Pricing [1]: Instead of discounting, add value. Brown’s Chicken offers incentives the more you spend on catering

Marketing [2]: Look into a new generation of apps as possible replacements for loyalty programs. They can give you a cutting-edge aura

Site selection [3]: Use Google Maps to scope out a site instead of traveling there for a look
Keep the selection process in few hands. You want those making the decisions to be experts and objective

Purchasing [3]: Price cannot be your primary reason for choosing a vendor. The vendor’s ability to meet your needs should weigh more heavily

Lease negotiation [3]: Set financial penalties for landlords who don’t deliver

Motivation [4]: As a perk, spare servers from side work. Leave that to the busboys
Market a shift to staff as a stage production, with assigned roles instead of shifts. Make them feel like they are performers

Recruitment [4]: Pose server jobs as steps to bigger things, whether those steps are inside your organization or outside
Get good service someplace? Carry recruitment cards to hand out to people who show great customer service

Marketing [5]: Groupon’s standard program might work for some, but doesn’t work for all. Don’t be scared to set your own terms and conditions with the coupon service

Training [6]: Trying to develop an employee’s skills? Focusing on making them stronger where they are weak seems natural, but isn’t always effective. Find out what they are naturally strong at and focus there. You might see better, faster results

Management [7]: Simplify by having one key for all locks at home, at work, at all your units. Pal’s does it

Value boosters [8]: Boosting the quality of secondary ingredients—say, the buns on a burger—can differentiate and add value

Service [9]: Bottled water is getting greener. But if you still want to hold off, try some of the upgrades now available for your tap system, like carbonation

Operations [10]: Test-drive a new cold display case before buying it. Check the ease of maintenance by taking out and moving the shelves, and consider scenarios like the compressor needing repair.

Green [11]: The newest eco-bling? An electric vehicle charge station at your restaurant

Marketing [12]: Get customers on your website by creating a scavenger hunt, hiding your mascot on a page of your site