Last night at this time I posted a new (read: re-tooled, unexpired) set of coupons on Red Moon’s Web site.  This time I included something new — an experiment, really.  It’s a coupon regular customers can give to Red Moon newbies — a one-up on good old word-of-mouth advertising.

Click the image to download the "Refer a Friend" coupon yourself.

Here’s how it works: the regular writes his or her email address on the coupon.  He or she gives it to a friend who can then use it for a free appetizer on his or her first trip to Red Moon.  With that email address, I contact the referrer to thank the person and tell them I’ve got a free $5 gift certificate for them waiting at our front counter for use anytime he or she wishes.

I figured it was possibly too involved or confusing to work.  But I could be wrong.  Despite the fact that it was posted just late last night — a pair of guys this morning had the coupon.  I contacted their referrers and there are gift certificates waiting for them.   Hopefully the two guys who came in today liked the food enough to want to return — and I also hope I’ve created some warm feelings among the regulars who passed on the good word about Red Moon.

Any thoughts out there on whether this is a good idea?  Generous enough?  Any twists on this I could use in the future when this gets tired and stale?

It’s probably over-zealous to call this an “overnight success” — but in my world, these little triumphs are huge.  Here’s to hoping more friends refer their friends.

Right off the bat, I’m going to make it clear that I have only one side of this story — the small business owner who is trying to make it through a relatively rough patch: Tin Tat Kwan, owner of Red Moon Chinese Cafe.

A few months ago, when I was still living in Michigan, I learned that my dad had severed ties with the local Pepsi bottler in a huff — something about outrageous prices for the syrup restaurants mix into soda and inflexibility in getting deliveries of just one or two boxes of the stuff when we needed it.  Deepening the discord, Tin Tat found out from a friend/neighbor/franchisee of a huge national chain that he was paying LOTS more for the soda than say, a sandwich shop that also serves Pepsi.  Dad was pissed, to put it lightly.  He always says he requires a “special touch” from anyone he does business with.  What does that mean?  Well, that every once in awhile, a sales person, agent or rep stops in to B-S a little and have a bite, (a free bite at that)!  Pepsi wasn’t even coming close, according to dad.  All of this drove him to put an end to a nearly three-decade old relationship.  Pepsi let a 30-year customer walk away.

Tell me:  when should that happen?  When do you let a longtime customer get that upset?  Reminder, I’m telling only one side of the story.  Perhaps communication was a problem.  (I bet it was, actually.)

So for the last few months, Red Moon’s been serving canned- and two-liter soda.  Not the best quality for a sit-down restaurant, in my opinion.  But it’s been working and dad didn’t have to deal with Pepsi directly.

Starting soon, we will not deal with them at all.  Ever.  Not a single one of their products will touch Red Moon again.

Goodbye Pepsi. The Red Moon will bid farewell to Pepsi products later this month, after a nearly 30-year relationship, the Kwan family will wash its hands of Pepsi in favor of Coca-Cola.

This week, we signed up to exclusively sell and serve Coke products.  And what is Coke doing to make us feel welcome into “The Coke Family?”  The syrup is incredibly cheaper.  They are getting us two coolers to store canned sodas for our takeout customers (two!), and they have more flexible delivery options.  They’re also getting us a brand new soda fountain and running all new lines.  A fresh, clean start.

Now if anyone from Coke finds this blog entry, I wouldn’t go patting yourselves on the back too soon.  While we’re pleased with your offerings thus far, do not forget about “the special touch.”

If anyone from Pepsi is reading this, you ought to figure out how this happened.  Even if things got heated… where was the person with a passion for customer service who should have come by to make things right?

I’ve had a lot of fun over the last year or so trying to help my dad with the marketing of the restaurant.  I’ve developed a Web site, new takeout menu, Web coupons (Check these out for a Halloween freebie!), and tonight I put in an order for the latest batch.

I firmly believe that quality promotional materials can really set us apart from some of our competition without sacrificing any of the quaint charm mom and pop Chinese restaurants are known for.  And I save a lot of money by doing this all myself.  Lucky for my dad, it’s kind of a hobby.  Here’s what we’ve got:

The copy reads: "So you get fierce Red Moon cravings often? You are clearly not alone." (image altered for security)

This will be the newest takeout coupon that we typically throw in all of our takeout orders to encourage more frequent visits.  I’ve altered the artwork just a bit to stave off any copyright infringement — I did pay for that dragon art, after all.  But you get the gist.

The backside (not pictured) has a fortune cookie with an expiration date on the paper — the copy reads “Act Fast! Or the Luck Runs Out.”

Gift certificates -- we have them in $10 denominations -- the new ones will provide more options. (image altered for security)

These are some new gift certificates that will give the customers more options (We already offer these in $10 denominations.)  The new design is narrower, to fit better in wallets.  All of this stuff is also coming with a matte instead of a glossy finish — the Sharpies will work better that way.

I’m also going to go door-to-door to advertise some of our lunch catering and to hit some of the new office complexes in the area.  My dad and I agreed that while generous, these $5 gift certificates would be a great comp to hand out to potential catering customers.  Especially office gatekeepers.  With our price structure, we should be able to recoup food cost at a minimum when they are redeemed.

Lastly — it’s official.  Check this out:

Made myself a Red Moon business card -- you know, to be all professional and stuff.

By the way, I have been using an excellent printer out of California to whip these things up — at a great price.  If there are other small business people out there who want to know more, drop me an email.  I’d be happy to share my sources

Of course, when it comes to selling people on the Red Moon, nothing beats the food.  And I was reminded of that many times today, including by a customer who drove 25 miles from Woodbury solely to get some takeout.  Wow.  Isn’t that awesome?  I’ve always wondered why the mainstream food writers never really picked up on my dad’s cooking.  Well, there’s always time.

Well, day one at the Red Moon is done — and yeah, I was a bit late.

I honestly cannot write much about day one because my mind is racing with ideas… and worries.  I knew this wouldn’t be an easy endeavor, but going through the motions today, I realized how much patience and persistence are going to be required to make improvements at the restaurant.

Keep it simple.  Stick to what we do well.  Repeat.

While I am most excited about using this blog to relay some of Tin Tat’s life stories — this is also going to be a place for raw restaurant ideas to spew forth.  Some will take root and sprout into something presentable.  Others will amount to waste.  Oh, Red Moon.

Because the business side of things has really got me all a-twitter… let me give you a preview of a forthcoming post.  It’s more up my alley.  It’s a story I knew I’d want to tell when my dad first told me about a neat customer of his a few months ago.

Lunch at the Red Moon -- a hoot and a holler -- as good people talk about how much they love another good person.. you'll meet him soon.

You see how happy they are?  That’s my dad on the left, A-yi (auntie Wan) in between, and Lok to the right.  They are gesturing, laughing and truly joyed to be telling me about this fascinating customer who has them all intrigued.  He’s a south Asian immigrant who is hearing-impaired — completely deaf.  Yet, somehow these three people with varying degrees of really broken English know so much about this guy.  How, you ask?  Some very inspiring communication, or so I’m led to understand.  As our family friend Frank (off camera to the left) said at lunch, “it’s an example of the possibilities that can arise if two parties are willing.”

Who knew friendship (the family-like kind, according to my dad) was truly available so freely?  We’ll see just how it can be yours and mine — as soon as I meet this guy myself.