15 March 2016
 Categories: , Blog

If you own your own bar and you are finding your customer base is not as large as you would like, it may be time to make a few enhancements to the way you conduct business in an attempt to increase sales. There are several improvements you can make to your establishment to help boost the number of customers you have make repeat visits. Here are some ways you can increase business when your bar seems to be caught up in a slump where customers are not returning.

Start With Your Beverage Selection

If your alcohol selection seems to be lacking, it may be time to revamp the overall menu. If you only have bottled beer, customers will not be as apt to come back to your bar in the future as the cost may be deterring them altogether. Having an ample beer selection is key in keeping your customers. Having beer on tap is a wonderful way to entice customers to return, as mugs are genuinely cheaper to purchase, and you have the option in switching brands in your taps whenever you wish. Giving customers a new tap beer to try every week or month will get beer drinkers to return to try out new flavors. For hard alcohol, make sure you have a low end brand to offer in addition to higher shelf options. Offering drinks to all on each spectrum in pricing will help you maintain and increase your customer base.

Switch Up Your Entertainment

If you had been using the same band or guitarist for entertainment each night, your crowd may become bored after watching the same show each time they return to have a drink. Consider adding diversity in the entertainment you provide throughout the week. Add a karaoke night so customers can become involved in entertaining the crowd. Hold a trivia night so those who want to interact with others can do so by teaming up to find answers to questions. Host a pool league or dart team to give customers a reason to come hang out in your establishment more often.

Give Away Items Weekly

Hold a contest each week where someone in the bar will receive a prize. This can be as simple as guessing how many vodka soaked cherries are in a jar. A gift certificate or free drink token can be given to the participant who guessed a number closet to the actual count. Host a chili cook-off and have bar patrons bring in their best recipe to be sampled by others in the establishment. Use the winner's recipe to make batches of their chili for sale. Make sure each holiday is covered by offering drink specials and encouraging people to dress up in costume according to the occasion. Give a prize for the best outfit.

These are all ideas you can use to increase your customer base. A great place to start is to look for draft beer systems for sale in your area.