Great food and great service may not work forever!
By Darrel Vecchio | BIZMATRIX

It’s a Sunday night at a small pizza joint located in a sleepy seaside suburb called Sandgate just out side of Brisbane Queensland. The owner, Marco & Jane Agositini, opened Il Forno Pizzeria around 18 months ago, Marco was born in Italy, grew up in Canada and Australia. Around 3 years ago, he and Jane returned and lived in Italy where they were both trained in Rimini by a world champion Pizziolo ( Pizza Chef) from Naples.

Il Forno translated means ‘the oven’ and in this case for pizza. I had the pleasure of visiting Marco shop several times to date, on each occasion we had to pre-booked a table, on this occasions it wasn’t any different. The Sunday night trade was brisk with a steady flow of patronage and loyal takeaway customers.

Marco had spent the whole day cleaning up and securing his coldroom, which was located outside. The previous night thieves had broken into the coldroom and camped while drinking Marco’s Il forno labelled beer. Amazingly the thieves did not steal any other items, they only drank his beer.

I asked Marco what is the secret to his success ? Marco said, “The shop has steadied grown since we have opened, and we are a pizza only shop with only 2 pasta dishes, Cannelloni and lasagne. Our pizzas are traditional wood fired Italian pizza. I have my flour specially milled, made to a traditional Italian formulae with set ingredients. Minimal fresh made toppings, as with Italian pizza, means less is more and do not need to have too much cheese. If you want a big cheesy pizza go to the pizza chains! We are fully licensed for alcohol with no BYO, and have Italian and local wines and our own beer.”

I asked Marco what has attracted customers to Il Forno. Marco said, “It is not our prices... we are not cheap but our pizza is good. We make everything in house, from the pizza dough and pizza toppings. For example, our capsicum are roasted in the oven and the tomato base is made from imported Italian tomatoes. We even cook our pastas and cheeses cakes and all the deserts.”

“We have our own beer, which is made locally and labelled with Il Forno,” he added. “You know you are succeeding when the word of mouth advertising is bringing customers from afar and the Italian community support you!”

Marco pointed to a table and said, “On this table tonight there are people who owned Nanda Pasta who are regulars and are loyal supporters who keep telling their friends about us.”

I asked Marco about his Il Forno-labelled beer. After taste testing a few, I was amazed the beer paired well in taste with any of his pizzas and his wine menu also complimented the pizza range There was a further selection of brews, however the Il Forno beer took centre stage in the glass door drink fridge. Local liquor licensing laws prevent Marco from advertising beer or wine prices and even meal deals that include alcohol. This hasn’t affected his ability to sell the product, with sales of his own brand out stripping the other stocked items. Additionally the profit margins are good.

Marco and Jane are bucking the normal trends in marketing their pizza shop, except for the basics of achieving loyalty. Over the past 18 months they have only invested $500 in advertising.

An article in a city newspaper and a sign on the back of Marco car managed to attract a few customers, however the bulk of Il Fornos customers have been attracted by word of mouth customers, the quality fully prepared pizza and boutique beer specialists and wines keep them coming back.

...Oh, and the to-die-for deserts... I am not much of a desert fan, but you would not want to leave with out trying one of their Italian deserts. The jewel in the crown is the Bacio Desert Pizza , a small pizza base topped with Nuttella , nuts and a dab of vanilla ice scream dusted with icing dust.

The taste as per the translation means “kisses your taste buds”, but I apologise for not taking a photo!

There are no gimmicks at Il Forno Pizzeria. Their marketing ploy is a simple traditional wood fired pizza complimented by home made cannelloni’s and their own brewed beer in quant relaxed setting with great service.

Il Forno has several value adding products which help get the average ticket sale increased by around $20- $30 per person per night. The no BYO policy also captures liquor sales. Many combined BYO/ License establishments have corkage charges. In one case we had to pay around $15 for corkage, which had a very negative effect to the business, questioning further visits after finding these corkage costs unreasonable. Il Forno doesn’t have BYO, thus no corkage which eliminates any possible negatives.

Unfortunately, as in all businesses, customers want change in their experience. As in all businesses, just having good food and good service is not enough. At some stage every business needs to keep relaunching their brand to keep the customers coming back!

One simple method is to get your customers details, keep reminding them your there and make them feel special not just when their in your shop, but more importantly when they are away from the shop!

Several coffee shop chain franchises have loyalty clubs with a joining fee of $25 where you receive a club card, then 25% off all purchases or one free coffee per visit. There is a reason for a customer to use the card and visit and their loyalty is rewarded and the customer is made to feel special. Loyalty programs help when great tasting food and a reasonable price may not be enough to keep them coming back.