Hump Day

Boost mid-week sales with regular menu "specials."

In my early years, before foodservice, a standard workweek was Monday through Friday. Like many people, I looked forward to close of business on Wednesday... "hump day." With my eye on the weekend, Thursday and Friday were relatively less painful.

In the restaurant business, I think of "hump day" as the day in the week when you break-even. Historically, restaurants lose money from Sunday night until Thursday night. Then, they scramble to make it all back and turn a profit from Friday lunch through Sunday brunch.

Depressing as it may be, it's a good idea to track your business this way. I used to challenge myself to get to breakeven earlier in the week than my competitors. One of my most successful marketing ideas to boost mid-week sales was to run regular menu item specials.

Every restaurant has a couple of higher priced entrees that most customers can't afford on a regular basis. To encourage mid-week dinners, I promoted a regular menu item at cost (be sure to include accompaniments: the starch, vegetable and garnish). Owe offered just one of these special items. For example, Monday the special was Prime Rib, Tuesday was Fresh Salmon, Wednesday was Alaskan King Crab Legs, and Thursday was Australian Lobster Tail. Everything else was sold at full price. And we offered limited quantities so diners were encouraged to come early.

We'd promoted our mid-week specials by including a flyer with guest checks on weekends. As with all "discount" programs, the question is: are you cannibalizing your regular sales? In this case, I don't think so. Typically only one person in the party ordered the special. I believe a program like this drives new trial, rewards regular customers, and is profitable.

To help you get started, we've designed a sample flyer (Hump_Day_Specials.pdf) for inspiration when designing your own to include with your weekend guest checks.

Bill Main, FMP, FCSI, is a nationally-recognized author, foodservice consultant, and professional speaker. His goal is to help you define who you are, where you want to go, and the best way to get there. Bill Main & Associates (www.billmain.com) offers a wide range of consulting services, resources and tools in the areas of strategic growth, marketing, menu, leadership, training, and management development.