Brixx MBA 2012 Masters of Beer Appreciation

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1 Brixx MBA 2012 Masters of Beer Appreciation Welcome to another exciting year of the MBA! The rules of the MBA are explained on the MBA cards, so here I will attempt to answer anticipated questions here and give some guidelines for success. Goal #1: Build Repeat Business The MBA was designed to build repeat business (and new regulars) while creating a fun and educational program for guests. Another goal is to help introduce guests to better quality beers and different flavor profiles. The more people that appreciate good craft beers, the better Brixx can compete as we have a better selection of beer than most of our competition. If we don t, let s tweak our selection to get there. Goal #2: Collect Guest Information It is important that we get people to sign up for the so that we can notify them of special events, beer dinners, tastings and happy hours. You have thousands of satisfied, happy guests dining with you each month. We need to know how they are and how to contact them to be able to continually engage them and give them reasons to come back. Without we can t really do that. Servers need to be active about asking EVERY guest ordering beer if they have enrolled in the MBA. I would recommend that every store have an internal contest for signing up new members. The program will only work as well as your service staff pushes it. If they are excited and they build membership then business and sales will grow exponentially. ALL servers, bartenders and managers need to make this a priority. Make this a regular part of your shift meetings. We promise not more than 2 or 3 times per month. If they say we ve already got their , suggest they follow us on Facebook. We have offers, information and coupons we distribute ONLY to those on or Facebook. EXTRA BONUS! This year, your store does not even have to enter the data for the lists. Simply send in the filled out entries to Belmont with your weekly invoices if you are a corporate store and if you are a franchise store just send them twice a month clearly marked so that they are loaded into your database of s. Goal #3: Educate Guests about Craft Beer We want to help MBA members expand their knowledge and understanding of craft beer, so they come to Brixx more frequently to try our new beers and try more expensive beers along the way and continue after the MBA is over. When done right, the beer list you work hard to cultivate will mean more to our guests than ever.

2 Craft beer is like wine. People who don t know a lot about it can be intimidated and self-conscious. So, they get locked into patterns ordering a familiar beer. We can teach them and open them up to try new things. For example: Use the MBA to introduce your faithful Blue Moon drinker to Sweetwater Blue Bells Oberon, Magic Hat #9 or something local that similar. Once they try something new, they ll be more apt to do it again and again and be excited about learning more, trying more and, hopefully, paying more for quality. Women are drinking more beer than ever, But, they want good beer. Encourage them to get involved in the MBA and suggest pairings and ideas just as you would wine. Use samples to get them interested or suggest a sampler (it s on the card). MBA Procedures The MBA agreement states that each store will carry: o 2 New Belgium beers on tap o 2 Harpoon beers on tap and one of them is IPA. o Stella Artois and your choice of Hoegaarden, Leffe Blonde or Brun o 1 Ommegang beer on tap. These are the minimum levels to be part of the program and you are welcome to carry more of the sponsor beers To enroll guests in the MBA Ask guests fill out a sign up sheet and we will tear off the bottom tab and turn it in to management. Collect these and mail them to Belmont to be added to your database. Return the top half to the guest. Each guest will have their own MBA card to track their progress. We cannot replace lost cards! If a card is damaged and torn we can replace it. A manager can reproduce the stamps on the card and destroy the old one. When a guest signs up we should neatly print their name on the MBA card below the logo and above Student Name. This will help us learn guest names and discourage people from sharing cards. Each time a guest orders a beer, we stamp their card in the appropriate spot. There is a limit of 4 stamps per day. This promotes responsible alcohol consumption. There will NO EXCEPTIONS to this rule. You may wait until presenting a check and stamp the card all at once instead of each time a beer is ordered. The bartender or manager on duty will stamp cards, depending on local management. The stamp is a specially made Brixx B stamp. Stamps are available on the POD site. No other stamps are acceptable

3 MBA cards are not to be shared. Each person must have their own card. Here s how we reward MBA students for progress: o After 8 stamps, an MBA student receives a free appetizer. A manager or bartender will give out all rewards. Take the qualifying MBA card to them and they will date, stamp and initial the card on the front side next to the listed prize. o After 16 beers they earn a free pizza. Use the same system to track rewards by having a manager stamp the card and initial and date it over the area that says FREE BRIXX PIZZA. Only stamp these areas on the card when they actually redeem the prize and not when they earn the prize. o After 24 beers, the guest gets a Brixx MBA t-shirt. This is a major goal of the program and we WANT them to achieve it. It s very powerful to have people wearing Brixx shirts around town promoting us. A variety of sizes (SM - XXL) have been shipped to each store. Back-up shirts are available for a nominal charge on the POD site. NOTE: It takes a week to reorder shirts. If the POD site runs of out the size you need, please inform Tim and me ASAP. It takes several weeks to order more shirts after the POD site runs out and they will be more expensive. If you do not have the correct size for someone, take their name and number and call them when you have it in. Do not stamp the card until you are sure you have the correct shirt to give them. When the correct shirt comes in, tag it with the guest s name and call the guest. The final prize is an MBA Brixx Bash. A Brixx Bash is a party for the graduate and their invited friends with $50 in free food (pizza and appetizers). Beer and any other beverages are not free including soft drinks etc. All food is free up to $50. The food should be rung up as normal and a manger will free it off at the end. An 18% gratuity may be added to the check before the discount on the food. Remember that this is a REWARD for being a very regular customer and completing the MBA. We need to make sure we make it fun for them even if it is occupying our tables longer then we would want. Most parties will drink beer, but some will not. They have earned the party and if they want to bring in 8 kids they can do it. They should be treated just as special as the guest that brings in 10 high-rollers and runs up a huge bar tab! The rules state that a Brixx Bash can be booked Sunday thru Thursday evening. If your store can accommodate parties on Saturday evening or Saturday afternoon

4 without negatively impacting regular business, you are free to book them. This rule is to give you an out. It s yours to use. Brixx Bash parties are for dine-in only! That rule is not negotiable. Each month, you should have a beer of the month. There are three spaces for this on the card. Stamp the card, and write in the month, too. A card may be stamped only once a month in the beer of the month category. This category has been added to the program to expand the program past 24 beers and also to help introduce some very interesting and special beers that are too expensive or not offered in kegs. This is where you can have a lot of fun with unique craft beer. The high-end beers are priced very reasonably and so our cost is high on them. The idea is to make it fun and interesting for the guests even if it is not very profitable for Brixx. Most months it is up to your store to pick a beer of the month but we will feature MBA sponsors one time during the year as Brewery of the Month and feature an extra tap or two bottles by the sponsor brewery. We will send a calendar out and update you as the program continues. If a guest says I hate dark beers! Can I have another Amstel Light and you can just stamp my card? Reply good-naturedly that we don t allow any cheating in the MBA and suggest they save the ones they don t like for the end. If a guest becomes upset and is insistent on stamping the wrong beer for credit then, give them credit for another beer. REMEMBER: The idea is to have fun and build business so it does not make sense to make people mad over something silly. But, ONLY 4 stamps per day! No exceptions! MBA t-shirts should be displayed prominently behind the bar and at the front door if possible. One final item: This year s card only has 30 spots instead of 32. This was an oversight in the proofreading process. We had a lot of folks look over the card and no one noticed it. Probably no guest will, either. But, if they do have fun with it. Say something like, Congratulations, grasshopper, you passed our final test! Once the card has all 30 spots stamped and one of the extracurricular events, then the student has earned a Brixx Bash.

5 Additional Instructions for Management Only To help promote the program, each store should start off with a contest to sign up the most MBA members per shift worked. Only members that give their will count as an entry. The winner receives a $50 gift certificate to a local restaurant that you can trade out gift certificates with. This is MANDATORY for corporate stores and, of course, optional but strongly suggested for franchise stores. You may issue your top 3-bartenders an MBA shirt to wear to work. This will promote interest in the program. Do not give shirts to kitchen employees or servers to wear to work. Keep a notebook log at the bar to record the names and s of people that have reached 32 and graduated. I realize we should already have it, but just to be safe get it again so that we can build a separate list of MBA grads and give them special status and opportunities. Remember, as with any promotion, the MBA will not always be easy and convenient! It takes work and constant attention and it may not even always be very profitable short term. But, the long-term effect should be very favorable on your stores sales! It is important that we get behind the program enthusiastically to make it work! It will not happen with out good leadership by the entire management team. Be sure we keep the staff enthused and educate the negative naysayers who complain about everything as to how this will benefit everyone long term. I have tried to think of most all scenarios and questions. Use common sense in implementing the rules. Remember we are not trying to make people mad we are just trying to have some fun! You cannot build business by winning arguments. Call or me or Tim with any questions.