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Finding
a
formula for success in the pizza business is never the same from one
store to
the next, but there are certain elements that are present in nearly
every
successful restaurant.
Background
While
attending college, Adam got his start delivering pizza for Domino’s. In
1992,
he decided to strike out on his own and open an ice cream shop called
The Cone
Zone. Two years later he opened another location in
Working
with Schools
Let’s
jump
right into some of his marketing and how it started. Adam purchased
Potomac
Pizza and has tripled sales since he bought it. He attributes much of
this to
community involvement and working with the schools, but adds that
without a
dedicated staff, great partners and a little luck, he would have never
been
able to do this. “Six years ago, I thought it would be a good idea to
go to the
school and show my daughter’s class how pizza was made,” Adam says. “I
saw how
happy and entertained the kids were and thought to myself ‘Wow! What an
idea.’
I created a program where I go to the schools and do demonstrations
teaching
kids about cheese, tomatoes, pizza and the importance of cleanliness.
Now, 99
percent of the kids in my area know who I am and so do their parents.”
Adam visits
the schools and sets up his demonstration. He calls it grassroots
marketing. He
usually targets second and third grades and loads his catering trucks
with
enough dough balls, cheese and sauce for all of the kids in the grade,
usually
between 100 to 120. For this he usually brings about 150 to 160 dough
balls.
The demonstration is set up in the school’s cafeteria. First, he tells
them
things about a pizzeria, like why the boxes come unfolded. He gives
them a box,
shows them how to fold it and let’s them fold their own. Students are
then
given a dough ball and he shows them how to stretch it out. Before this begins he has everyone wash his
or her hands and explains the importance of cleanliness. Then he tells
them how
tomatoes are grown and goes around and places a dollop of sauce in the
middle
of their dough. Next, he tells them about cheese and where it comes
from and
has them scatter the cheese on their pizzas. Once the demonstration is
over
they box up their pizza and are given instructions on how to bake it
when they
get home. He sets all of this up near the time school is to let out so
they can
take it directly home and put it in the refrigerator or have their
parents help
bake it right then. Before they head home he brings out pre-made pizzas
and
everyone gets to eat. He asks for one volunteer from the school for
every 10
students.
“Doing
something like this takes a lot of time,” Adam says. “Kids are very
impressionable, and I personally do all of the demonstrations. From
start to
finish, it takes between three to four hours per demonstration to pack
up, set
up the demo and get back to the shop. I have estimated it costs me
between $3
and $5 per kid, but I look at it as a marketing cost. Before each child
goes
home, I give them a card making them a Junior Chef, which is good for a
few
dollars off their next visit. The value is the loyalty of these kids.
Kids
determine where the parents eat, so the money I spend is for marketing.
“I
had one
customer drive 45 minutes to get a pizza. He told me that the family
was going
out for pizza and his daughter looked up at him and told him the only
pizza she
eats is Potomac Pizza. He said she didn’t give up until he said they
would go
there for pizza, so he drove 45 minutes across town because his
daughter wanted
Working
With the Community
Just
about
any group who wants help from Potomac Pizza gets it. Adam says that
they do not
have a set budget for legit projects. “Anyone who can show us that they
are
legit and trying to raise money for some community project gets our
help. We
can’t say ‘Hey, we’re out of budget.’ We just do it. They get an info
packet
sent to them that day,” Adam says. For most fundraising groups, he lets
them
know what he has to offer and finds out what kind of event they are
having.
Once this is determined, they set up their catering trucks and trailers
and sell
food. They give up to 25 percent off the top to the groups to help out
with
whatever project for which they are raising money.
New
Neighbors and Marketing
Another
successful strategy Adam employs is their Welcome Kit. “My wife
hand-addresses
all of the Welcome Kits we send,” Adam says. “We get a list of new
people who
move in to our area and send them a coupon good for one free dinner
($25). We
also include information about who we are, where our locations are,
what hours
we are open and what we have to offer. It is only good for dine-in. I
believe
that carryout and delivery customers all come from a dine-in
experience, so we
have them come in to experience all we have. We offer so much more than
pizza
and they don’t get that experience unless they come in to eat. I like
this
strategy because new movers haven’t had time to pick a favorite place
yet, and
this gets us in the door first. We send anywhere from 300 to 600 of
these kits
each month and get about a 25 percent redemption rate. My wife just
loves it,”
he says sarcastically. “I’d rather give away a free meal and get new
customers
in than offer a $5 or $10 discount. I think it works better.”
VIP
Cards
“One
of the
marketing strategies we tried was a VIP card,” Adam says. “When I
opened my
first location, a marketing company came to me and wanted to produce a
card
valued at $120. The sold them for $43, and the company kept proceeds
for
printing and sales. We didn’t think it would sell for that amount, but
it
wasn’t going to cost us anything so we tried it. They sold 550! The
only
problem was that they didn’t have an expiration date. We still get some
of them
today.
“When
I
opened my second location I decided to print the cards myself and have
them
numbered and let the local PTA sell them. We printed 1,000 cards with
the
face value at $40. The PTA kept $10 and
we got the rest for printing and food costs. The cards had a $140 value
to the
customer. There was one discount for $20 off dine-in, $15 off carryout
and $10
off delivery. There were several discounts for $10 off a $20 purchase
and $7
off a $14 purchase. The PTA only sold 50 cards. The problem was that it
was a
hard sell. You have to get the $40 right there on the spot.
“We
went to
another company and asked if they wanted to sell our cards, which had a
$40
face value and they could keep the money. They did some testing and
said at $40
they didn’t sell any, but at $20 and $25 they sold fantastic. They sold
900 of
the cards we had left. Later, we had another company do the printing
and
selling cards. The cards gave customers two $15 off offers with no
purchase
necessary and they sold 2,000. The problem was most were sold to
existing
customers. In areas where you already have customers, it cannibalizes
sales.
These offers and ideas are great, but only in new areas and for new
start-up
operations. If I do it again, I will offer two free one-topping pizzas
instead
of $15 worth of food.”
Fixing
Mistakes
Everyone
who owns a pizzeria makes mistakes on orders. We are all human and so
are the
people working with us. The secret is turning these mistakes into
marketing and
not lost customers. For this, Potomac Pizza uses on-the-spot redemption
tactics
and postcards to ensure customers aren’t lost to the competition. “When
a
mistake is made on a delivery or take-out order, we send a postcard a
couple of
days later with an appropriate offer,” Adam says. “Each one is dealt
with on a
case-by-case basis. Our postcards have an apology and a blank space
where we
can write in the offer. Sometimes it is just a few dollars off the next
visit
or a free item; sometimes it is a free meal. I like to send them out a
few days
later after they have had a little time to cool down in case they are
really
ticked off. Most people just want acknowledgement of the mistake and
this reinforces
that you know about it and want to make it right…not just take their
money.”
Adam
has a
different approach for dine-in mistakes. “As I said, each problem is
handled on
a case-by-case basis, but I never give out a mistake card in the
restaurant. I try
to fix it right there with a replacement or free meal. In many cases,
we get
their name and address immediately and send a card later. I would
rather give
away a meal than lose a customer for life. The reason I don’t give out
cards in
the restaurant is because I don’t want them walking out with a card, I
want
them walking back in with a card.”
Catering
Trucks
In addition
to doing around $7 million a year in the pizza restaurants and deli,
Adam says
they earn $400,000 to $500,000 a year through the use of their catering
trucks.
“Our biggest truck is a 16-foot cab-over that cost about $70,000. We
have
several trucks and trailers we use for events that are really powerful
marketing tools. Not only are these trucks great rolling billboards,
they are
tools we use. Every time I do a school demonstration, catering event or
festival, these trucks are displaying our logo and information. We do a
lot of
end-of-the-year school functions, local festivals, events and some
corporate
catering,” Adam says.
“When
we do
school-related events, we give up to 25 percent off the top back to the
schools. It’s another way I try to give back to those who have helped
me. We
are in everyone’s face everywhere they go in a very good way. We do
pool
parties, picnics sporting events…just about anything. We have two
trailers we
can cook in, but at most events the trucks are used as storage vehicles
to keep
the pre-made pizzas and other items either hot or cold. For these
events,
especially corporate events, we’ll do anything they want, such as wing
buffets
or one like next week where we are doing a fajita buffet. We do a lot
of
catering. Through the deli side, we do over $1 million a year.
“The
biggest mistakes you can make are picking the wrong events or preparing
too
much food. Once you are at an event, like a festival, you only have a
couple of
days to do your thing. At one event we paid $8,000 just to be able to
set up.
After the first three hours, I was stunned at how little we were
selling. It
was something like $300 an hour. So we jumped the counters and got in
people’s
faces. You have to sell and push your products. Get in their faces.
When going
out on catering events, don’t forget about why you are there. Is it
just to
make money or is it to promote your restaurant? Remain focused and give
it 100
percent. Eighty percent of our catering and event strategies are
designed to
promote the restaurant.”
Advice
“The
best
advice I can offer is to work with the community. And, don’t forget
about your
most important asset, your staff. Without a strong staff you can
achieve
nothing. Treat them with respect and the way you would want to be
treated
yourself. This is just a job and if you don’t take care of them they
will find
another job, possibly even if they make less, where they will be happy.
I am
only one person with a staff of 120 amazing individuals. They are the
true
reason Potomac Pizza is a thriving success. I just happen to be the
front man
standing in the limelight. Behind every successful business there are
many
people who have actually made the business great. I have the world’s
best staff
and this is what has helped Potomac Pizza become successful,” Adam
says. “Don’t
worry about every little penny you spend on marketing because sometimes
marketing dollars are spent in different ways, like with the school
demonstrations. Just look at the big picture and treat everyone with
respect.
Always be proactive and never react to what the guy across the street
is doing.
If you worry about what he is doing, you’ll be in for a hard time, and
it can
kill you. You also have to be able to sell yourself. Make yourself and
your
business shine.”
Anniversary
and Grand Opening
To help
promote Potomac Pizza's 25 aniversary and grand opening of the third
Potomac
Pizza, Adam employed several marketing strategies. Among these were a
live
radio remote, inflatable kids jumping arena and the Roadshow Visual
Noise crew.
"The props they (Roadshow crew) brought out, along with our radio
station
and Hummer giveaway was a home run," Adam said. "The sales in our store
that Saturday were up almost 30 percent and it helped us log in our
best
Saturday at the new store, which had been opened for four months. The
event
helped put us on the map and on the road to a great future. The store
has had a
steady increase of 20 percent a month (over last year) since the event. I would highly urge people to try this out
for their grand openings, but remember a successful event is only as
good as
the time and effort you put into it." The Pizza Roadshow was a
fantastic
success.
– PMQ –