When we all emerge in 2 to 12 weeks from our COVID-19 induced ‘social distancing’, we could find ourselves wandering the devastated remnants of America’s local restaurant scene.

To avoid that painful situation, restaurant owners and chefs will have to act quickly, effectively, and in a manner they’ve never before shown they can handle.

I’m hoping this article can put some of them on the right path with practical tips they can act on today. If you know someone that needs to read this, please share it with them.

Actions to start taking today.

Understand that you are not in the hospitality business anymore. For now.

What you are doing is a form of E-Commerce with a heavy dose of Marketing. You have entered a sector of the food business with leaner margins, more competition, and a whole different set of skills and rules. Unfortunately, you still have restaurant overhead.

This will be painful. I’m not saying it won’t be, but to survive this you first must change your mindset.

Grub Hub, Postmark, and Uber Eats will not save you, but you might need to use them for a time.

These companies hold a significant amount of the mental availability within the food delivery space. There is no surprise that they were the first companies that came to mind when this all started. Everybody else thought of them as well.

This is going to be a bloody fight against every other restaurant in your town, including many with lower costs and more experience playing the food delivery game. This is called a “Red Ocean.”

The food delivery apps also know that you are in a dire situation and they have the access to the customer that you need. They are gong to make you pay for the privilege of using their platform.

What you need to do is create your own access to your customer.

Attract the customer yourself and either deliver it yourself or inspire them to pick it up from you.

That is going to take discipline, courage, creativity, and a strong focus on science-based marketing and internet commerce.

Don’t worry. I’ll show you how.

Find your Hero among your front of house employees.

Statistically speaking, there is someone in your front of house team - probably between 21 and 30 years old - who is excellent at their own social media and internet presence. Find them. Keep them. And pay them well. They are going to help you save your restaurant.

If you are going to be able to capture the attention and wallet of your community as it “shelters in place” or “social distances,” you will have to be where their attention is.

Their attention will be on their phones.

The amount of screen time we are all going to spend throughout this will be astronomical as we follow the spread of the virus and the chaos that surrounds it.

Find the Face of your restaurant … and get ready to show the world that face.

Maybe this is the owner? Maybe it is the Chef? Whoever it is, they need to instantly get comfortable being the face of the restaurant, because we are going to build a human connection to this business. Fast - and at scale.

This might be very difficult for some people - I get it - but you are fighting for survival.

TV has taught us that restauranteurs and chefs are celebrities. If aren’t a local celeb yet, you’re going to have to become one quickly.

Start talking to your community. Every day. Sometimes more than once a day.

The occasional pretty picture of food, neatly styled and lit by a professional photographer, isn’t going to cut it any more. You need the Face of the restaurant speaking to your local community online.

This doesn’t need to be polished and well composed. You certainly don’t need hair and makeup. What you do need is honesty, intimacy, a little bit of fun, and a willingness to let your community know what you are going through.

There are many ways to do this. Facebook Live and Instagram Live are excellent options. If you’ve got a video-experienced Hero, then maybe YouTube is one the table.

I’m a huge fan of the power of video for this, but there are other ways and you’ll have to find your own path.

What kind of content do you need to produce?

• 5-10 minute updates about what you are going through and how you feel about it. Talking directly to the camera.

• Tours of the kitchen

• Profiles of every dish that you currently offer. Maybe a bit showing the preparation of that dish.

• Demonstration of the process of pickup or delivery. “Where do I park?’ etc…

• Profiles of the wine that you sell. Use your Sommelier or Wine Steward if they are still with you.

• Demonstrations of kitchen cleanliness and how seriously you are taking their health and safety.

• Take advice from your Hero. They probably have a better idea of how this works than you do.

• Anything else that shows your personality. Avoid politics and social issues unless that is a core part of your company branding.

Be willing to spend money promoting your social media content.

For every one dollar or minute that your spend creating content, spend 5 dollars or five minutes promoting it. You can’t risk your business on the chance that you might “go viral.”

The wonderful benefit to you today is the ability to target Facebook and Instagram advertising within geographic parameters. It doesn’t matter if everybody in New York City is watching your content if you need sales in Toledo, Ohio. Facebook will show you how to do this. It is in their best interest that you are successful with these ads. You’ll buy more of them and everybody makes money.

I can already hear you saying that you can’t afford it. Please remember that you are fighting for your business’ survival. Plus the cost of an effective campaign is going to be less money than the percentages you’ll give away to companies like Grub Hub and Uber Eats.

Reach out to local media

Earned media is a powerful thing, but “This Restaurant is Suffering” will sadly not be newsworthy. What might get their attention is the way that you are using digital technology to build a new business model to combat the challenging times. Perhaps you’ll be featured in segments with the main news anchors instead of the food critic.

Don’t forget your email list of regular customers.

Email is still one of the most powerful sales and marketing tools in the world. You’ll need to use it. I hope you have a strong list, full of local customers because that will be very helpful. Here are a couple tips.

Try to reach out at least once a week with a very human email. Talk about what is happening. The good and the bad. We aren’t trying to close the deal here. We are reminding them that your exist, are a real person, and that they want you to continue existing.

Occasionally throw an aggressive discount their way. I’d price the discount at around the percentage that you are giving up with Grub Hub and Uber Eats.

Make sure they know how much they mean to you, because they really do.

Sell wine .. if your state will let you.

Unfortunately, you aren’t going to get the same high margins that restaurants normally enjoy. The takeout customer has many other places they can buy wine for consumption at home - at 1/3 or less of the normal restaurant price - and you don’t want it to cross their mind that you might be gouging. You can probably get a few dollars above the normal retail price in your state.

The great advantage your have is that your can partner with local small wine distributors who can offer boutique wines that don’t have much retail sales presence. You’ll be helping them out as well because their sales will also be severely depressed.

Are you an Italian Restaurant? Be your town’s source for curated Italian wines. Are you a farm-to-table place? Maybe you have a collection of funky natural wines. Chinese restaurant? Feature Alsatian Riesling and cloudy cider.

Whatever fits your brand.

So what are we really trying to do?

Modern science-based marketing is all about CEPs - Consciousness Entry Points. To simplify, it is all about creating moments and touch points where the customer thinks about you. The customer used to think about you in connection to your hospitality, the decor, and the experience of your restaurant. Maybe that was more relevant to their enjoyment than food quality.

In the time of Coronavirus, they will have other things on their mind.

The CEPs that you built with your community have been broken and you need to build them quickly and at scale.

Hopefully, you now have a few tools that can help.

Good Luck and Godspeed!