In today's competitive restaurant market, first impressions during openings can make or break future viability. This window of this opportunity is limited, and missteps can be fatal if the wrong type of word of mouth occurs -- or worse if local consumers don't find the location quickly enough to get critical mass going. For multi-unit operations with limited partners the future financial consequences are critical.

In addition to direct marketing, one of The Watson Group's areas of restaurant marketing expertise is devising and implementing successful openings. Lupe Tortilla Mexican Restaurants, Texas Land & Cattle, Barry's Pizza, Prince's Hamburgers and McFaddin Ventures have entrusted The Watson Group with this important function.

The Watson Group's most recent "victory" was registered for Lupe Tortilla as it opened its fourth location. In a short few weeks, The Watson Group produced a pre-opening, invitation-only "trial" program. Not only did it devise a quality invitation, it made calls to area retail and businesses to secure more than 170 groups of four that attended six lunches and dinner "dry runs". This pre-opening exposure allowed the kitchen and server staff to "warm up" for the start date, and ensured customers would be waiting in line.

The Watson Group also helped the family-friendly Lupe Tortilla increase sales at is Clear Lake location through a school achiever program and direct mail.

Another example of The Watson Group's direct marketing for restaurants occurred in the late 1990s for the Mason Jar, a five-location casual dining group. The Mason Jar Rodeo Special (Sirloin and Shrimp) increased company wide PPA with 2,545 specials sold during a month long internal promotion that included table tents and server training. Also, the Mason Jar's July 4th Rib & Chicken Special and Labor Day Fried Steak Special generated 10:1 and 7:1 returns on investment.

And taking a page from the Saltgrass United Way program, the same was replicated for Mason Jar to produce $120,000 gross revenue on an investment of less than $10,000.