Do you know your customer?
Picture the scene, it’s a cold wet November night when you drop into the local pub for a quick pint on your way home, only to find the landlord leaning on the bar and bemoaning the fact that there are no customers anymore and his pub is empty.
The truth of the matter is that there are lots of customers out there but they have just chosen not to visit his pub because he is not offering them what they want. If only he would stand back from his business and take a look around him in his community as to what people are doing he would see there are lots of opportunities for him to take advantage of that will help draw more customers into his pub.
We talk about community pubs but in reality we are talking about a pub in the community. If you turn this idea on its head and create a community space that caters for all of the needs of the local people, it just happens to be in a pub as this is the best social space to use.
Look at the business and ask how it can serve the community rather than look at a pub and shoehorn it into the community.
Ask not what your country can do for you ask what you can do for your country. JFK 1961 Inaugural Speech
If you continue to make the pub the primary driving force of the business you will only attract people who go into pubs. If you focus on the needs of the community, you will attract a bigger demographic including pub going and non-pub going people.
A simple way to think of it as a marriage of the pub, village hall, adult education centre, social club and event venue.
Traditionally pubs tend to trade more in the evenings in the week with the footfall peaking in the Thursday to Saturday period.
That means that there are two opportunities to generate more trade, during the daytime and in the evenings Sunday to Wednesday.
There are people around during these times, you just need to find a way to bring them to the pub by offering services they want.
A quick survey of the local area will identify what these people are doing, examples may be, coffee, eating, baking, socialising, shopping, TV watching, gardening, babysitting, reading. You just need to offer a reason for them to do these things in your pub.
Once you understand the concept and how to implement it the list of events starts to increase. The possibilities are endless depending on your community.
Meet the brewer, winemaker, chef. Social media talks for silver surfers
Great British Break Off (local Brewers to bring their beers to be judged)
Cake making lessons
Basket weaving
Wooden spoon making
Chocolate and beer matching evening.
English wine and wine festival.
Cheese and beer evening,
Cold meats and beer evening
Cross stitch and knitting, stitch and bitch
Jewellery making
Book club, local authors
Drawing and painting lessons, Art sales
Flower arranging, wreath making
Comedy night, local talent contest
Hog roast
Beer festival/Wine festival/Gin festival/Rum festival
Glassmaking
Local groups meeting, ramblers, art clubs, history clubs
Basic mechanics and DIY
Cycle care
Vinyl record evening
Jam making classes
Singles club
Theatre visits film nights
Finance and investment classes
Corporate company hire evenings
Themed evenings, Burns night, Halloween, Christmas
Street/Christmas/German
Murder mystery evening
Summer garden plays
Gardening and allotment clubs. Could also supply vegetables to the pub
Wine making classes
Photography classes
Beer and ice cream
Local people provide their recipes. For instance, a paella evening.
Reclaim and recycle evenings.
Cooking on a shoestring.
Making various arts and crafts
Candle making
Perfume and body lotions selling
Smoothie making
Cooking with beer and wine
How to Get the Ball Rolling
Run a series of evening events that showcase food, beer, wine, crafts, and education and underpin the pub being at the centre of the community.
Sell a unique range of products in draft, bottle and can formats and most importantly ensure that all staff are knowledgeable about the products on sale.
Link the drink and food offer and incorporate other local businesses to add value to the consumer offer.
Make the food offer artisanal and local and actively support other local businesses as they will reciprocate the support.
Create an environment that becomes the go to place in the village for social interaction, the learning of new skills and entertainment.
Actively utilise the benefits of social media and Web based marketing to attract your current customers and more importantly new ones.
Use local talent to dress the business so that it becomes a trendy place to be a part of.
How much better would it be if you visit that pub on the wet November evening to find the landlord leaning on the bar and bemoaning the fact that he’s so busy he is struggling to get all of the beer into the cellar, he hasn’t got a free table to sit down at and he has had to hire more staff just to get the food out. All landlords moan but at least now he is doing it with a smile on his face.
Mark is a knowledgeable Beer Sommelier with over 30 years experience in the trade. As a consultant and facilitator he is often to be found at pubs around the country hosting beer tasting and food matching events for both staff and consumer.
Find out more about Mark and his services at The Beer Hub