I attended the Restaurant Finance and Development conference in Vegas a week ago and it was interesting to listen to the “hot” concepts talk about the reasons for their success.

“Great food, great service, clean restaurant” is the standard line that you hear from those who are growing units and sales.  Who can argue with this recipe for success?  Easy to say, hard to execute, and it’s really just a way to respond politely without giving away any trade secrets.

Sounds like the baseball player interviewed after the game:  “We were confident that we could do what we had to do. We knew that if we kept our focus we could win the game.” Thanks, dude.  I hope the other teams didn’t hear you give away your secret on national TV.

But there was another interesting recurring comment from some of the hot companies:  “We don’t discount.  We know that coupons are the road to ruin and we’re fortunate that we haven’t had to cheapen our brand through promotional discounts.” Continue reading →