{"id":106,"date":"2023-03-31T18:20:27","date_gmt":"2023-03-31T18:20:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/birthdayprofitsystems.com\/?page_id=106"},"modified":"2023-04-14T13:41:06","modified_gmt":"2023-04-14T13:41:06","slug":"unusual","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/birthdayprofitsystems.com\/unusual\/","title":{"rendered":"4.5 Unusual Ways Restaurants Can Use Birthdays to Fill Their Tables"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"4<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Before I get to the UN-usual ways, let me quickly cover the usual ways and the WHY.
\n.<\/span>
\nThere are two reasons a restaurant should collect the birthdays of their customers and offer them a free meal for their birthday.
\n.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

1)\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0 Very few people will dine alone on their birthday and you\u2019ll make money from the other guests.
\n.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

2)<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 Collecting birthdays gives you a great \u201creason-why\u201d to ask your customers for their email address and other contact information you can use to get those people back throughout the year.
\n.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

A whole book could be written about WHY you should have an email list of your customers.
\n.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ll sum it all up by saying an email list allows you to control your customer list.
\n.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

You may have hundreds or even thousands of social media followers but the platforms have the control.
\n.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

They can shut down your account for any reason.
\n.<\/span>
\n\"\"
\n.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

They want you to pay them to reach most of your fans.
\n.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Plus you have zero control over WHEN your posts are seen.
\n.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I feel sad every time I see a Taco Tuesday Facebook post from a restaurant on Wednesday or Thursday.
\n<\/span>..
\n<\/span>And a quick word about the actual gift you give to your customers for their birthdays.
\n.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Don't cheap out and offer a free dessert or appetizer or worse...alcohol.
\n.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Offer a free meal for anyone in your \"birthday club\".
\n.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

You can set a dollar value on it so everyone isn't ordering the \"lobster\".
\n<\/span>.<\/span>
\nYou can permit only one birthday celebrant per table so the Smith Quintuplets don't all show up on the same night.
\n.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>
\nAlthough those Smith quintuplets do bring a crowd, so maybe.
\n.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

You should allow them to claim it anytime during the MONTH of their birthday.
\n.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Most will have family plans for the actual day.
\n.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Allowing them to use it anytime during the month gives you multiple opportunities to remind them via email....increasing the likelihood they will come in and bring 1-3 people who have never eaten with you before.
\n.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

And of course, TAKE PICTURES OF EVERY BIRTHDAY TABLE and use it on your social media.
\n.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

There are worse things to be known for than being the go-to spot for birthday parties!
\n.<\/span>
\nOK\u2026Now the UN-Usual Ideas\u2026
\n.<\/span>
\n1) Let local businesses offer a birthday deal to your restaurant.
\n.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

What businesses in your neighborhood know the birthdays of their customers?
\n<\/span>.<\/span>
\nDoctors, dentists, chiropractors, therapists, lawyers, accountants, financial planners and the like.
\n.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I'm sure exactly zero of them do anything for their client's\/patient's birthdays.
\n.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Primarily because they have nothing exciting to offer and they don't have the budget to pay for gifts.
\n.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

More than zero of them could be convinced to give them a FREE Birthday meal at your restaurant.
\n.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

When thinking about local businesses don\u2019t overlook large local employers.
\n.<\/span>
\nAll employers know the birthdays of their employees.
\n.<\/span>
\nA quick email to HR offering a\u00a0 free birthday lunch for the birthday person is likely to get a response.
\n.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Start this quest for collaborators in your own life\/business.<\/span>
\n<\/span>.<\/span>
\nAre any of your good restaurant customers\u00a0doctors or dentists or chiropractors or accountants?
\n.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Who is YOUR doctor\/dentist\/chiropractor\/accountant etc?\u00a0 Who is your spouse's?\u00a0 Your kid's?\u00a0 Your parent's?\u00a0 Your cousin's?\u00a0 Your best friend's?
\n.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

A quick social media post will likely bring you leads...
\n<\/span>
\n.\"\"<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n


\n.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

If you're on the fence or nowhere near the fence on this idea, think about this...
\n.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Giving away free food for a birthday is the best kind of advertising.
\n.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

First of all, it's a special occasion...once a year... so you're not devaluing your products or services.
\n.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

It's advertising you pay for only AFTER it works.
\n.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

If it doesn't work, you don't pay.
\n.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Imagine you spent $300 on an ad of some kind...local paper, magazine, radio etc.
\n,<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Let's say that ad brought you 10 customers over the course of the next month.
\n.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

That means you paid $30 to get a customer but you had to pay that $300 all up front regardless of how many customers you got... 100 or 0.
\n.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

As a restaurant, by giving away a free meal, you only \"pay\" when they show up to claim their birthday meal but they typically bring 1-3 full paying customers with them.
\n.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Do the math...$300 to get an unknown number of customers via a general ad or put that same $300 into 30 free meals (assuming hard cost ~$10 each) that you're paying for one at a time as the birthday tables come in and some of those people are going to join your birthday club.
\n<\/span>.<\/span>
\nYour \"advertising\" becomes exponentially more profitable handing out free birthday meals..<\/span><\/p>\n

,<\/span><\/p>\n

2) Once you know someone's birthday, you also know someone's HALF birthday....6 months before their birthday.<\/span><\/strong>
\n\u00a0,<\/span>
\n\u00a0While they may get a lot of birthday wishes on the actual day, they'll get zero on their half-birthday.
\n<\/span>.<\/span>
\nYou can have fun with this one...maybe a 50% off coupon on a specific item...or half the table eats free...ok maybe not that one.
\n<\/span>.<\/span>
\n\"Buy at least two entrees and get half a birthday cake FREE.\"
\n<\/span>.<\/span>
\nIf you've got a budget for printing you could send actual half birthday cards with a coupon inside.
\n<\/span>.<\/span>
\nYou could also simply buy traditional\u00a0birthday cards and cut them in half.
\n<\/span>\/<\/span>
\n3)At the same time you're collecting the birthdays of your customers, get the birthdays of their kids!<\/strong>
\n<\/span>.<\/span>
\nObviously if you're a high-end steak house, this idea is probably not viable nor appealing to you , but if families come and eat at your place this one fits right in.
\n<\/span>.<\/span>
\nMaybe you have a special menu for kid birthdays...maybe a cake is involved.
\n<\/span>.<\/span>
\nA physical birthday card sent directly to the kid is something worth testing.
\n.<\/span>
\nSend 20...get the cards from the dollar store and the whole mailing is $30-$40.
\n.<\/span>
\nSee how many parties you get and the income generated.
\n<\/span>.<\/span>
\nImagine kids all over town bugging their parent's to go to your restaurant for their birthday.
\n<\/span>.<\/span>
\nMaybe you become well known for something they can only get by celebrating a birthday at your place.<\/span>
\n.<\/span>
\n4) Get MORE gifts for your customers.<\/strong>
\n<\/span>.<\/span>
\nWhat other businesses in your area have a low cost product\/service they could give away to get people to try them out?
\n<\/span>.<\/span>
\nI asked Chat GPT to list me 20 such businesses...
\n<\/span>.<\/span>
\nCoffee shops:<\/strong> They could give away a free small coffee or tea to new customers.
\n.<\/span>
\n<\/span>Bakeries:<\/strong> They could give away a free pastry or small baked good to new customers.
\n.<\/span>
\nGym or fitness center:<\/strong> They could offer a free one-day gym pass or fitness class to new customers.
\n.<\/span>
\nBookstores:<\/strong> They could give away a free bookmark or discount on a book purchase to new customers.
\n.<\/span>
\nHair salons:<\/strong> They could offer a free haircut consultation or small discount on a haircut for new customers.
\n.<\/span>
\nNail salons:<\/strong> They could offer a free basic manicure or discount on a full-service manicure for new customers.
\n.<\/span>
\nClothing stores:<\/strong> They could offer a small discount on a first-time purchase or a free accessory with purchase to new customers.
\n.<\/span>
\nPet stores:<\/strong> They could offer a free sample of pet food or a discount on a pet toy or accessory for new customers.
\n.<\/span>
\nDental clinics:<\/strong> They could offer a free dental cleaning or consultation for new patients.
\n.<\/span>
\nCar washes:<\/strong> They could offer a free basic car wash or a small discount on a full-service car wash for new customers.
\n.<\/span>
\nYoga or Pilates studios:<\/strong> They could offer a free trial class or a discount on a class package for new students.
\n.<\/span>
\nJuice bars:<\/strong> They could offer a free small smoothie or discount on a larger smoothie for new customers.
\n.<\/span>
\nTanning salons:<\/strong> They could offer a free tanning session or discount on a tanning package for new customers.
\n.<\/span><\/strong>
\nMassage studios:<\/strong> They could offer a free 15-minute massage or discount on a longer massage for new customers.
\n.<\/span>
\nIce cream shops:<\/strong> They could offer a free small scoop of ice cream or a discount on a larger size for new customers.
\n.<\/span>
\nFlorists:<\/strong> They could offer a free single stem flower or discount on a bouquet for new customers.
\n.<\/span>
\nArt studios or galleries:<\/strong> They could offer a free art class or a discount on a piece of artwork for new customers.
\n.<\/span>
\nLanguage schools:<\/strong> They could offer a free introductory language lesson or a discount on a language course for new students.
\n.<\/span>
\nBarber shops:<\/strong> They could offer a free hot towel shave or discount on a haircut for new customers.
\n.<\/span><\/strong>
\nPhotography studios:<\/strong> They could offer a free headshot session or discount on a family portrait package for new customers.
\n.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Do you\u00a0 personally know any people in your area who own those types of businesses?
\n.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Do any of your customers?
\n.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Your outreach to them is simple...<\/strong>
\n<\/span>.<\/span>
\n\"\",<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

.<\/span>
\nYou could also offer to return the favor and let them offer a free meal from your restaurant to their customers for their birthdays.
\n<\/span>.<\/span>
\nIf that works out well for them, approach them with the 1\/2 birthday idea.
\n.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, you don't have to limit these types of collaborations to just birthdays.
\n.<\/span>
\nYou can do them year round.
\n<\/span>.<\/span>
\nBut that's a subject for a different article.
\n<\/span>.<\/span>
\n4.5)<\/strong> You can and should celebrate YOUR birthday...\"your\" as in \"you\" the business owner AND the birthday of the business....even your spouse's, your kid's, your pet's.
\n<\/span>.<\/span>
\nLots of fun could be had with this one.
\n<\/span>.<\/span>
\nHave you been in business for over 10 years?
\n<\/span>.<\/span>
\nMaybe for 1 hour on the business birthday (or the closest day that is normally slow?) you roll back prices to what they were on day 1?
\n.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Or you have a special menu of those items and prices...or a special section of the restaurant if this idea scares you a little.
\n<\/span>.<\/span>
\nOne hour only...no reservations...meal has to be ordered before the hour is up.
\n<\/span>.<\/span>
\nIf\u00a0 you don't fill a table someone may be seated with you!
\n<\/span>.<\/span>
\nYou want your place STUFFED with people and get your social media folks taking lots of pics and videos.
\n<\/span>.<\/span>
\nGive people bonuses for dressing in period costume if you've been open for a really long time.
\n<\/span>.<\/span>
\nHave fun with it.
\n<\/span>.<\/span>
\nFor your own personal birthday you could do a\u00a0 similar rollback or a special for people born the same year...maybe they get an extra special something if you have the same birthday as the customer.
\n.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Since you've been collecting birthdays from your customers you can actually see which of them share a birthday with either you or the business.
\n<\/span>.<\/span>
\nAnything different and unexpected will stand out.
\n.<\/span>
\nFor any questions or help implementing any of the above, please reach out via email, phone or text.
\n.<\/span>
\nThank you,
\n.<\/span>
\nLeo Quinn
\nBirthday Profit Systems
\n518-288-8711<\/a>
\n<\/span>Click Here To Email<\/span><\/a>
\nClick here to book a time to chat via Zoom or phone.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Before I get to the UN-usual ways, let me quickly cover the usual ways and the WHY. . There are two reasons a restaurant should collect the birthdays of their customers and offer them a free meal for their birthday. . 1)\u00a0\u00a0 Very few people will dine alone on their birthday and you\u2019ll make money from the other guests. . 2)\u00a0\u00a0 Collecting birthdays gives you a great \u201creason-why\u201d to ask your customers for their email address and other contact information you can use to get those people back throughout the year. . A whole book could be written about WHY you should have an email list of your customers. . I\u2019ll sum it all up by saying an email list allows you to control your customer list. . You may have hundreds or even thousands of social media followers but the platforms have the control. . They can shut down your account for any reason. . . They want you to pay them to reach most of your fans. . Plus you have zero control over WHEN your posts are seen. . I feel sad every time I see a Taco Tuesday Facebook post from a restaurant on Wednesday […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/birthdayprofitsystems.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/106"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/birthdayprofitsystems.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/birthdayprofitsystems.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/birthdayprofitsystems.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/birthdayprofitsystems.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/birthdayprofitsystems.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/106\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":153,"href":"https:\/\/birthdayprofitsystems.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/106\/revisions\/153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/birthdayprofitsystems.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}