Thriving alongside COVID-19 with Josh Clifton

Australia’s hospitality industry has dealt with many COVID-19 associated challenges from reoccurring lockdowns to profit uncertainty and rapidly changing compliance laws. One figure who has supported businesses throughout these times is Josh Clifton, author of the The Hospitality Survival Guide: How to Survive and Thrive in the Hospitality Industry.

With more than 20 years of experience working across the hospitality industry, Josh Clifton is stepping up again to provide guidance to businesses looking to reconnect with their customers as venues return to the new normal.

Josh shares some tips to thrive in the new normal…

Build a community with social media

“One of the best solutions I can recommend is building a strong customer relationship through social media,” says Josh. “A common mistake that many businesses make is using their social accounts to solely try to advertise the café. Social media is for creating social engagement and building a community around the café, which is when you’re going to attract the most interest and customers.”

Before posting anything, Josh recommends considering if it meets the three E’s: entertaining, educational, and exciting.

“I tell my clients to ask themselves if they were in a room with this person, would it be entertaining enough for them to get a reaction: a like and share with a friend, is it educational enough to spark a conversation and see a different perspective on a topic, or exciting enough to get a standing ovation?” says Josh.

This framework aims to leverage social media to boost engagement and reach more people with minimal time cost and effort.

To create entertaining content, Josh recommends using videos over images, especially with auto-captions as viewers typically watch videos without sound. “You also want to create stimulating content such as freebies or giveaways which keep your loyal customers in your marketing loop and really gives back to the community,” says Josh. “Across it all, authenticity in each blog or post is key.”

For educational content, Josh recommends asking fun questions, sharing interesting facts, creating calls to action and crowdsourcing, such as getting customers involved in posts through competitions.

For exciting content, Josh recommends getting creative and being able to make fun of yourself and the business. “You can say ‘We’ve got a space left in our menu, comment and let us know what you think should be our last item?’ says Josh. “Or introduce a new barista by asking followers how many coffees they think he or she can make in one minute.”

Integrate delivery services into your business

Josh is also a strong advocate for continuing to evolve food delivery applications.

“People are still going to eat takeaway food and still want those fine dining experiences at home,” says Josh. “I believe that delivery services should be something that businesses incorporate into their processes, even moving out of COVID-19.”

Josh says he has increasingly seen businesses create their own delivery platforms attached to their website, also emphasising the importance of organising and creating online user-friendly retail spaces.

Manage daily operations more effectively

For continuous best management of internal operations, Josh recommends utilising software which help businesses to manage their systems better.

“Resources such as Xero or Deputy are really great in allowing businesses to basically say ‘If my wages have to be dropped down to 1/10th of what they were two days ago, what does that mean for my profit? How do I do that?’” says Josh.

“It’s all about understanding their financial position, getting good software and account systems in place to help manage their money.” Josh says.

Seek support if you need it!

For Josh, his role is about connecting businesses with the right people and information while providing suggestions.

“I see myself as a curator of information for businesses. The internet holds all the information we could possibly use to help, my role is to help owners make sense of the information. Knowing is half the battle, the other half is doing something with it.

These topics and more are covered in Josh’s book, The Hospitality Survival Guide, which branches into core product development, customer service, staff training and more.

Josh has also recently rebranded his company, Real Marketing Methods, expanding his services to all small businesses and start-ups, by applying skills from the hospitality industry which he says are applicable across every sector.

Win a copy of Josh’s book The Hospitality Survival Guide: How to Survive and Thrive in the Hospitality Industry!

In partnership with Lactalis Foodservice, Josh Clifton is giving away 20 copies of The Hospitality Survival Guide: How to Survive and Thrive in the Hospitality Industry. To grab a copy, send your name, postal address and best contact number to parmalat.marketing@au.parmalat.com. First 20 entries received will receive a free copy!

Josh is also offering a FREE 30-minute consultation to assist with a business’s social media launch or a discount on his assessment program.

For more information visit Real Marketing Method visit his website here.