Have you come across the saying that if you put on an event, you need to achieve additional sales three times greater than the cost of the event in order to break even?
For example, if your normal days sales are £2,000 and the band featured costs £400, you need to achieve total sales of £3,200 to break even?
How else do you evaluate the promotions you run? You may well have a gut feel that it has gone well but did you actually stage an event enjoyed by all customers? There are three key areas to the evaluation process:
The Numbers
· What was the additional bar income?
· What was the additional food income?
· What were the sales of any promotional items? And was the cost of the promotion justified by the increased volume of corresponding trade?
Staff Feedback
· Were wastage levels higher than usual?
· Were customer waiting times extended?
· Any added operational complications that need consideration?
Customer Feedback
· Try to obtain direct feedback and evaluate – maybe hand out comment cards
· Social media comments
If your assessment is that the promotion has been a commercial success and that customers and staff have enjoyed the event, then start planning the next one!