RESTAURANT PERSPECTIVES - Tom Kelley and Concept Branding Group

Concept Branding Group Adds TiPS (Training Intervention Procedures) To Portfolio of Product Training and Restaurant Solutions

NEWS RELEASE

 

Concept Branding Group Adds TiPS (Training Intervention Procedures) To Portfolio of Product Training and Restaurant Solutions

 

Leading small business brand and operational consulting firm continues to add resources for restaurant operators, suppliers and organizations

 

Palm Springs, California.  January 29, 2010-- With over 175+ years of collective retail, food, restaurant, hospitality and organizational brand building and operational expertise, Concept Branding Group has included TiPS alcohol awareness training to its portfolio of training and education programs.

 

Steve Gostin, Lead Consultant—West Coast, is a certified TiPS instructor and has provided hundreds of certifications to servers of alcohol and licensees.  “The laws are ever-changing and ever-challenging.  Most recently, changes in what is acceptable as a bona fide ID has hit the books in California.  The greatest tool we have in controlling alcohol-related injury is responsible service and the knowledge and education needed to identify guests who may be intoxicated.  TiPS provides just that: education to ensure your team and your license is protected,” Gostin commented.

 

Concept Branding Group can provide the training and education to your team.  We can also create an essential and rock solid alcohol awareness program for your licensed establishment and provide the knowledge and information necessary for a successful operation.

 

Including TiPS training in your business can offer you the following benefits:

 

·        Legal Protection - In third-party liquor liability lawsuits, TiPS provides a "reasonable efforts defense."

·        Staff Professionalism - TiPS training enhances the skills of your employees who in turn offer improved service to your customers.

·        Insurance Discounts - Many insurance companies provide discounts to establishments whose employees are TiPS-certified.

·        Enhanced Community Standing - TiPS leads the way in framing the debate about responsible alcohol service and clarifying the distinction between drinking and drunkenness.

 

Investing in training today can provide you financial security tomorrow.  Contact Steve Gostin at Concept Branding Group today (stevegostin@conceptbrandinggroup.com) to schedule your TiPS training program.

 

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Concept Branding Group is a strategic brand and operational consulting firm with over 160+ years in the food, retail and beverage industry.  From its offices on the West and East coasts, the group works with start-ups, small and medium sized retail food outlets, and foodservice suppliers to refine brand identity and expand brand performance, primarily through building relationships and delivering on brand promises.  http://www.conceptbrandinggroup.com

 

Contact:  Tom Kelley, Concept Branding Group, 760-688-0717

Protect your liquor license and servers with new program from Concept Branding Group

 

 

 TiPS Certification Training— prepare your team today

 

TiPS--Training for Intervention Procedures is a dynamic, skills-based training program designed to prevent intoxication, drunk driving, and underage drinking by enhancing the fundamental "people skills" of servers, sellers, and consumers of alcohol. TiPS provides individuals the knowledge and confidence they need to recognize potential alcohol-related problems and intervene to prevent alcohol related tragedies.

 

How can TiPS help your business?

 

Ü  Legal Protection - In third-party liquor liability lawsuits, TiPS provides a "reasonable efforts defense."

 

Ü  Staff Professionalism - TiPS training enhances the skills of your employees who in turn offer improved service to your customers.

 

Ü  Insurance Discounts - Many insurance companies provide discounts to establishments whose employees are TiPS-certified.

 

Ü  Enhanced Community Standing - TiPS leads the way in framing the debate about responsible alcohol service and clarifying the distinction between drinking and drunkenness.

 

We come to your restaurant or bar and train your team in one session.

 

Concept Branding Group will also create a comprehensive alcohol awareness handbook and service guidelines catered to your business.  This will provide you the foundation for future training and accountability amongst your team.

 

Laws have changed and if your not aware of changes and your responsibility as a licensee or server of alcohol, you are jeopardizing your future.

 

Protect yourself, your employees, and your guests by scheduling a TiPS training now!  

Contact:

Steve C. Gostin

Lead Consultant, West Coast

CONCEPT BRANDING GROUP

Direct: 951.206.9888 | Skype: Steve.Gostin

stevegostin@conceptbrandinggroup.com

www.conceptbrandinggroup.com

10 Lies Managers Tell Themselves- from BNET

10 Lies Managers Tell Themselves

By Steve Tobak

January 18th, 2010 @ 1:26 pm

, Corporate Governance, Customer Service, Entrepreneurialism, Executive Ethics, Leadership, Management, Marketing, Opinion, Psychology, Small Business, Wisdom, Workplace

We all lie to ourselves. Why, I don’t know. Guess self-delusion is part of the human condition, whatever that means. I’m sure a relatively competent shrink can explain it, but who needs all that psychobabble, right?

What got me thinking about this was someone on Michael Finney’s consumer watchdog radio show explaining 5 lies people tell themselves so they can buy stuff they can’t afford: I could have bought something more expensive so I’m actually saving money, it’s an investment, I deserve it because something good happened, I’m comforting myself because something bad happened, that sort of thing. 

Now here’s the thing. Usually when we lie to ourselves we’re only hurting ourselves; worst case, our families. But with managers, it’s a whole different ballgame. When managers lie to themselves they can hurt a lot of people. The bigger the title, the more people they can hurt. CEOs can hurt shareholders, employees, and customers by the thousands. Hell, they can take down a whole company.

I’ve seen self-delusional executives destroy once-great companies lots of times. Sad but true.

But wait, managers are only human, right? They’re allowed to make mistakes. Sure. Mistakes are one thing. But saying things to comfort yourself and prop up your fragile ego so you don’t have to face the truth because it scares you or something is an entirely different thing.

Do I sound angry? Sorry. Guess the topic hits sort of close to home.

10 Lies Managers Tell Themselves  

1. I know what customers want. CEOs often think they know what customers want. Actually they don’t. They just know what they want, and they’re usually not even in the target demographic. 
2. We have the best (fill in the blank). Technology, marketing, customer service, whatever. Typically self-delusional BS, boastfulness, or ego transference (if there is such a thing). 
3. It’ll fix itself. When they don’t want to do something that’s a pain in the you-know-what. 
4. Our customers love us. Usually a way to keep people from asking questions they don’t want to hear so they don’t have to learn the truth that they don’t want to know.
5. My employees love me. Same thing as with customers.
6. Out of sight, out of mind. AKA solving a problem by ignoring it, firing it, or otherwise making believe it doesn’t exist.
7. It’s probably for their own good. Also “they’ll land on their feet.” Usually when they demote or fire somebody, or during a layoff. 
8. The ends justify the means. Comforting themselves when they’ve done something terrible to others.
9. I know what the execs want. He probably doesn’t; he’s just afraid to ask or doesn’t want you to go over his head.
10. It’s my company. In small business, this is often true, but for CEOs of corporations, almost never. So why say it?  I don’t know - is there such a thing as ego extension?

So, what’s the solution to the problem? You really need to ask? If you’re a manager, don’t do that! Grow a pair and face the truth. Board directors, beware of self-delusional executives. As for directors who prefer hearing sugar-coated BS, well, “may you be reincarnated as an NBC executive!” 

Anyway, those are my 10 lies, but there must be hundreds. I know you’ve got a few so, come on, spill it.

Restaurant and Hospitality Consulting -- a holistic and restorative approach to improve the bottom line

 

 

The word “restaurant” comes from the Latin word for “restore”, and indeed a restaurant provides a restorative experience, a chance to enjoy good food and wine and company, to relax and forget about the outside world, to refresh, indulge, and rejuvenate whether the restaurant is a small counter service deli or a fine dining place with a 12 course tasting menu.

 

From the moment a guest calls a restaurant to reserve a table, they should feel welcome and important and that feeling should continue until they pay the bill and leave with a smile on their face. They might not even know why it all works together so well, how they got this feeling of satisfaction. The décor, the service, the menu, the music, the food will all fit together in an invisible, holistic harmony. If done right, guests will come back again and again and tell others about their great experience.

 

Sadly, these kinds of harmonious restaurant experiences are few and far between.   There’s always a “disconnect”. The hostess is rude on the phone. The décor doesn’t fit the cuisine, it’s out of date. The atmosphere has no identity. The music is wrong and too loud. Service is indifferent, inattentive, and staff doesn’t know the menu. Guests are ignored for too long or treated like a nuisance. Entrees come out before appetizers are finished. The menus are unkempt. Food is out of date, not keeping up with the times or poorly prepared. It just doesn’t look nice. It’s not cooked right. No one can recommend a wine to go with the meal. They don’t know how to pour the wine properly. It could be one thing or many, but it just takes one thing in the experience that falls through the cracks to make a guest never come back, and tell others never to go either.

 

Most restaurateurs think that none of this could ever happen in their place. But it does. It happens everyday and all the time. It may be that you just need a second pair of eyes, but the restaurant consultants at Concept Branding Group will look at what’s going on in your restaurant, identify the problems and the strengths and work with you to fix the problems and build on the positives. We’ll show you how to train your staff to be able to give consistent, knowledgeable, efficient and welcoming service.   Your bartenders will draw guests to the bar. Glasses will always be filled, plates cleared in time, and guests happy and restored. Solo diners, families, couples and large parties will all feel accommodated. We’ll even suggest cost effective little touches that will leave guests very pleasantly surprised.

 

We’ll also take a look at your menu. It should fit into your concept and not be “all over the map.” If you don’t have an identifiable concept, we’ll help you develop one. Our trained experts will sample the menu thoroughly to suggest improvements. We’ll discuss the cuisine with kitchen staff with a view to honoring the guest and keeping things fresh and creative, if that’s the goal. If the goal is comfort food, we’ll offer suggestions as to how to make it the best of its kind.

 

From the moment guests enter your restaurant they will be lead through a great harmonious restaurant experience, one that will restore the mind and body. They’ll walk out smiling and look forward to their next visit, a visit that will be just as good, if not better than the first.

 

 

 ©Concept Branding Group

 

Changes to California Bona Fide ID Laws -- be prepared!!!

The dilemma of acceptable and Bona Fide ID’s in California has always been a controversial topic, especially if you are a bartender or server.  It has become increasingly worse since 9/11 due to the change in many ID’s across the country, especially with military ID’s.

 

The new military ID lacks the physical description, one of the 6 points required for an acceptable, Bona Fide ID according to California law.  It was horrible to have to tell a soldier who was visiting home from being at war that I could not sell him alcohol because it was illegal for us to accept his ID.  He can be issued a gun and asked to protect his country, but he could not legally drink with a military ID.

 

It’s nice to see that for 2010, California has made changes to the law regarding what is an acceptable, Bona Fide ID.  This change also allows for licensees to accept U.S. issued and foreign government Passports; another area that created confusion and discontent with patrons.

 

The changes to California law reflect the following, per the ABC:

 

            On January 1, 2010, Assembly Bills 59 (Jeffries) and 1191 (Conway) will

            become effective and amend Business and Professions Code section 25660,

            expanding upon the types of identification that constitute “bona fide evidence of

            majority and identity of the person.” The section will read as follows (new

            provisions are underlined):

           

            25660. (a) Bona fide evidence of majority and identity of the

            person is a document issued by a federal, state, county, or

            municipal government, or subdivision or agency thereof, including,

            but not limited to, a motor vehicle operator's license, an

            identification card issued to a member of the Armed Forces that

            contains the name, date of birth, description, and picture of the

            person, or a valid passport issued by the United States or by a

            foreign government.

 

            (b) In the event an identification card issued to a member of the

            Armed Forces is provided as proof of majority and lacks a physical

            description, but does include date of birth and a photo, further

            proof of majority shall not be required.

 

            (c) Proof that the defendant-licensee, or his or her employee or

            agent, demanded, was shown, and acted in reliance upon bona fide

            evidence in any transaction, employment, use, or permission

            forbidden by Section 25658, 25663, or 25665 shall be a defense to

            any criminal prosecution therefore or to any proceedings

 

As a certified TiPS instructor myself and an F&B Manager, I’m glad to see that the confusion has finally been addressed.  The question regarding acceptable and Bona Fide ID’s was one that stirred much controversy and created numerous problems on the service floor.  The interpretation by licensees created havoc, where one bar allowed while another would not.  I know over the years this led to many arguments which created numerous problems for my teams, myself and I’m sure many of you as well.

 

While this area has been clearly addressed and resolved, I want to stress the importance of proper alcohol service education.  If your team is not certified through TiPS or another reputable, alcohol awareness training, you are depriving your team of an invaluable service which will protect them as well as your license.  Knowledge is power and as licensees and managers, it is our responsibility to provide the knowledge and education for our team’s safety and ability to perform at a higher level of professionalism and success.

 

If you would like more information about creating an alcohol awareness program at your restaurant or bar or would like TiPS training, please contact:

Steve C. Gostin

Lead Consultant, West Coast

CONCEPT BRANDING GROUP

Branding | Operations | Marketing | Alliances

Direct: 951.206.9888 | Skype: Steve.Gostin

Washington | Boston | Kennebunkport | Palm Springs | Miami

www.conceptbrandinggroup.com

stevegostin@conceptbrandinggroup.com

 

 

OperationsTuneUp.com working to cost effectively assist small business -- don't delay contact us today!

Unit Operations and Concept Refinement

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Every operator must explore new customer bases. We provide concrete suggestions to expand the brand's appeal to an expanded demographic mix.

A well-crafted and executed strategy of refining and clearly demonstrating an improved customer experience, with specific operational and infrastructure improvements, formulas of consistency will be provided-- ones that will reinforce your existing base while allowing for an expanded customer base to be developed. Key elements of this strategy will include the following:

• External unit perceptions/signage
• Review of internal decor; lighting, music, color schemes, furnishings and fixtures
• Staff; uniforms, appearance, familiarity with welcoming protocols
• Merchandizing and presentation
• Signature item merchandizing
• Overall ambience and experience (from mystery shops)
• From the above, creation of a distinct "experience" template that becomes a formula for an expected and reliable customer experience to attract added concept demographic depth.

• For more information:
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tomkelley@conceptbrandinggroup.com

How small businesses can survive through 2010- from Slate

An Ode to Lean, Mean, Fighting Machines

An Ode to Lean, Mean, Fighting Machines

How small businesses can survive through 2010.

By Jonathan Weber

Posted Tuesday, January 5, 2010 - 3:12pm

Last year was brutal for small businesses, and 2010 promises to be only marginally better. We’ll have to live with “survival as the new success” for a while longer—so here are 10 tips on how to make it through the lean times.

Take advantage of government programs. While small-business owners are often rightly cynical about the government being here to help, the bailout era does include something for everyone. The stimulus package is still pouring money into construction projects. The Small Business Administration has sweetened its loan programs. Investment-incentive schemes such as the obscure New Market Tax Credits program are steering money to certain areas and industries. And make sure your accountant is on top of the numerous, new tax breaks available to small companies.

Think creatively about financing. Bank lending is not going to get much more liberal this year, but there are some alternatives. Consider using a factor or some other form of inventory financing if you’re in that type of business. Peer-to-peer lending via the Internet is starting to take off, and can be a smart option for small sums if you have a good credit rating. Foundation grants are also a possibility for some types of projects, though the process can be very time-consuming. In general, credit-card companies won’t be easier than banks, but some of them offer deferred payment plans that can help with cash-flow issues.

Manage your payables and receivables aggressively. The best way to maintain good cash-flow is to collect quickly and pay slowly. A combination of carrots (a small discount on the bill) and sticks (high interest rates on outstanding balances and a quick cut-off of credit) can help bring cash in the door more quickly. On the flip side, try negotiating longer payment terms with your vendors. They may not like it but they could be eager enough to keep the business that they’ll work with you.

Negotiate your rent. The commercial real-estate business is in a terrible state, and that can be a good thing for tenants. If you’re paying 2005 rents, you should be able to cut your bill—either by relocating or by threatening to do so.

Use barter. Trading for goods and services is more trouble than it’s worth in good times, but when things are tight it’s worth taking another look. If you own your business outright, consider trading for personal services (the dentist, the gymnastics class for the kids) that you would be spending money on anyway.

Cut your energy costs. Most businesses can save some money by taking basic energy conservation steps such as low-energy light bulbs and proper weather stripping; many utilities offer a free audit to identify easy savings. If your building is truly out of date on energy efficiency, you might also qualify for the federal government’s weatherization program (part of the stimulus package).

Consider furloughs or voluntary unpaid time off for employees. Staff is the big fixed cost for most businesses, and layoffs are a last resort. But sometimes employees will be happy to take some time off, and even if they’re not, a temporary layoff or furlough can be the best solution all the way around.

Shop around on telecom. Phones, cellphones, and Internet connections can be a big expense these days, but there is now more competition than ever. The variety of options can be bewildering—the cellphone carriers in particular seem to be making an art of impenetrably complex offerings—but if you put your mind to it you may be able to save real money.

Look twice at your insurance policies. On the one hand, it can be dumb to go without basic business-liability insurance at a minimum. But it’s easy to find yourself with redundancies in your insurance coverage, and if your business is close to the edge there’s not much to insure anyway.

Work the social networks. As I mentioned last week, Facebook and Twitter are probably the two most significant developments in the Internet and media worlds since the advent of Google in the late 1990s. That doesn’t mean they are a quick fix for anything, but they do represent a huge—and potentially hugely cost-effective—marketing opportunity for many types of companies.

• Jonathan Weber is the founder, publisher, and CEO of New West, a media company covering life and business in the Rocky Mountain West.

Great New Year insight from The Financial Times...

How to raise your game in 2010

By Stefan Stern

Published: December 21 2009 23:36 | Last updated: December 21 2009 23:36

Been a loooong year,” sang John Lennon, as the music faded away on the last track of his 1975 album Rock’n’Roll. This December we know what he meant.

It has been a year of high anxiety. Good news has usually been followed by bad, making it hard (and unwise) to believe that the worst was over. For those who had never experienced it, bumping along the bottom has become a meaningful concept.

But let’s not slump into excessive end-of-year doom. Looking ahead, here are three ideas to help business leaders have a happier time in 2010.

Management with analytics
The New York Police Department was “kind of a classic case of a big organisation not knowing what it knows,” says NYPD chief Ray Kelly in a recent video produced by IBM, NYPD’s technology partner.

Having realised there was a problem, Commissioner Kelly took action. Four years ago, NYPD established its Real Time Crime Center, a 24-hour, seven-day data warehouse that provides information and support to detectives who are investigating violent crime. Information is delivered to them at the crime scene. Clear-up rates and speed of operation have both improved significantly.

This is what managing with “analytics” can do for you. Successful companies – Google, Amazon, Tesco, Netflix – have got terrifically smart at extracting the right amount of relevant data from their businesses, and making it work for them: finding unexpected, unseen patterns in customer behaviour, and exploiting them.

In 2010, it will be time to get serious about managing proliferating data more intelligently. But don’t spend all your time poring over the stuff, because idea number two is going to require putting the spreadsheets down and getting out of the office ...

Management by walking around
OK, so MBWA is hardly new. Dave Hewlett and Bill Packard pioneered it decades ago. But in the “faster, faster” 21st century, when the pressure is on managers to take decisions more quickly, investing time in talking to colleagues can slip a long way down the list of priorities. Big mistake. (In the global era, Rosabeth Moss Kanter has observed, we should think in terms of “management by flying around”).

When I asked the chief executive of the global recruitment business Manpower, Jeffrey Joerres, about his management style recently, he spoke eloquently about the need to get out of the office and meet people face to face. Being a leader involves a lot more than just sending e-mails and “gazing at charts”, he said. “We are a company of do-ers, and if you have this big chasm between executives and [staff], you have no idea what the challenges are.”

Increasingly, the gurus tell us, strategy is execution. In other words, it’s how you do things that matters.

Management with a moral purpose
Business leaders have a lot of work to do to convince a sceptical public that their organisations can be a force for good. Maybe non-financial companies are suffering unfairly as a result of what some banks in particular have done. But that does not remove the need for moral renewal at the heart of business.

Jeff Immelt, chief executive of General Electric, gets it. In a speech at the US military academy West Point two weeks ago, he argued forcefully that business leaders have lost their way. “We are at the end of a difficult generation of business leadership, and maybe leadership in general,” he said. “Tough- mindedness, a good trait, was replaced by meanness and greed, both terrible traits ... rewards became perverted,” he added.

Large sections of Mr Immelt’s speech could have been written by Ken and Will Hopper, authors of one the most important business books of the past decade, The Puritan Gift. Indeed, in it they salute the GE boss as their kind of leader.

The Hoppers’ book emphasises “the importance of a good managerial culture in determining the nature and direction of any society”, as Will Hopper puts it. Good managers master their craft, while also possessing what Mr Immelt calls “domain knowledge” – that is, they know what they are doing in their specific discipline. If only bankers had been better at banking, how much happier we would all be.

It has been a long year. With hard work, and after drawing on these ideas, next year could be better.

For more on management, visit www.ft.com/managementblog

A joyous holiday season to all...

To all our valued clients, friends and colleagues, all of us at Concept Branding Group wishes you and yours the best this holiday season and for a prosperous 2010.  We thank you for all your support.

The Best-Performing CEOs in the World -- from the Harvard Business Review

See full article

The Best-Performing CEOs in the World

by Morten T. Hansen, Herminia Ibarra, and Urs Peyer

With the focus on short-term corporate performance under fire, it’s more important than ever to take a long view of business leadership. These CEOs may not all be household names, but here’s an objective look at who delivered the top results over the long term.

  

A lot of people have blamed short-term thinking for causing our current economic troubles, which has set off a debate about what time window we should use to assess a CEO’s performance. Today boards of directors, senior managers, and investors intensely want to know how CEOs handle the ups and downs of running businesses over an extended period. Many executive compensation plans define the “long term” as a three-year horizon, but the real test of a CEO’s leadership has to be how the company does over his or her full tenure.

This article contains the first ranking that shows which CEOs of large public companies performed best over their entire time in office—or, for those still in the job, up until September 30, 2009. To compile our results, we collected data on close to 2,000 CEOs worldwide.