Issue link: http://osercommunicationsgroup.uberflip.com/i/310737
Re s ta u ra n t D a i l y N e ws M o n d a y, M a y 1 9 , 2 0 1 4 4 6 SAY HELLO TO YOUR NEIGHBORS WITH EVERY DOOR DIRECT MAIL When restaurant owners evaluate the best way to reach and attract new customers, it is important to take a local focus. That's why Direct Mail can be an effec- tive tool to find new customers and build relationships with current patrons. The U.S. Postal Service, which delivers mail to more than 150 million addresses a day, is now making it easier for small busi- nesses to reach their neighbors. The U.S. Postal Service offers a product called Every Door Direct Mail, which helps local businesses reach new and existing customers. It's online map- ping tool allows restaurants to test out different types of announcements – coupons, menus or other promotions – without having to purchase mailing lists or find addresses. Businesses can pin- point neighborhoods, cities or ZIP codes they want to target. The tool also makes it easy to target a certain demographic, such as median age or household income. By targeting people who are most likely to be a customer – those within five miles of a business – restaurant own- ers are able to put their message in the right hands. According to the USPS 2012 Mail Moment Research, 75 percent of people like to discover what's in the mail and consider the time they spend with the mail as well spent; there's a level of con- fidence with what people receive in their mailbox each day. Direct mail can also extend and inte- grate other marketing efforts with the use of tactics like coupons, reply cards, aug- mented reality (AR) or quick response codes (QR). By leveraging the technolo- gy that smartphones offer, small business owners can build an ongoing relationship with customers. For example, a farm-to-table restau- rant could use Every Door Direct Mail to help advertise their restaurant's unique offerings and use AR technology that would allow customers and prospects to take a "behind the scenes" look into the restaurant concept with a short video. To reach their target audience, the restaurant owner would select their prospect seg- ment by age, income and/or location with the online mapping tool at approximately 17.5 cents per piece of mail. Five Customer Engagement Ideas: 1. Thank customers for a purchase with a simple card or a discount coupon. It shows you're paying attention to them and that you appreciate their business. 2. Ask for feedback by sending a postage-paid survey. Not only does this show that you care about what your cus- tomers think, you can also learn how to improve service. 3. If a customer has a bad experience, send an apology or a personal card containing a coupon in order to regain customers. 4. Offer a special birthday or anniversary discount to valued cus- tomers. It's a thoughtful gesture that goes a long way, building customer loyalty. 5. Use Every Door Direct Mail to place coupons, menus and promotional calendars into the hands of customers. Every Door Direct Mail is a simple, cost effective solution that can help small business owners reach customers and prospective customers in the markets where they serve. It can be used with a wide range of formats, from oversize postcards to fliers. For more information, visit USPS booth #1036 at the show or www.usps.com/ business/businesssolutions.htmwww.usps .com/business/business-solutions.htm. VENSTAR'S COLORTOUCH COMMERCIAL THERMOSTAT AND SURVEYOR ENERGY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM Venstar ® , a leading thermostat and energy management systems supplier, announced that its ColorTouch ® Commercial touch screen thermostat and Surveyor ® Energy Management System (EMS) will be fea- tured at NRA. Venstar is at booth #9757. "Venstar's goal is to help businesses save money on energy costs while helping protect the environment. With Surveyor, more than 20,000 individual stores are sav- ing their parent companies millions of dol- lars in energy costs while reducing their carbon footprints," said Steve Dushane, President and CEO of Venstar Inc. "In addition, with Venstar's com- mercial ColorTouch digital touch screen thermostat, which can be programmed remotely via a free mobile app, users can dramatically reduce their energy usage and costs by taking advantage of the wide variety of programming options for heat- ing and cooling," added Dushane. About ColorTouch Commercial Touch Screen Thermostat The award-winning ColorTouch pro- grammable commercial thermostat is a multi-functional, simple-to-use, touch screen thermostat designed for commer- cial installations. Its color touch screen can be programmed to display company logos, advertisements or promotions as well as a picture gallery of up to 100 files to be used as a slideshow. Compatible with virtually every type of commercial heating and air condition- ing system, ColorTouch is compatible with Venstar's Skyport™ Cloud services, which allows commercial users to use Venstar's free mobile app on their Android™, BlackBerry ® and Apple ® iOS mobile devices or directly from the Web to instantly access and control up to 100 commercial locations and much more. ColorTouch also helps businesses go green by providing a wide variety of programming options that help improve energy efficiency while keep- ing the business environment comfort- able. ColorTouch Commercial is priced at approximately half the cost of com- petitive touch screen thermostats. About Surveyor EMS Venstar's Surveyor EMS has saved retail chain customers millions in energy costs at more than 20,000 locations across the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and Mexico. The Surveyor EMS typical- ly saves small-box retailers 25 percent to 35 percent of their energy costs, which translates to tens of millions of dollars in savings each year and dramatic reduc- tions in CO2 emissions. Surveyor empowers small-box retailers and other multi-location busi- nesses to remotely monitor, control and manage their HVAC, lighting/electrical and mechanical systems in all their stores, giving them unprecedented visi- bility into their energy usage. Designed specifically for small-box retail chains with hundreds to thousands of locations, Surveyor provides powerful energy man- agement tools for energy and facility managers responsible for managing multi-location companies. About Venstar Inc. Founded in 1992, Venstar Inc. is a leading thermostat and energy management sys- tem (EMS) supplier, known for providing value to its customers via ease of use and installation, proven cost savings, improved energy efficiency, quality and reliability. Venstar is one of the largest thermostat suppliers in the world and designs and pro- duces Venstar-branded products, as well as OEM thermostat products for the biggest names in HVAC. Venstar's Surveyor is a leading energy management system, typi- cally saving small-box retailers 25–35 per- cent of their energy costs, which translates to tens of millions of dollars in savings each year and dramatic reductions in CO2 emissions. Surveyor currently con- trols the energy usage of more than 20,000+ retail locations across the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and Mexico. For more information, visit www .venstar.com. looking for a clean, crisp pickle on the market, and couldn't find one that wasn't chock full of funky chemicals or dyed some unholy shade of green. After a few summer pickling sessions, we found our- selves with leftover pickle brine. Using our tart, spicy brine, we began a tradition of Sunday morning Bloody Marys. It struck us that we needed to share what we were drinking and Stu's 'This Is Bloody Mary' was born! RDN: What would you say makes your company unique? SW: Our company is unique because of a concept that I learned in culinary school: 'you eat with your eyes first.' This idea is paramount to what differentiates us from our competitors. Of course, we care end- lessly about what goes into our bottles, layering flavor upon flavor and still pro- viding a clean finish; but we also care just as much about the bottles them- selves. I want a bottle to speak for itself – to intrigue our customers and hopefully make them question their preconceived notions concerning how a Bloody Mary bottle should look. The product tells its story which begins way before you take the first sip. RDN: What distinguishes your product from the competition? SW: Our flavor speaks for itself. But if I had to speak for it, I'd say our distin- guishing factor is the fact that our prod- uct allows for both easy customization and consistent reproduction. You made it perfect once, you'll make it perfect again! We allow our customers, from the at home bartender to the trained mixolo- gist, to consistently make a perfect Bloody Mary without having to use a dozen ingredients and long recipes. RDN: How would you compare the posi- tion of your products against the current market? Stu's Heritage Foods ( Cont'd. from p. 1) SW: Initially, we gained a strong posi- tion in the market by putting the first products in front of the right people. Ultimately, though, it's not only about being in the right place at the right time, but also being the right product for the right place. Although selling to big national retailers and small specialty food stores at the same time can be a challenge, we've maintained our suc- cess by offering the right product to the right retailer, and by continually inno- vating new products to fit that model. Ultimately, our top concern is providing the best Bloody Mary experience we can. We've earned our customers' trust since they continue to receive what they've been promised. RDN: What is your outlook in general for this product line? SW: Whether we have been providing people with their favorite drink or pro- viding an option for a wonderful mari- nade in their culinary adventures in the comforts of their own home, we've been concentrating on the specialty food mar- ket for some time now. But now, after a number of restaurants and bars have approached us, we've created food serv- ice size, offering gallon or half gallon growlers of our concentrate. This is an incredible opportunity for bars and restaurants to jump on the Stu's band- wagon and get homemade quality and premix constancy at a great price. RDN: How can our readers find out more about the company? SW: Stu's 'This Is Bloody Mary' is proudly stocked at specialty food stores around the country as well as shops like Dean and Deluca, Crate and Barrel and Anthropologie. People can also find us at stuskitchen.com. For more information, visit www.stuskitchen.com, call 855-228- 0838, email stuwaters@gmail.com or stop by booth #9210.