Don't underestimate Smokers Patronage
Smoking Sections insure Restaurants success
Do you know why so many restaurants fail? Do you know why so many people still choose the McDonald's drive-thru over going to your beautiful restaurant with delicious food? It's not the prices. It's not the location. It's not your crew's fault. It's all based on the general consensus of how your restaurant makes guests feel. Why do so many people still choose the drive-thru over attending a restaurant with a lovely dining room even with the best food being served? It's because for a bargain and quick ride they don't have to gamble on more than 5 minutes of being mistreated. What do you call your customers? Guests, customers, patrons, or boss? Most likely you forgot that anyone who has a credit card, cash, or the money that makes your business thrive is one of your bosses. And if any of your bosses are made to feel badly or not included, that's bad for your business.
In the old days when business people were still smart, they found a way to make all guests (smokers and nonsmokers) happy. They simply divided the restaurant into sections the way a good hotel offers smoking and nonsmoking rooms. There is no reason for a smoker or nonsmoker to feel uncomfortable or get hostile because they are placed in the appropriate section.
Yesterday I went to a new restaurant for lunch. It's got a great location right on the beach. It's got lots of space to accommodate guests inside the restaurant and even more space outside. Typically speaking, outside sections in restaurants (for example at Hooters or Winghouse) do allow smokers to smoke, but not inside the restaurant. At this restaurant on Clearwater Beach, I will say that while the food was absolutely divine tasting, and the service was prompt and friendly, the fact that someone had the audacity to tell me that I couldn't smoke while we were dining in the outside section, bothered me immensely.
I had to leave my lunch companion and go outside away from the restaurant to smoke my cigarette. Not only is that noninclusive to patrons, but it's an interruption to their dining "in" experience. Puts another one of my votes on the drive-thru.
Don't hand me the "life's not fair" line while I'm explaining to you the basics of good business. Cigarette and tobacco sales are still one of the best running businesses in the money game even if nobody wants to acknowledge that. If you're running a restaurant just to give free food away so that you can look at people come and visit, then I'm not talking to you. But if you're running a business that actually cares about money, you should heed this advice: Never underestimate the bank of the smokers. You might think they are poor from spending all their money on tobacco, but they do get out sometimes and when they do, they spend just as much on having a good time as they do on their cigarettes. If you want that patronage, it's wiser to have smoking and nonsmoking sections than to exclude their purses from your restaurant.
Tobacco smokers are legally allowed to smoke in any outdoor public area. Excluding them from such is a business owner's perogative, but does not leave a good impression regardless how delicious the food is. Arby's roast beef sandwiches are delicious too, and the drive-thru is quick, efficient, and there are no judgements there.
If you run a regular restaurant and want people with money to spread the word in your favor, best not to exclude anyone who carries the purse to pay or the mouth to say. Tobacco isn't free, so remember that when you judge smokers in regards to your business.
About the Creator
Shanon Angermeyer Norman
Gold, Published Poet at allpoetry.com since 2010. USF Grad, Class 2001.
Currently focusing here in VIVA and Challenges having been ECLECTIC in various communities. Upcoming explorations: ART, BOOK CLUB, FILTHY, PHOTOGRAPHY, and HORROR.
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Comments (1)
That's one way of looking at it. Everywhere here is non smoking, so no restaurant is competing with a restaurant that has a smoking section. In general, people picking up takeaway aren't looking for a sit down dine-in dinner anyway, so I don't think they're in competition either.