Crushing Covid-19: The Restaurateur's Guide

What if we traveled back in time by say, 6 months, could anyone have imagined what is happening right now? Could anyone have imagined the extent to which Covid-19 has changed our lives forever? How did we get here? And, more importantly, how do we get ourselves out of this situation, from trying to survive, back to thriving? It’s just too overwhelming to do this on our own. I’m exhausted! If any of this above sounds familiar, you’re not alone. I wish I could provide the answers but I have found out that the harder I try, the more I discover that there is a lot to these things.

While I wish this would all go away and have our lives return back to normal, every day I see the new infection cases being recorded, I can only conclude that COVID-19 might be around for a while and it is high time we started planning to kick COVID-19 in the behind.

According to JBF reports, “Restaurants, on average, laid off 91% of their hourly workforce and 70% of salaried employees due to COVID-19 related closures.” As though this is not enough bad news for us, the National Restaurant Association also reported that “Two out of three restaurant employees have lost their jobs.” Life is not on hold though it may feel this way in many respects, life is now, and a lot of lives and businesses are being affected.

Lately, I started to think about what needed to be done as a Customer Experience Strategist serving the restaurant industry. There must be a way out somehow. So, I started thinking of a solution rather than the problem. How can we subdue COVID-19 and get our restaurant businesses up and running again? What do we need to do to make sure we empower restaurant owners and support them to not only survive, but also thrive in the present pandemic and even make more profit than ever before, for the short and long term?

I listened to webinar, after podcast, after webcast, to hear the perspective of what the restaurateurs are dealing with; staff, mindset & morale, logistical challenges and shifts they needed to make, not over months with time to plan, but overnight. We realized no one was asking the customers what they need from restaurants, for them to continue eating out and ordering to support their beloved restaurant industry.

So, we decided to do a survey to get the customer’s perspective. We discovered the top 3 things that restaurant diners need restaurant owners to address at this time. It is interesting that what is lost is not the desire to dine out and socialize, not the desire to eat sumptuous meals, or even the desire to pay for great food. What is lost is simple. You want to know what is lost? CONFIDENCE!

Yes, I said it. In our survey, we discovered that restaurant diners are willing to pay for food and patronize their beloved restaurants but they wanted three things addressed:

1. They want to be sure that they are SAFE.
2. They want to be sure that RESTAURANT OWNERS and EMPLOYEES are following the CDC health and hygiene safety guidelines (and even beyond) while COMMUNICATING it all clearly to them.
3. They want to come in and know that your STAFF IS TRAINED to keep them safe and take good care of them.

This may sound rather unflattering but right now, the restaurants that would 2x, 3x, and 4x their revenue are the ones who are focusing all their strengths on these top three things. Any serious restaurateur who is ready for the new era business must address these three things, and they must be addressed the right way.

There may be different ways to look for a solution, but there is a MORE effective way! These 3 things which are now very crucial to having your customers coming back to patronize your business, and rave on and offline about how well you are doing these things during this hard time, must not only be addressed, but they must be addressed STRATEGICALLY. The game has changed, and ditto for the GAME PLAN too!

Armed with the data I needed, I decided to create a weekly Live Show on LinkedIn & Facebook to speak with owners/Chefs, GMs, podcasters, etc.  serving those in the restaurant and hospitality industry. My goal was to give them an amplified voice, to highlight what they are doing so others can learn from them, while shining the light on their restaurant to give them lots of social media love and promote them in hopes of sending more business their way.

It is now called Celebrity Customer Experience™, Riffs with Jill Raff and I invite you to join our conversation every Thursday at 12 noon CST! While it is wonderful connecting with so many interesting, driven, and like minded entrepreneurs, I did not feel like I was doing enough, that I was not using all I have to offer fully to help others in a tangible way, which was my incentive to starting the live streams. 

Crushing COVID-19 will take more than just LinkedIn or Facebook Live Sessions, it would require a lot more. There would be a need to set up a CX system that is health and safety centered, while still delivering a Celebrity Customer Experience™ and increasing repeat businesses and revenue.

After painstakingly coming up with a solution, I decided to put it all in a course, and due to what I learned from the customers needs, it is called the Confident Customers Through Customer Experience, (CCTCX) 4-in-1 course. Knowing I could help restaurants deliver what the customers need to go back to doing business with them, restaurants win by reestablishing the trust resulting in not only more sales, but higher frequency of repeat customers.

In my research, I found out that most restaurant owners are quite confused on what to do, so I decided to make it my personal project to work with 12 qualified restaurant owners who are willing to dig deep and get TONS of personal attention on their unique issues with one-on-one consulting with me, as well as learn from a small intimate, and confidential group of others going through exactly what you are in this challenging time. My only goal is to help them survive today, but also be set to thrive ‘tomorrow’; to set their business on the right path for success, using my proprietary Inside-Out Framework™: EX-CX.

If you're interested in increasing your restaurant sales and revenue like wildfire with a breakthrough offer, then you will want to be one of the first to know about my upcoming course that will teach you how to do just that. It teaches you and your management how to grow your revenue, repeat customers, reviews and ratings, and even retention of the employees you want to stay with you as you reopen, through customer experience marketing, in pandemic times and beyond.

Our CCTCX (Customer Confidence Through Customer Experience) 4-in-1 hybrid course, is specially designed to maximize this time when things are slower so when fully ramped back up, your employees will feel confident to come in to work, and they will pass that confidence and great training on to your customers’ experience.

The price for this course when we launch it is still undetermined as the rewards and benefits you’ll create through the major shifts you will make during the process of this course, and brainstorming with me, will be huge. You will have the opportunity to reset and create the business you dreamed of when deciding to open a restaurant.

This gift to yourself of investing in your business and your people will result in creating a happy, collaborative ‘work-family' that will interact with your customers to create relationships resulting in long term loyal advocates who will do your marketing for you, word-of-mouth, on and offline. that the value is priceless. We want to be mindful and respectful of the current global economic situation so we are keeping the price low for all of the value offered, to be a no-brainer for you to get the value to exponentially increase your repeat customers, ratings & reviews, retention, and grow your revenue.

BUT...if you're reading this now, the good news is, I am looking for beta testers.I am currently offering this pilot program for an extremely discounted price of only $147 if you are selected as one of our first 12 Inaugural Pilot Participants.

 This course includes both one-on-one and small group coaching where I personally work with you and help you to grow your unique restaurant's business using my multi-industrial, multicultural, and multidimensional high-level strategies gained with over 30 years in the restaurant industry from McDonald's to Michelin.

The Steep Discounted Special Pilot Price Gives You:

* full course access to videos, action guides, and resources

* two personal 1-on-1 calls with Jill

* 6 weekly small group consulting calls with Jill

* participation and input as a beta tester

* support and participation in our CCTCX members-only Facebook group 

      ……ALL for a ridiculously low price of just $147.

(All of the above will never be offered at this price again. It’s a one time, limited offer.)

I am SO confident you will get results, that if after 24 hours of finishing the program, and if you do not feel you got any value from our calls and the course work, I am willing to offer a money-back guarantee. If you feel you did not learn any new strategies; if after you do the work in all of the action guides with 100% commitment and completeness, if you implement the ideas we discuss and systems you create through this course; and if you do not feel you are set up to create positive changes in your business, simply email us within 24 hours of completion, and I will refund your investment of $147.

If you are happy with the value I deliver, do NOTHING, just keep working on the new progress and momentum you will have created during our time together. The reason I am doing this is BECAUSE I am driven by the opportunity to help as many restaurants as possible, especially in these tough times.

I know 100%, without a doubt, that together we can make a difference, for you, your restaurant, your employees, customers and community in which you live. I am turning this program into a course so I want case studies before I do so. I am, therefore, making it my personal mission to get YOU results. It's a win-win. I have a strong work ethic and am committed to working hard for your testimonial and referrals. I appreciate and look forward to using your case studies for my course launch.

The ONLY ‘expectations' are these two: 1. You have to be willing to put your ego aside, look honestly at what is really happening in your business, and be committed to doing the work required to make the necessary changes for growth. And, 2. You Have to agree to be a case study for my course after you get amazing results and give me a strong testimonial of your experience and growth together, to use publicly.

If you're not willing to share after you complete the course, please do not take the offer. At $147, I am not doing this to make money; I am doing it so I can impact and help the most restaurants NOW, when needed most, to utilize this time and reap the rewards and benefits guided by my upcoming program. If you would like to participate, click here to apply to be one of the select 12 to get in on this amazing limited-time offer.

Once we are full with 12 participants, to keep it intimate and personal, and to respect the massive value and personalized attention I will be giving these 12 businesses, we must cap registration at 12. So don’t hesitate - ACT FAST.

“Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean.” - Ryunosuke Satoro

You don’t have to go it alone. Let us support you.

Click HERE To Sign Up Now to get in on this insane opportunity with so much personal attention given to you and your business as you grow through this course created to help you in this challenging time today, and create the bridge to ‘tomorrow’, as you plan for reopening intentionally and purposefully, not in a rush because you suddenly have customers again and you’re not prepared.