Restaurant Menu Optimisation work
My client approached me having searched online for a menu optimisation specialist.
I often sign an NDA, so I can’t disclose anything about the work I do with those clients. In this case, I hadn’t but I’m still mindful of commercial sensibilities.
Why? Imagine you go to the hairdresser looking a real mess – a female Worzle Gummidge. Your hairdresser works her magic and once again you feel like a decent person who looks OK. Imagine if that hairdresser posted images of you before your transformation all over the web. You would not be happy.
So, it’s not my intention to say what a terrible state the menu was in before I stepped in like a saviour to transform it.
The truth is, most clients have a reasonable menu and are making good profits, but they want the menu to be better. By better, we mean make more profit. That could be by speeding up the decision-making, making the menu clearer, more enticing or upselling certain items. Or a combination of those things.
This client realised their menu could be better and came to me to see if I could help.
The client is based in Texas and has 27 outlets. They have been trading successfully for 25 years.
What we did (not strictly in order)
We talked about:
– the physical menu. Discussed its form and all the constraints.
– the client ordering process
– the dishes
– the unique selling points
– senior discounts, kids, special diets, and mandatory information such as price and calories.
– whether to have a separate drink, desserts, main food menu
– the branding
– the menu design, font, colours
– the sales data and divided each item into one of four groups
We also:
– liaised with the designer to come up with a new design
– decided the number of pages and sections. and incorporated a contents page
Only then did I write the new menu.
Timescale:
We had many meetings: these took place over Zoom calls at a time to suit.
From initial contact to final menu sign off: 20 months
My comment:
The client was easy to work with and this helped when we hit small road bumps, usually outside our control.
Client comment:
I highly recommend Olivia, for both her extraordinary menu optimization and her copywriting.
Her copywriting is engaging as well as SEO-friendly.
Once that menu was in place, we saw an immediate shift to higher-profit items.
Debbie Hill, Director of Marketing (October 2023)
Image: Unsplash, Thomas Park N