Awesome Restaurant Marketing Ideas!

To be a successful leader you must understand the basic human needs and meet them well.   

What are the basic human needs?  There are many who claim to know the answer but today we will turn to Tony Robbins to understand the basic human needs.

Tony Robbins has identified six basic human needs and believes everyone is—or can be—motivated by their desire to fulfill these needs.  (I suppose those who rely on manipulation will leverage this aspect of the human condition.)

You may want to consider these needs when thinking about developing and delivering products or services to guests.   The question: "What need or needs does my product fulfill for my customer?" applies must remain top of mind to achieve success.

You definitely want to consider these needs as they relate to your staff.  If you are only interested in being a boss and giving out paychecks, you will remain in the group of ineffective leaders and watch as employees approach you with a uniform in one hand and their notice: “I Quit” in the other hand.

Here is a brief review of the six basic human needs according to Tony Robbins.

1)  Certainty/Comfort. We all want comfort. And much of this comfort comes from certainty. Of course there is no ABSOLUTE certainty, but we want certainty the car will start, the water will flow from the tap when we turn it on and the currency we use will hold its value.

• Those on the restaurant staff want certainty as well.  Equipment working, follow up on marginal staff, smallwares supplies, consistent schedules, management meeting their promises are but a few areas which bring certainty and comfort.
  

2)  Variety.At the same time we want certainty, we also crave variety. Paradoxically, there needs to be enough UNcertainty to provide spice and adventure in our lives.

• After washing a million dishes, I understand the tediousness of “same old thing”.  Half the battle of a restaurant leader is to find new ways to motivate the same people to do the same things.  There is redundancy in the restaurant business for the staff but it does not have to be so.

3)  Significance.Deep down, we all want to be important. We want our life to have meaning and significance. I can imagine no worse a death than to think my life didn't matter.

• Stephen Covey put this in context very well as he talks about the need of each human being to “leave a legacy”.  The methods to have people feel important can be as simple as more freedom of choice.  Empowering the staff to make decisions in regards to the guests vs. making it mandatory for all decisions to be handled by the management is lame and ineffective.

4)  Connection/Love.It would be hard to argue against the need for love. We want to feel part of a community. We want to be cared for and cared about.

• Even when business owners know this as a fact, it is apparent that they believe showing appreciation and recognition is the responsibility of someone else.

5)  Growth.There could be some people who say they don't want to grow, but I think they're simply fearful of doing so—or perhaps NOT doing so. To become better, to improve our skills, to stretch and excel may be more evident in some than others, but it's there.

• Again Stephen Covey talks about this need.  “Learn” is an essential need of every one of us.  Without learning the mind and spirit can die before the body.  To make a commitment that every team member will learn ONE NEW THING each day goes a long ways to ensuring their success.  Taking the time to ensure growth shows commitment and appreciation.

6)  Contribution.The desire to contribute something of value—to help others, to make the world a better place than we found it is in all of us.

• This is related to #3 but stands on its own.  “Why bother” if it is simply doing a task that makes no difference to anyone.  “We make more profit” may not be enough incentive.  Making decisions which includes the P Triad of “People, Purpose, Profit” gives more meaning to the staff member who is perpetually supposed to be energetic and smiling regardless of how poorly they might feel.

Action Point – per Tony Robbins
Evaluate this list to better understand your personal motivations and examine which ones seem the most significant to you.  Then, look at what you do to fulfill the needs of others. It will likely make a difference in what and how you do what you do.  It also should make a difference in the way you describe and explain what you and your product can do.

• Break down the 6 points on a white board with 3 key staff and ask how can the leadership do a better job of filling these needs.   In the past, once the management teams begin to focus on more than hiring and handing out paychecks, once the management teams began to understand and also include ways to fill the basic human needs, the restaurants turned around. 

You may or may not be a follower or fan of Tony Robbins.  You may believe he over confident or you could have his photo on your wall and think of him as a genius.

Regardless of what you do with the photo of Tony Robbins, you must agree that in order to get things done, to have a high level of execution; supporting the team with more than a paycheck is beneficial to all concerned.

What will be your biggest barrier to empowering the restaurant staff to achieve success and be willing to do their best to overcome the obstacles?