The "New Patron Engine" Interview | Local Bot Pro

Adam:

I’d love to welcome everyone to the Restaurant Growth Secrets Show. 

On the show we talk with the world's top experts at growing Restaurants and Bars.

Today we’re talking with Chuck Maddin. 

Chuck is the Owner and CEO at Local Bot Pro, an online marketing firm focused on growing restaurants and bars using digital marketing.

In this interview, Chuck is going to walk us through the unique way that they’ve been able to help their Bar and Restaurant clients grow their monthly revenue using a unique and strategic online marketing Strategy.

Chuck. Welcome to the Show.

Chuck Maddin:

Thanks Adam, it’s an honor to be here and get to share all the cool stuff we’re doing with your audience. I’m excited to get into it.

Adam:

Ok first big question.

What led you to starting Local Bot Pro, and why do you focus exclusively on working with bars and restaurants?

Chuck Maddin:

Well Adam, after spending 40 days and 40 nights fasting on the mountain top … actually, that’s not the way it happened at all.  I was in Financial Services for 33 years and felt compelled to learn internet marketing for my business; and, that was about 10 years after my OSJ mandated that we all learn how to use EMAIL!  The more I learned, the more I loved it; and, the more I wanted to do internet marketing to help other business owners. I feel I’m doing my part, however small, to help my local economy.

Now, the kicker is this: Before Financial Services I spent 12 years working in the Hotel & Restaurant Industry in New Orleans, LA—an international restaurant destination city. I worked in world-famous places, to name a few. I was a waiter then captain at Begue’s French Restaurant in the Royal Sonesta Hotel, 300 Bourbon St. I tended bar at Pat O’Briens, the busiest bar on planet earth.  I was Head Bartender and Asst. Sommelier at Commander’s Palace under Ella Brennan and Emeril Lagasse.  And, I also went from prep cook to Sous Chef at a French Creole bistro attached to the very first wine bar in NOLA on Magazine St. I was a perfectionist.  I cooked for NOLA’s quintessential food critic, Tom Fitzmorris which gleaned us his coveted 5-star review and NEVER had one plate I cooked sent back to the kitchen. So, after all these years, you can take the boy out of the restaurant, but you cannot take the restaurant out of the boy. I feel like I have a unique understanding of the mechanics of what makes a bar or restaurant successful. 

The name Local Bot Pro signifies to me some of the most important time-saving-money-making services that a business could have. Having us automate the critical components for success makes a Bar and Restaurant more money. Business Automations whether it’s my people doing it or my software doing it, removes time-consuming work for a myriad of complex tasks, makes you more money; and, makes doing business fun again. Long story short … I accidentally got into this; but, I’m good at it as I still strive for perfection; and, I love getting up every morning and helping out folks in the industry. 

Adam:

So what kind of bars and restaurants do you work with specifically?

Chuck:

We typically work with bars and restaurants in bigger cities. In that group we look for thoroughly established venues that have all the basics down. They must have good food and service, or no amount of marketing will work for them. By this, I want to work with folks who have around 300 Google Reviews with around a 4 to 4.5 star rating. They must have a functioning website, a decent logo, and some regular regular posts on their Facebook and Instagram. 

Establishments that have weekly events have an advantage in that they give more reasons for patrons to come in besides their food and drinks. Even if the place doesn’t have live music, comedians, or other themed events, they might have karaoke night or burger night, etc. We can make “Steak Night” event, as we love marketing your food, beverages, and atmosphere. 

From there it’s all about getting more people to come for the first time. That’s where we come in here at Local Bot Pro. We have a proven strategy for getting in front of the right folks for each bar and restaurant using the internet. 

Adam:

I love it. So let’s get to the part everyone is waiting for. I’d like for you to walk us through the exact strategy that you put in place for all of your restaurants and bars that gets them new business using the internet. 

What is the core framework of your system?

Chuck:

We call it our “New Patron Engine” and we focus on overhauling 3 core components in every restaurant or bar we work with.  The 3 components that make up the engine are Website-List-Building, the Google Business Profile and Google Reviews .

Underneath each of those elements we have systems in place that get us to our ultimate goal of getting more new customers. A lot of what we do is take the restaurant’s Website, Google Business Profile and Google Reviews process and make it actually work for the business instead of it being just something that someone set up because they thought they were supposed to.

Adam:

Ok… so how do all of those pieces fit together?

Chuck:

Let’s start with the Website-List-Building.  

Most businesses set one up because they know that they are supposed to, but perhaps didn’t put that much thought into it.  When that happens the website typically doesn’t do much for them because it’s missing some pieces it needs, and may have a lot of pieces that is doesn’t need. One of the core things you must understand about a website is that it’s essentially a billboard with a table of contents.  People visit the website to find the menu, or the phone number or the location.  This is the basic stuff everybody understands. The vibe of the website needs to match the vibe of the establishment and if the website doesn’t reflect this you lose them.  

So we make sure that the branding, etc. is really attractive to a new person visiting the website. But the most important thing is that your website should be a lead collection tool.  We equip your site with a way to collect leads and the bait to get them to sign up for something.  An example of bait might be a free dessert or a discount off of their first meal.  It also might be something as simple as a way to sign up for alerts from your event calendar or join our VIP list–where you won’t miss out on any of our weekly specials.  And, once we have those people on your marketing list, we can send all kinds of reasons to come in.  

Believe me, this was the one thing that the restaurants who thrived during the lockdown had going for them that saved them–a marketing list.  Think about it.  The city has locked down your business, and closed your doors to inside traffic.  The Restaurants that thrived, merely sent a message to their patrons saying that, “we’re still open for take out food only.”  With a customer list you might turn a slow night into a busy night!  And, most of these messages are automated so the owner or managers don’t have to do anything to make it continue to work for the business.    

From there we look at your Google Business Profile. Your Google Business Profile or GBP is also known as Local SEO.

Potential patrons arrive on your website for their very first time usually from doing a Google search for a particular restaurant in their area. If your GBP is not optimized properly for Google’s changing requirements, then nobody will see your business during their search.  And, no one will see your website, either.  For other establishments with a well-optimized GBP, Google is serving up their information to local searchers who actually might like eating at your place better. Who’s going to know if nobody sees you? Having a GBP that Google favors enough to show on the first page of local search guarantees that your bar or restaurant shows up ready for business everyday!

We start by auditing your GBP and going through all of our “fixes” one at a time.  There are many components to the Goolge Business Profile and optimizing your description, updating your citations, and checking backlinks are just a few that opens up more business for you. You must also be posting content several times per week even on your GBP to keep Google happy.  

Just a couple of years ago the cost of having an agency perform all the constant care-and-feeding of your Google Business Profile was around a $2500-3000 a month.  Just that one service! And, you wouldn’t see any significant results for around 6 months!  But, Google has made some changes that has allowed us to get great results much faster and without the incredible expense.  And, that brings me to perhaps the most explosive thing we can do to bring in more business!

Review Marketing–Google Reviews is where we really shine.

One of the most effective tools for growing any restaurant or bar is just what the general public is saying about your establishment. Your website and social media are your opinions about your place.  Google Reviews are what other people think about your place.  

Most business owners hate reviews before we start working with them because they are leaving their reviews to chance.  The reason behind that is because usually the only reason someone leaves a review is when they have a bad experience and need to vent.

The key is to implement systems so that your biggest fans have a reason to leave reviews and that outweighs the occasional bad review.

Both your website and your staff should constantly be asking for reviews.  That can be hard if you don’t have a system in place. We have tools on your website, social media and cards that your staff hands out that encourage reviews from happy customers.

A quick trick for everyone listening:

We use QR codes and NFC cards in all of our client’s businesses.  When someone is obviously having a good experience, the staff member presents that card and asks for a review for the business and to mention them in the review.  If the customer isn’t having a good time we take care of that in house as best we can, but we DON’T present them with that card.  This, along with all the extra stuff we do with your reviews online, results in tons of new positive reviews each week.

When someone new is looking for a place to check out, all those positive reviews add up very fast! On top of that, it also helps our restaurants and bars rank higher in Google Local Search for the keywords that they are after. Let me repeat that very important point: what we do with Reviews helps your business rank higher in Google Local Search for the keywords you are after!

Adam:

I love all of that. So what do you consider a successful result of this system at the end of every month?

Chuck:

Our goal within the first two months of implementation is to add 10k to the bottom line of our restaurant and bar clients.  After that, it’s just keeping that number steady and adding to it little by little as the reviews and marketing list grow.  The more people we put on that list, the more people we can send reasons to come in and do business.

Adam:

Ok… so lets say that a restaurant or bar wants to get started with your system.

Where do they go to sign up?

Chuck:

We’re petty swamped, but if anyone wants to apply to become a client all you have to do is text me at 918-739-0080.  Please send a text to: 918-739-0080 with your full name, number, email, and business name. I love meeting new folks in the industry and talking shop so I’ll hit you back within 48 hours to chat.

Adam:

And what happens once a new restaurant or bar signs up? 
What is the onboarding process like?

Chuck:

The day someone signs-up with us, we have them select a person for a point of contact in their business that will be who we talk to.  This is going to be our connection to the business and someone who can handle getting us everything we need. This helps because it takes the pressure off of busy managers and owners so that they don’t have to be that person. We collect brand information and start designing mockups right away.  Typically, we are ready to showcase a “New Patron Engine” for a business within two weeks.  That’s Lead-Capture/Website systems, Google Business Profile and Reviews Systems.  

The point of contact approves the stuff they like and then lets us know what doesn’t work.  We fix any issues and are ready to go within 4 weeks of initial sign up.  From there, we get everything live.  Over the next month, we monitor everything to make sure everything is working.  We tweak anything that isn’t connecting and work closely with our point of contact with once a week meetings.  After we get it dialed in, we typically only have to talk with the business once a month and that’s just us checking in.  The best part of our “New Patron Engine” is that once it gets to working, it’s pretty hands off for the business owner, manager and the employees.  We take care of everything and it just brings in a lot of new business.   

Adam:

If you could give any piece of advice to a restaurant or bar owner who was looking to grow using the internet besides all of the good stuff you’ve already laid out… what would that advice be?

Chuck:

My biggest piece of advice is to just get started with digital marketing. We obviously have this dialed in and down to a science so that we can work with businesses and get this done without it costing them an arm and a leg. Even if you don’t work with us, though, just get started. An hour a day working on your social media, including your GBP, can be absolutely huge to your bottom line. It won’t click right away (which is why people get discouraged), but if you consistently put in the time, you will see it affecting your bottom line. My advice to the restaurant and bar owners out there is to just get started and try to make a little bit of time for it daily … even if it’s not an hour and only 15 minutes. Just put in that 15 minutes a day.

Adam:

I love it.

To everyone listening, I hope that you’ve pulled a ton out of our interview with Chuck today. I’ve got a few pages worth of notes that I’ve been taking as we go and I can’t wait to share this with a few of my buddies that are bar owners.  

Chuck, thanks for being with us today on the show.

And like Chuck said, if you have any questions, you can find Chuck by texting him your name, phone number, email and business name to: 918-739-0080. That's 918-739-0080.

Thank you for listening to The Restaurant Growth Secrets Show. We'll see you next time.