Wow that was amazing…
After all the uncertainty of lockdown the heartache and worry what a rush!
Eat Out to Help Out really did help out for so many venues. Those able to take advantage really did get a leg up.
Clients that I have been working with saw increases in trade of up to 4 times normal. And despite the worry that the scheme might just move a normal weekend trade to the offer days, this doesn’t appear to be the case. Most venues have seen an uplift across all days.
Staff who had been worried about the future of their jobs and how customers would interact with them stepped up and took in their stride the sudden uplift in trade and demonstrated the best of what our industry has to offer.
And customers embraced the opportunity to help their favorite venues but to also try somewhere new.
Venues had to be inventive, finding ways to make sure that space was utilised well and customers socially distanced. Keeping everyone safe has always been an essential part of the job but Covid-19 has introduced a new set of challenges.
Customers’ expectations being one of them. Whilst most customers understood and were genuinely willing to help out it does appear that this new world has also brought out the worst in people. Even the best of venues has had to deal with unreasonable customer expectations. ‘Waiting times’, ‘limited menus’ and venues being ‘fully booked’ being amongst the reason for some customers to start posting damaging reviews on social media.
My advice has always been to trust your customers, the real ones, the ones who already love you and the ones who will, to know when a review is unreasonable, and to not get too hung up about it but none-the-less, these have been challenging times for even the best of operators.
But what next?
The chains and the larger venues, those with additional support, are offering to extend Eat Out to Help Out for another month paid for by their own reserves but what about the small independent venue?
Let us trust our customers. Yes, some were just coming for the cheap food, and it has been a nice weather summer, and yes, they wanted out of the house after lockdown. BUT customers have always needed our venues as a change of scenery, they have always needed places that are not the workplace or the home to go to socialise. They need venues to meet others without the hierarchy of personal spaces where their friends are not the ‘host’. They need to be made to feel special and they need to partake in the everyday rituals of ‘date night’ ‘Sunday lunch’ ‘after-work drinks’. They need to feel part of a community and the pub is a perfect place for this.
Yes, it is a scary future for the industry but the best will not only survive they will find that they thrive as they adapt in the new world and customers become more careful about how they spend their money and time.
There will be less customers spending less money but if we provide for them what they need it will be the best of us that they choose.
Congratulations to all the venues that have ridden this wave so far - there is a long way to go but this uncertain future could be really exciting.
