PortfolioRepublic is an interactive communications agency based in Vancouver. We have deep expertise in digital marketing and customer relations management.

Our clients love us because we solve their complex challenges by changing consumer behavior online and in their store fronts.

Integrating digital and direct marketing expertise with penetrating market insights is how we help our clients succeed in Canada and around the world.

Our work makes a measurable difference to our clients' business and creates memorable consumer engagements.

You probably get daily calls from those amazing new web solutions that will pack your restaurant with people. But, with limited time, the last thing that you want to do is listen to some guy trying to impress you with magical numbers and "action packed" sales pitches. Most groupon sort of sites will devalue your brand, and waste your time with their useless proposals. 

First step: Use 3 level of protection to avoid annoying sales people.

1. Level 1: Front desk number - Use this number on your website and advertising, and instruct your front desk to take 1 sentence summary of whatever they're offering, limit the conversion to 3 minutes & avoid passing on the call to management. Just pass the 1 sentence memo with phone number. 
2. Level 2: Office Number - Use this number in letterheads and conferences.
3. Level 3: Cellphones - Use this number only for important contacts.

Utilizing this system will not completely defeat the invasion of the sales people, but it will slow them down. 

But Still, thanks to the nature of conferences sharing registration details with vendors, some of which then sell compiled lists to companies who sell those meta-lists to their clients, the office number is rather well known and distributed.

Who's calling? Groupon, OpenTable, Yelp (more often than not they're calling the front desk and ask for someone in power), diverse reservation systems, "social media" marketers, someone with a "great idea" how to "leverage" something to "create loyalty in the [X] space".

What to do?

Simple,

• If you get called before 3pm file them under "annoying" but if it's truly something you're interested in, call them back.
• If you get a call after 4pm, that person or company is not doing business with. Someone who doesn't know about non-chain dining to call a restaurant after 4pm is not someone to do business with.

Pitches: Everyone assumes all it takes to "fix" a restaurant is to throw more money at marketing. Which, frankly, is as far from the truth as possible. Few, if any, offer means to reduce cost or to streamline/optimize workflow without massive outlays.

Most sales teams seem to believe they know as much, if not more, about the hospitality business as the person answering the phone. That's annoying!

Everyone has "the" solution for all your issues, regardless what those issues are. While dealing with REAL restaurant issues, All you need to do is buy company A's product which leverages social synergies to apply crowd wisdom to the alter graph by harnessing loyalty incentives via Twitter, Facebook, and first-rate SEO!

Why to avoid them?

1. Many small retailers almost lost their business using services like groupon. First of all, you will get new client, but your current clients are most likely to buy those deals too, which will cause your restaurant to be swarmed by those coupon holders which will overwhelm your staff, will cause a decrease in customer service - which will make your current and new clients be pissed off at you. Its all not worth for the profit you're making. Also, by the time you account for inventory, payroll, and lost clientele, you lost money!
   
   I mean, when you're offering your product for 50% less. Which means, you're making 50% less per sale.
   
   You might be thinking, I don't mind losing money, because some people might order more, or turn into return customers - So don't get groupon if your customer service hurts under pressure.
   
   Not only that, you gotta "Wow" the customers to make them come back. They will never come back to a restaurant that's overwhelmed by coupon wielding raging crowd! This is critical and fundamental. 
    
2. Coupons, regardless on how high tech they are - will cheapen your image. If you're a "budget" dining place, then it might work, but if you sell luxury and quality, coupons will bring you new customers, but it will damage your brand. Then, what happens when you get 100 emails before 9, and your "quality" place can only answer 15 emails per hour?
    
3. The contact. After the sign it, they don't re-negotiate - and as much as they will disagree - before you sign, they DO negotiate.