Project update 5: Build on the success
THE HACK & Spade has come a long way since Sell More, Save More began at the beginning of the year. Sales at the pub are currently running at five times higher than they were before the recent relaunch night. Our category champions have helped licensees Anne and Alastair Dowson-Park to review key areas across the business, ranging from beer, wine and spirits to menus, entertainment and the layout of the pub.
The challenge for the couple now is to keep growing the business, and to sustain the marketing push that helped make the relaunch night at the end of May such a success.The night at the pub went with a bang thanks to the promotional tactics, including a wide-scale mail-out of flyers, that the category champions helped initiate.
Carl May, the business development expert at the heart of Sell More, Save More, says: "The marketing ahead of the relaunch was really good, but that can only be as good as the follow-up. "Marketing is not something you take off the shelf and use when you want to. They need to advertise their quiz nights, for example. It needs to be a constant trickle.
"They need to keep plugging away, shouting about themselves."
Building on the positives
Without a doubt, there are many positives emerging from the relaunch that need to be built upon as well as those impressive sales figures.
A quiz night has been ruinning successfully, and Anne and Alastair are considering moving it from a Wednesday night to a Friday night in response to demand from customers. And Carl summarises: "The ambience of the place is so much better than when the Sell More, Save More project began."
"Trade has certainly picked up since the re-launch," Anne says. "We're getting more new faces through the door, one or two have returned more than once, and reaction has been positive."
Flyers for the pub will be distributed this week, according to Anne, after a mail drop was arranged with local newspapers. There will be 2,500 of the promotional sheets dropping onto doormats, leaving another 2,500 to be sent out as a follow-up. They promote the fact that the Hack & Spade is now open for lunch. Separate flyers are also to be printed to promote its pub quiz. Specific postcodes have been selected for the mail drop in order to reach Anne's target customers, "home owners, the middle bracket because they are the people with money who are likely to come out and spend it".
Coverage of the relaunch that has featured in the local press has also had the effect of spreading the word about the transformation taking place at the Hack & Spade. It was clearly a good move to invite North Yorkshire journalists to the event.
"People have come in and said there were nice write-ups in the papers," Anne says. "Any little mention of us has got to put us in people's minds."
Other changes
The high-quality Clenaware glasswasher now installed has made a big difference to the glassware. The impact of new menus that have introduced more pub-friendly pricing and a classic, handmade feel to the dishes has also been positive, she adds.
All these changes at the Hack & Spade can only add up to more chance of success. The category champions have done a great deal so far in working with the pub on new products, offering general advice on the look of the pub, and in helping to market its new, improved credentials. Over to you, Anne and Alastair!
SEEKING LATER HOURS
The licensees at the Hack & Spade are currently seeking later opening hours, and initially proposed a licence to serve up until 1am. After consultation with local residents, Anne and Alastair agreed to trim it back to 11.30pm during the week and 12.30pm on Fridays and Saturdays. They want to use the later hours for quiz nights, for example, or for private parties.
However, after continued objections, the application is due to go before a licensing review hearing at an as-yet-unspecified date.Anne explains: "We had emphasised that, while we would have been licensed until 1am every day, we would have used that very infrequently.
"The hearing is for everybody to put their case forward. It will be all down to the board. The hours could stick with our original proposals, the reduced ones, or be completely changed."
Anne and Alastair continue to be hesitant about opening up the site's garden to customers. At present it is kept for the couple's private use, but the category champions urge them to unshackle this resource by making it available as an attractive beer garden. Outdoor bench seating at the front of the pub is soon to be introduced, however, providing an opportunity for drinkers to enjoy the summer atmosphere - and to accommodate smokers now the ban is in.
DRINKS
Category champion Diageo has introduced the 'perfect serve' at the Hack & Spade through a spirits training programme.
Staff received individual training under the Perfect Serve module from Diageo's 360Þ esp course. The training, free to all licensees, means the Hack & Spade team can now offer their customers a better drink in terms of value, taste and presentation - with the hope that they will improve customer loyalty and experience, and increase their own profitability.
Diageo, liaising with glasswasher company Clenaware, has given Anne and Alastair the message that any glass must be clean and completely dried - a process which takes up to 40 minutes - to achieve the correct presentation of carbonated drinks.
On the wine side, Pernod Ricard category development director Tim Foster says: "There is a real need to increase wine's visibility at the bar. There is a big opportunity for increasing awareness through better point of sale material and improving staff advocacy.
"Back-bar displays, blackboards and staff are being trained so they are more confident in making wine recommendations are all good ways to improve wine sales.
"Wine can sometimes be overcomplicated and this can put consumers off. The key is to keep it simple and make it easy for your customers. "A large proportion of drinkers are undecided about what to order when they approach the bar so we all need to be doing more to give consumers the confidence - and the right information - to encourage them to choose wine."
