What's Marketing Without 'Hospitality'?

What happens to folks who find themselves in an “institutional” food service establishment (nursing or extended care facility, university or staff cafeteria) and they’re not happy with the menu offerings?

These same people (with the obvious exception of those incarcerated in penal institutions) are exposed to the same marketing and advertising messages directed at the general public every day. They know where the good food is.

How does an institutional feeder compete with this?

Many of these operators need to start taking a leaf out of the ‘marketing book’ of the restaurateurs. They need to make their outlets more appealing to those who would use them; or are a ‘forced’ to use them, (e.g. a person living full time in a nursing or extended care facility).

If the food (obviously one of the most important parts of any day in such a place) is not top notch, there is a problem that will only get bigger. For staff and visitors, who are ambulatory, there is the obvious option of going out to eat at one of the ‘commercial’ establishments located nearby.

The objective, though, is to provide the kind of food that will make them happy and not want to wander. Given that, with the competition for the pocketbook as it is today, it is incumbent on these operators to use some “restaurant marketing” themselves to reach, inform, motivate and attract both existing and potential guests/visitors to their facility’s menu offerings.

Sure, they can use some of the techniques employed by the commercial restaurant operators; but the real secret is that these techniques have to be combined with one word that is not often used in ‘institutional’ settings: hospitality.

Why not start training your staff to deliver ‘hospitality’ with every meal?  Why not take a look around at the facility and see if the ambiance can be improved, music added, better uniforms for the staff, politeness injected, and a general sense of “we’re glad you’re here…eating with us today!”

The best way to do this is to suspend reality for a few moments and “pretend” that you are a commercial food service outlet, in a highly competitive market, in this down economy. "Imagine” just what you would do in such a situation. Naturally, you can’t blow the budget (scarce as it likely is); but you can use your imagination to see what you might be able to do that will not cost you an arm or a leg to bring ‘hospitality’ into the daily equation.

Whether you're an independent restaurateur, fighting daily against the economy and the big chains, or in the 'non-commercial-institutional' side of the business…"HOSPITALITY" is the magic ingredient we need in ANY food service operation.  Without it, you stand little chance of long term success.

What do you think? Care to offer your two cents’ worth? Go ahead…post a comment below…