A menu should be treated as your marketing tool and your silent sales person, as it is your menu that decides if and what people eat in your establishment. However, in many establishments the menu is turning off many customers, meaning that they will probably never return to that establishment again. Take a look at the points below and see if there is any room for improvement with your menus.

1. Too much or too little: when choice can be a bad thing.

We all like to be given a choice, but when we are faced with pages and pages of menu items, it can be a turn off. The same goes for too little choice. Make sure you offer a decent choice of food and are able to cater to possible 'off the menu' requests.

2. Too low or too high: are you pricing yourself over the odds, or not charging enough?

Do you truly know the cost of each item on your menu? The way to calculate your food cost is to know the cost of each of your ingredients, factor in all your costs associated with running the business and then it's just a simple calculation (including your food cost percentage which you hope to attain) that will provide you with your selling price.

Barkeeper shows you exactly how to calculate your food cost using the above method. Once you know how to do this, you will be giving your customers value for money as you will be confident each item on the menu is priced correctly.

3. Is your highest Gross Profit item placed in the right location on your menu to ensure maximum sales?

Having the right pricing is one step in the right direction but did you know that if you plan your menu correctly, you can almost ensure that you "force" customers into ordering the meals you want them to order! Of course, this is merely a subliminal suggestive selling trick and the customer won't even know what's happening...but you will!

By simply placing your highest profit margin items in a certain location on your menu, you can increase the sales of that item.

For more information, check out the menu item placement download on Barkeeper.

4. No menu for the kids.

The importance of catering for children is often underestimated in today's hospitality establishments. Few owners realise that children make the decision on the choice of establishment one third of the time and they influence the decision ninety percent of the time which means in any language that children are worthy of looking after. Children are all too often seen as a nuisance and only a noisy pest that comes along with adults instead of a form of steady revenue, and when looked after correctly will result in return business.

Catering for children should be seen as a way to increase business, and not a hindrance to your establishment. Why not provide a miniature menu for children with a colouring in picture printed on the back. You could then provide colouring pencils to keep the children quiet. Easy! Check out the Barkeeper article on catering for children for more information.

5. Flowery language.

We all like to see a description of each menu item, but too much flowery language can be off putting. Each menu item should have a simple description of what will be served and a little creativity in the language used is great, but if you describe the potatoes as 'petite dauphinois baked in a sauce of buttermilk and apricot jus with a crispy topping of mascarpone & cashel blue cheeses, finished with a sprinkling of seven seasonings' then you are opening yourself up for disaster.

Why not tempt the taste buds with 'petite dauphinois baked in a buttermilk & apricot sauce' and allow the waiter to elaborate on the description if required. Let your menu tempt and prompt questions from the customer about each item - this will allow for your waiter to suggest alternatives and also assist in upselling.

6. Sticky fingers all over the menu.

There is nothing worse than sitting down in any restaurant and picking up the menu to find sticky finger prints, or worse, sticking to it.

It's simple - if you have to have laminated menu's, make sure they are wiped down at the same time as each table - i.e. when the customer has left the restaurant. The same goes for other types of menus - make sure your menus are clean before handing them to your customers. Simple!

7. Spelling mistakes.

Silly as it may seem, finding spelling mistakes on a menu is usually more amusing than annoying to most customers, but it does convey an unprofessional atmosphere of your establishment.

Make sure you give your menu to several people to proof read before sending to the printers. Or, alternatively, purchase menus that allow you to print off a sheet each day and place inside the plastic. If you do make a mistake all you have to do is reprint the one page. There are some lovely menu designs on the market, and these allow you maximum flexibility with your day to day menu.

8. Text is written in by hand.

9. Frayed edges on your menu - is this the impression you want to give.

10. Stickers all over the menu changing the prices.

I have placed item's 8, 9 and 10 together as they all say one thing - "I don't care about my customers." Or at least, that's what your customers may think if they see these things.

When things are crossed out on your menu and the meal is written in by hand it looks messy and unappealing. Frayed edges show neglect, and stickers all over the menu with increased prices tends to make people think they are not getting value for money.

Just think, what type of experience are you trying to create for the customer? Do you see the customer as a day to day nuisance, or as the lifeblood of your business?

Remember, as we said before your menu is your silent salesperson, but if you don't give your salesperson the right tools to begin with, how can you expect them to make a sale?