we match a glass of wine with a teaser menu of two courses from the degustation options.

“Similarly with the Stables Café, we showcase our team’s talents and a menu consisting of about 80 per cent Victorian produce. What that provides to us is a really strong unique selling point and narrative, because every time we put a glass of wine or plate of food in front of somebody we’re able to tell them about its provenance. And during the 10-12 years I spent in radio broadcasting I had the opportunity to meet many of these producers, so we’ve been able to champion and work with our friends and developed relationships with them over the past 20 years.”

Pete uses social media to promote the hotel “because it’s immediate and we can be specific about how we segment our audience for each of our venues. For the most part it’s been unpaid – we’ve been able to grow organically and although we’ve also done some advertising with local media, we discovered that radio ads don’t bring the reaction we want. But with socials, we can put something out and get bookings from it same day or tomorrow.

“That said, what you’re putting out on the socials has to be what you deliver. Yes, you can use stock images or spend a ton on professional photography and styling but unless it matches what’s actually on the plate and what the experience is, you’re going to disappoint. You have to give an honest presentation of what you do.

“Everyone has the tools today – the cameras in our phones will take really good photos and we’ve also got the simplicity of something like Canva or one of the Adobe products to enhance those. But honesty has to extend across the entire experience – it’s not just ‘here’s the food we’ve put on Instagram’ but ‘here’s the service, here’s the provenance story’.

“You also have to know when your audience is online, what they’re looking at and for how long, and all the socials now give you the ability to look at that data. The more you can control the content you put out there yourself, the more likely you’re able to provoke an authentic response.

“We take the same approach to our website – we set it up ourselves and have the flexibility to change it on a daily basis. We send out calls to action via the website such as offers of a free night or weekend’s accommodation. We announce the winners in our regular newsletter and they’ve included people who’ve come from as far away as Perth. Each time we send out a newsletter people send it on to their friends and we see an immediate response of 20-30 people signing up every time, which is growing our database in an organic way. We would never go and buy followers or subscribers because they tend not to be authentic so they add nothing.”

Reduce reliance on influencers

Pete has changed his approach to the use of online influencers such as food and accommodation bloggers over time. “Influencers certainly have value and there is a place for them, but I think as margins are getting smaller we are relying on them less. I would never host a group influencer event these days – I would rather approach each one individually and give them an amount to spend in our venue, which then allows them to share the experience they’ve had as opposed to bringing 15 to 20 people in to take photos of the same food; you might get 24 hours coverage out of that but then you’re done.

“In the same vein, we used to change our menu weekly but we’ve dropped that back to every two to three weeks. Having the same menu on for a longer period means the people who come in the first week tell their mates who might then come by the third week – and we want them to be able to enjoy the same food that they’ve heard about. We’ve had a lot of success thanks to word of mouth and we ask customers as they leave that if they’ve had a great experience with us to please tell their friends, and encourage them to put a review online. And currently our reviews are sitting at about 4.8-4.9 rating out of a possible 5 stars.”

Pete advises that if you’re posting content and not getting responses, it’s likely that you haven’t accurately identified your audience. “Likes are neither here nor there, but if your socials are growing on a month by month basis that’s an indication people are engaging with your content. You’re never going to get it right 100 per cent of the time, but you need to take the time to nut out a strategy and put it in place.

“I’d suggest jumping online and downloading a template for social media strategy – those who can afford it may go to an agency, but a lot of these tools are now available online for free through CRM providers like Hubspot or Mailchimp, and I think they’re vital for businesses to use. You need a roadmap to follow and everyone’s roadmap is different.”