How familiar are you with your buyers and their needs?

The following is a list of seven consumer types to help you distinguish between different types of buyers and their expectations.

As you read through the list, pay attention to each buyer decision process and try and determine which buyer you are trying to attract.

7 Different Types of Buyers & Their Decision Processes

The Quality Buyer – “We only buy the best.”

This buyer is convinced that a certain brand or supplier provides the best quality products and services, no matter what the price. This buyer is perfect for those sales representatives who will take advantage of their willingness to pay a little extra. This type of buying can be wasteful and extravagant. Often times you’ll find products of equal, or possibly better, quality from more modestly priced suppliers or less prestigious brands. It is best to compare quality and price rather than focusing solely on reputation or brand.

The Over-Buyer – “I never run out of anything.”

This buyer chooses to guess rather than plan, and therefore orders more than needed of everything to avoid shortages. This type of spending can be expensive and wasteful. By purchasing items in bulk, this buyer is at risk of food items going bad, so it’s best to suggest to this buyer to buy items in smaller amounts but more frequently.

The Under-Buyer – “I hate Inventory.”

Much like the Over-Buyer, this person typically guesses rather than calculates average consumption. They choose to maintain a very low inventory, which can lead to chaos. To compensate, this buyer prefers frequent small or emergency deliveries or trips to the store. These options can result in expensive costs for the buyer. To avoid any problems, the buyer should review the operation’s usage in order to be able to predict the operation’s needs. It’s better to have too much inventory rather than being short on products.

The Bargain Hunter – “I got a great deal!”

This buyer is always looking for a bargain. It’s great to find a good deal, but not when it means compromising quality or yield. A bargain price doesn’t just mean a cheap price; it must be judged by comparing price to quality. The buyer must know the product and it’s market price well enough to know that the net cost of the product is a savings, avoiding inferior quality or lower yielding products. A good rule to follow is: if the deal seems too good to be true, then it probably is.

The Extravagant Buyer – “This new item is great.”

Always needing the latest and greatest can lead to overspending. This buyer typically has no appreciation for the value of money, particularly when they are spending someone else’s – moderation probably doesn’t exist in their vocabulary. This buyer is a sales person’s dream and can be easily attracted to new items, even when the current product is perfectly suitable. The best solution to this buyer is to always compare prices and ask if the product is truly necessary or worth the expense.

The Satisfied Buyer – “We Do A Great Job Purchasing.”

This buyer is content and feels there’s no need for improvement. This buyer has complete trust in their suppliers and rarely compares quality or price with other sources. Complacency can be risky and may lead to negative financial consequences. A smart buyer is never satisfied, always looking for better products and sources. This buyer meets with sales representatives often and is always comparing quality and price, sending a clear message to salespeople that you have an open mind and that no one has a “lock” on your business. Practicing this type of purchasing takes time but can lead to substantial dividends.

The Old Pro – “My salesperson takes great care of us.”

This buyer has been in the business for quite a while. They have formed close relationships with sales representatives going back for years, and tends to fail to compare quality and price, assuming that his go-to guy will take care of him. To improve this practice, it’s important to make sure that new companies and products are evaluated with an open mind. Compare prices regularly and systematically. It’s great to have a solid professional relationship with suppliers, but personal friendships with sales representatives should be discouraged.

With Source1 Purchasing, you can have peace of mind knowing that you are always given the best brands and best prices.

You take pride in your business and how you run it – but are you prepared, right now, for a surprise visit from a health inspector? It can be stressful always being in fear that the health inspector may show up at any moment, but the best strategy and only way to ensure that you always pass health inspections is to be absolutely always prepared. There is no way of cutting corners. From storage to preparation to display to service…

10 Tips to Prepare for a Health Inspection

1. Food must be cooled by an approved method whereby the internal product temperature is reduced from 135°F to 70°F or less within two hours and from 70°F to 41°F or less within four additional hours.
2. Food must be protected from any potential sources of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service. Be sure to use cutting boards with anti-slip grips and disposable towels rather than unsanitary wet cloth towels.
3. Wash, rinse, and sanitize surfaces that come into contact with food after each use and following any activity when contamination may have happened. Use different colored pails for non-food uses, such as cleaning and sanitizing solutions.
4. Always use accurate thermometers and test kits to measure sanitizing solutions in order to ensure that proper sanitation is taking place.
5. Personal hygiene is a must. Keep clothing clean of any contaminants. Hair should be restrained in areas where food is exposed.
6. In order to provide a means of effective hand hygiene, soap and hand-drying devices must be available.
7. Food must be properly stored, covered, and labeled in accordance with Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP).
8. Cold foods must be stored in the proper temperatures. A good solution for this may be food pans that contain a freezable gel.
9. Be sure to keep ice containers and scoops protected from potential sources of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation or service.
10. Hands and arms must be protected with gloves or mitts to prevent cuts and burns, which would also lead to the spread of transmissible diseases.

By following these ten tips you should feel more confident that your business is up to code when the health inspector decides to drop by unexpectedly. Source1 Purchasing stays up-to-date on the latest news and trends in the food and beverage and hospitality industries in order to keep you well-informed so that your operation runs at its best. Click here to learn more about how Source1 can benefit your business.

To be a successful restaurant operator, it’s important to realize that squeezing out a one or two percent profit margin relies mainly on the level of customer service. Many restaurant operators believe that to achieve this level of customer service, more steps need to be taken by their servers. However, the goal of a restaurant operator should be to minimize service steps, such as removing running sidework or updating seating charts to strengthen server stations. A current service enhancement innovation involves upgrading restaurant point of sale systems to include mobile technology. Mobile POS trends in the restaurant industry not only create a more efficient way of processing payments, but also allow customers to find and review restaurants right from their phones.

The Problem is in Wait Times
Customers truly dislike having to wait for their meals – they are hungry and want their food immediately. Servers often leave the bill at the table and fail to return for quite some time to pick up the payment. To add onto the wait, servers then take several minutes to process the payment. Servers drop off the bills in stylish checkbooks and do not return for several minutes to pick up the payment. This is mainly due to POS stations being strategically placed throughout the restaurant, causing slow payment processing times.

The Solution: Paying at the Table
A busy Saturday night ultimately leads to customers waiting to place orders and then waiting for their payments to be processed. Mobile POS systems give servers the ability to accept, process, and present payments to customers at each table in the restaurant. This saves time by skipping stops at the POS terminal and less time walking around the restaurant. Mobile POS systems provide servers with handheld devices that include a magnetic strip reader to process credit cards. This also ensures customers that their credit cards never leave the table. Restaurants that operate using the mobile POS systems show that their servers spend more time providing timely service and selling more items.

Benefits for Management
Giving servers more time to interact with their customers means your restaurant can experience growth in sales. Also, mobile POS system software often includes the latest data that tracks hourly sales, daily and monthly inventory, and shift labor costs. You can even receive more accurate real-time data by using mobile POS systems.

How Mobile Customers Find You
Many customers search local online business directories to locate restaurants that they would like to visit. Once you have been found on the mobile devices, the customers expect full access to your restaurant website, and the ability to navigate quickly through the pages and download apps that include current menu promotions. Your mobile website should include less content, more white space, and little animation. Since most restaurant customers on the go are most curious about what your menu offers, this should be the focal point of your mobile website.

Mobile devices also allow customers to post restaurant reviews instantly. By installing a mobile POS system in your restaurant, you are ensuring that your business is receiving excellent reviews on customer service and timeliness. About 134 million Americans own a smartphone, which means a large amount of potential customers are able to find your business by visiting your website via their mobile devices. Have you begun to utilize mobile devices in your restaurant?

As 2013 comes to an end, it is time for those in the foodservice industry to prepare for the news trends of the upcoming year. According to recent research, the following are seven key trends that will take affect in the foodservice industry in 2014. Some of these trends depict larger societal trends while others are more specific to evolving food preferences in the U.S. Either way, implementing these trends into your menu can ultimately improve your business operations.

1. Undoubtedly real

Many menus today not only list ingredients in items, but where they come from and how they were prepared. More and more people are becoming attracted to local sourcing, using ingredients that are locally grown to ensure freshness and good quality.

2. Promote proteins

Of course, beef and chicken will always be in high demand, but pork is expected to gain popularity in 2014. From baby back ribs to pulled pork sandwiches, pork will be in the spotlight. Also anticipated to become more popular are lamb and game meats, from duck to bison. For those who prefer to stay away from meat, vegetarian alternatives, like mushrooms, beans, and soy-based products, will be seen on more menus.

3. Carbs are back

In recent years, starches have taken on a bad reputation, but they are making a comeback. With the fascination of Asian fare, rice bowls will be big – but not just your plain white rice. Expect to see jasmine rice, basmati rice, and brown rice more often. As far as breads go, keep a lookout for flatbreads, wraps, and artisan breads of the whole grain variety.

4. High-fat Heaven

Yes, everyone seems to be on a health kick, but you can’t forget about those lashing out against the craze. Next year will show more cheese melts, pasta with creamy sauces, fried appetizers and sides, and oddities like doughnut-based sandwiches.

5. Fearlessly sour

Many ethnic cuisines are peaking interests in pickled, fermented, and sour foods. You’ll find pickled onion, jalapeno, ginger, and radish not only at ethnic eateries, but even burger joints! When quenching thirsts, even sour cocktails will be available to offset the sweet drinks of 2013.

6. Change of routine

The days of three-square-meals are coming to a close as consumers opt to skip meals, eat breakfast for dinner, or vice versa. Now is the time to introduce a different variety of items to the breakfast menu, such as chicken , turkey, or steak breakfast sandwiches, or maybe even spicy wraps featuring chipotle or Sriracha. Many are even choosing to have breakfast available al day to adapt to these changes in taste.

7. Tech savvy ordering

Consumers are getting pickier than ever before, specifying specific ingredients they expect to be in their meal. Of course they must be accommodated, but this only means slower service. In order to keep operations running at a good pace, some are incorporating technology for faster, more accurate ordering. Whether providing iPads for your customers to use, or placing a bring-your-own-device system, this sort of technology can not only improve business, but encourage positive customer feedback.

It can be overwhelming adapting to market changes and updated trends, but Source1 Purchasing can help you adjust. With the Source1 Program, products and services from hundreds of regional suppliers are available to you. You have the ability to purchase exactly what you need with pre-negotiated contract-level pricing on over 6,000 branded items. Source1 Purchasing can get you the most for your money, saving you from purchasing the wrong products at the wrong price.

More full-service hotels are eliminating room service as guests choose other options for meals.

As an article on news.com.au reports, the New York Hilton Midtown recently eliminated this amenity. The hotel now offers a gourmet self-service outlet for hungry guests.

According to the 2012 PKF Hospitality Research Figures, room service revenue represented only 1.2 percent of total hotel revenue last decrease, a 1.3 percent decrease compared to 2011.

As the needs of guests evolve, food and beverage must change to align with those needs.

Customers are looking for alternatives to the traditional hotel fare and they’re driving new trends. Similar to grocery trends, hotels need to make sure they’re offering grab-and-go items like sandwiches and salads as well as fully prepared meals.

Travelers are busy and want convenience. Think of this concept as a modern-day gift shop. Ensure that your guests find everything they need by offering items they use every day in a convenient pantry located right in your lobby.

Strategic sourcing of these items helps you keep more business on the hotel premises, demonstrating a level of guest service that drives referrals and returns.  It also can serve as a new revenue stream.

Marriott is a great example of a brand that is embracing this concept. They are making the bistro and a 24/7 market a part of their brand standard. They are really on the forward edge of this trend.

Source1 is developing a pantry market program to help small to mid-sized operators introduce this concept. You will have options ranging from a 5-foot-tall rack with health-and-beauty products and packaged snacks all the way up to a pantry market with a broad array of food, snacks and supplies.

When you add these pantries you benefit by:

○  Providing a guest amenity:  These pantries meet a specific guest need and improve guest satisfaction.

○  Increasing revenue: Strategic sourcing of these pantry items can offer opportunities to generate revenue — a vast improvement over the significant expense associated with room service.

You can meet the needs of your guests and create a new source of revenue by knowing what they want and serving those items with an experienced partner in strategic sourcing.

 

The use of standards-based purchasing systems is a well-received concept in the hospitality industry, with hotels and restaurants using the concept to enhance the overall guest experience.

The key benefit with standards-based purchasing is performance as operators engineer menus, concepts or themes. Operators can use standards-based purchasing systems to ensure that their food product selections are consistent and respond to the changing preferences of customers. Other key benefits include improved financial performance, better guest satisfaction and consistency in preparation.

So how can hotels and restaurants employ standards-based purchasing to offer the greatest value to their guests?

1. Reach out to guests for their feedback before making large-scale changes. According to an article on The New York Times website, hotels are developing new ideas by going straight to their guests for immediate feedback.

Some operators conduct tests in a fluid, trial-and-error way, testing ideas in certain areas of the hotel or with certain products to gauge guest reaction. Many operators look to their group purchasing organization to guide them through this process. Others simply poll their guests to get feedback on food or the overall experience.

For example, according to The New York Times article, La Quinta Inns and Suites improved customer satisfaction scores simply by focusing on the two most common complaints with its free breakfast: a lack of healthy menu choices and a setup that was difficult to navigate. After trying various layouts, and then surveying guests, La Quinta found it only needed to change the layout of the breakfast, not the selections.

2. Schedule a test drive via a short-term promotion before making it a permanent fixture on the menu. Standards-based purchasing systems can help ensure the product works in concert with the menu, resulting in consistent yields, grades and flavors.

3. Engage experts in the field.  Operators have myriad issues to address from HR to landscaping.  By engaging in a Group Purchasing Organization, the operator can access their experience and insights to identify the key attributes of products and measure the value for both the guest and the operation. The GPO can assist in the implementation of  standards-based purchasing to stabilize consistency, engineer quality and strengthen business.

Source1 Purchasing can help operators with menu tastings and promotional testing to determine the effect of a combination, flavor profile or promotion. Standards-based purchasing systems can help engineer and analyze ingredients to define performance criteria while determining value. This is often a crucial factor for decentralized hotels and restaurants that are highly dependent on individual chefs. With standards-based purchasing, the knowledge stays with the property should the chef leave for other opportunities.

By using a group purchasing organization like Source1 and employing standards-based purchasing, you can continue to improve the guest experience.

In the hospitality and food service industries, there is a saying that amateurs buy often, but professionals purchase only once.

Some small to mid-size operators spend a great deal of time and effort buying instead of purchasing. When making a shift to purchasing best practices, you can access experience and information that will contribute to your success — purchasing is an educated acquisition, while buying is informal shopping. And a group purchasing organization can help operators transition to a more advanced procurement method.

Here are six purchasing best practices, along with reasons why you should adopt new buying habits.

1) Purchasing is about studying the products: Moving from buying to purchasing starts with education about product performance, value, security and sourcing. By studying these points, you can find answers to questions that improve guest satisfaction while increasing profits: How can you offer new products or find new dishes that demonstrate revenue growth? How can you increase your average guest check while lowering food costs? How can you create signature dishes that attract and retain guests?

2) Purchasing maintains product value and performance: The key difference between buying and purchasing comes down to this — buying is attaining products while purchasing is the management of products. There’s a contractual element to purchasing, which can guarantee elements like price, yield and grade, determining factors that ultimately make the product more successful. While buying usually creates product inconsistency, purchasing improves product quality and results in higher guest satisfaction scores.

Consistency is a crucial component of a successful operation, stemming not only from using quality ingredients, but also from having a reliable staff, according to an article on the Culinary Arts 360 website. “No one wants to chance eating at an establishment that has a dish perfect one night, and a mess the next,” the article states. Purchasing ensures a favorite dish will always include the same quality ingredients.

3) Purchasing as a group leads to extra discounts: Group purchasing organizations like Source1 can help operators with their purchasing model. By combining purchasing power from different operators, Source1 can present to an operator the latest rebates, allowances and incentives on a variety of products across all areas of their operation.

4) Purchasing leads to information sharing: Group purchasing organizations help operators share knowledge and exchange reviews. Source1 Purchasing performs a business review every quarter with clients to evaluate savings that were realized and what potential they have for additional savings.

5) Purchasing is a tool for improvement: Operators that move toward a purchasing methodology can focus on continuously refining the process. Instead of buying the cheapest brand on the market, they can choose an item — say a standard chicken breast — and then work with that item to make it great. Once operators move to a standards-based purchasing model and create a new baseline, they can work on improving it.

6) Purchasing offers better return on investment: During the recession, many operators re-engineered their menus to focus more on ancillary items like salads, soups, appetizers and desserts. Profit margins are better on these products and they offer greater flexibility to introduce new ideas. These operators increased their margins by offering exciting new desserts with a cup of coffee or other beverage. This was a direct result of purchasing and its related analysis, demonstrating the great return on investment of group purchasing organizations.

There are many sound benefits to implementing purchasing best practices. The bottom line is that if you’re simply buying products instead of purchasing, you’re not getting the most for your dollar, and possibly save the wrong products at the wrong price. As an authority in GPO best practices, Source1 Purchasing can get guide you away from buying and toward purchasing. Plus you’ll have access to the resources, tools and leverage of a powerful purchasing program.

The cultural evolution of American society is reflected in today’s most popular food trends. A strategic sourcing organization can help hotels and restaurants serve authentic, fresh, ethnic foods that today’s guests want.

According to an article on The New York Times website, sales of ethnic foods rose 4.5 percent from 2010 to 2012, to $8.7 billion. The article also states that market research firm Mintel predicts additional growth of 20 percent in ethnic foods on store shelves between 2012 and 2017.

Asian and Hispanic foods are at the top of the list of the most popular ethnic cuisines, according to hospitality expert Dan Admire. While there have always been ethnic restaurants in the United States, these foods are now being prepared with a high degree of authenticity, largely because people are well-traveled and have access to more information. Just consider the number of cooking TV shows, the explosion of web resources like epicurious.com and overflowing shelves in the culinary section of any bookstore. Some people are on a quest to master the preparation of exotic recipes.  Others enjoy the programs, websites and books as a source of education or information.  And armed with this new learning, they expect some level of authenticity when dining out.

Authentic ethnic cuisine is especially important at hotel restaurants because of the broad range of customers. Admire suggests working with what’s already on the menu, but elevating items to the next level. For example, if your operation offers nachos on the menu, consider adding other items like pork carnitas.

Well-known food companies, such as the Campbell Soup Company, Frito-Lay and even fast food giants like McDonald’s, are introducing products with more colorful flavors. Chuck Vila, vice president for customer and consumer insights at Campbell’s, told The New York Times that ethnicity is influencing the buying decisions of millennial consumers (ages 18 through 30-something) because they have grown up with everything from salsa to sushi.

Food-and-beverage companies are investing heavily in transforming their product lines to capture international business and the demographic shift. Keeping up with this type of trend does not necessarily mean higher food costs for your operations. A strategic sourcing organization can help you access lower prices without losing quality. By partnering with a strategic sourcing organization like Source1, you will be able to locate and offer foods that are unique to your hotel or restaurant.

Current trends also include some very unusual but amazing blending of cultures. For example, China Poblano in Las Vegas offers an innovative take on Chinese and Mexican food from Chef José Andrés, notes Admire. In Boston, Ming Tsai has opened the Blue Dragon, a self-described “Asian gastropub” serving dishes such as short rib pot stickers and Asian sloppy joes.

At hotels, as Admire points out, guests are seeking new and exciting dishes that showcase the flavors of the world. That’s why it’s important to offer them a variety of ethnic foods that are fresh and, above all, taste great.

But as a hotel or restaurant operator, you might be overwhelmed with trying to figure out the perfect recipe or combination of foods that will satisfy your customers. With a little planning, and the help of a strategic sourcing organization, you’ll find the support to locate these ingredients at a fair price. And with a new, expanded menu, you’ll be able to attract new customers and stand out from the competition.

Diners are putting more importance on a restaurant experience that offers fresh, exotic dishes. Get to know your customers. Learn about the places they’ve been and the foods they’ve tried. You may be surprised by the spark of an idea that an experienced travelers offers which can turn into a show stopping addition to your menu.

Then work with a strategic sourcing organization to change things up with new and exciting recipes. You will begin to satisfy the diverse palates of your guests, meet their expectations and brand yourself in a new way.

The hotel industry weathered a turbulent economy in recent years and continues to evolve in order to satisfy guests and start generating more revenue. Hotel operators are becoming more creative when it comes to understanding their guests’ preferences. Translating those preferences into the right products and services demands a review of the operation’s procurement process.

All department heads should be tasked to think strategically. Source1 Purchasing is dedicated to helping your operation streamline the hotel procurement process so you can present a unique and memorable experience that is aligned with guest expectations. When guests are delighted, they return and recommend.

One challenge operators are facing is providing the right kind of food and beverage experience for the guests’ expectations in an environment of changing preferences. Large hotel chains are known to be pioneers in innovation and recognized a shift in how guests wanted to be served and what specific types of food they expected to find on the menus.

Marriott is a good example of a chain that is moving away from what was the typical restaurant in a hotel concept. Marriott has essentially rebranded to reflect current trends of guest expectations. Fast-casual dining has been a growing trend in 2013. Marriott was one of the first hotel brands to implement changes, including its market concept where guests could buy hot and cold drinks, fresh salads, sandwiches and snacks around the clock.

According to an article on the USA Today website, coffee shops and casual eateries have allowed busy, health conscious travelers to customize their options. In order to capture some of this business, hotels have been changing the type of food they serve and where they serve it.

“People don’t want to ask to be seated and be given menus,” Brad Nelson, corporate chef at Marriott International, tells USA Today. “They want to sit down, maybe meet for an hour and then order. They want flexibility. We can thank Starbucks for that.”

As the hotel industry moves toward 2014, you will continue to have new opportunities to make guests comfortable based on today’s needs and tastes.

Pricing also continues to be a major challenge. More hotels are opening marketplaces similar to Marriott’s concept with ready-made sandwiches, salads and other foods that are easy to pick up and at a lower cost than a sit-down meal. A customized hotel procurement process allows you to follow Marriott’s example but make it uniquely yours.

The USA Today article notes that aside from rooms, food and beverage revenues represent the second-largest source of revenue for full-service hotels, according to industry tracker PKF Hospitality Research. Food and beverage departments need attention because they have been struggling to rise above pre-recession levels. New innovations can help boost revenues.

Revenue management is the third challenge operators are facing. Smith Travel Research (STR) was the pioneer of lodging analytics. This helped operators optimize their property and place it in a competitive group. By sharing information about average daily rates, it gave operators a baseline to negotiate from and they then built models based on timing and availability. It became a tremendous tool that operators used to improve their operations.

Now you can get real-time feedback on your property with additional tools such as TripAdvisor and other social media outlets. As you develop your own strategic plan, use the support of food and beverage in addition to the rest of your hotel operation to present a quality experience for your guests and meet their expectations. This will elevate you above your competition. Because guests are looking for a complete experience at a hotel, you have to make sure every department delivers.

For food and beverage, that means you have to ensure that the brands and quality of the products you select within your procurement process all deliver on your promise. Guests are looking for new and exciting food. They’re also increasingly concerned about where the food and beverages came from. This can mean providing information about the source and whether it’s organic, free-range or gluten-free.

When all the pieces of your operation work together, from food and beverage to the quality of the pillow and friendliness of your staff, you can generate higher quality scores that help you stand out from your competition.