Anyone who has been around the restaurant world even a short time has learned that the best marketing tool a restaurant has is its own menu. Despite fancy direct mail pieces, testimonials from happy guests and whatever marketing program the restaurant owner devises, the menu is best sales tool.

That's the way it is with restaurants and their menus. Your menu is the best marketing and sales tool you have. Better than coupons, better than ads, better than any marketing program you could come up with. That's why entire books have been written about the art of menu design and formatting. A restaurant's success depends on having an appropriate menu.

When your restaurant concept involves individual menus studied at the table by your guests, you are given many opportunities to make the right impression. The menu itself can be a work of art, made out of a variety of materials from parchment to plastic. What's more, you have the space to craft three or four lines of brilliant copy to describe just one sandwich. You can tell every detail about this sandwich, enticing the customer with a description of the distinctive bread or the special herbed mayonnaise. The guests might study your menus for ten minutes or more, and you're given an opportunity to let them make decisions about what they want to eat and drink in a relaxed and leisurely way, seated comfortably in your dining room.

But if you're running a quick serve restaurant, you don't have that luxury. Your guests are going to be ordering from a menu board hung overhead with little creative descriptions of each menu offering. Whereas on an individual menu you could describe every detail of your fried chicken, including that it derives from a recipe passed down to you from your Aunt Sophie, a menu board allows you room to do little more than specify white meat versus dark meat and which part, or parts, of the chicken you are offering.

Guests at quick-serve restaurants rarely take the time to study the menu as they would if seated with a printed menu. In fact, Steve Kozicki, vice president of marketing and business development for Impact Menu Systems, says that 85 percent of consumers know what it is they want before they walk in to a quick serve restaurant. "The goal," he says, "is to change their minds." That's because you have the power -- through your menu boards -- to steer your customers to more profitable items.

Kozicki goes on to say that operators frequently fail to realize just how important their menu boards are as part of the presentation and identity of their restaurants when there is no one coming to the table to take an order. One of Kozicki's mantras is, "If you want to be one, you better look like one." That means if your quick serve restaurant is going to compete with all the national chains, you need to have menu boards on par with theirs. He says, "The bottom line is a lot of the operators will scrimp in the menu board/signage side," and he repeats, "If you're going to be one, you have to look like one."

Take the Grand Tour

Dawn Pankow is the marketing manager at Main Street Menus, and she speaks to the marketing importance of menu boards when she says, "The best advice we have to help restaurateurs is to think of your menu board as a sales tool and an informational piece and that you can highly affect your sales with the right menu board."

When you are deciding the type of menu boards to have in your restaurant, you would do well to take the grand tour of menu boards in your local area. Visit the chains and see how they present their food. Take notes. You'll see that, whether in a drive-thru or with the in-store board, the key to a successful menu board is simplicity. Or as Steve Kozicki says, "When putting menu boards together, less is best."

That's the same sentiment Dawn Pankow espouses. She says, "It's a mistake to try to put too much information on menu board. Less is more." She says in the case of a club sandwich, for example, "You don't need to say what's on it. Try not to overload your menu board with text. You don't need to give its calorie content."

Well, at least not today. As an aside, the first good reason to use a commercial menu board company as opposed to a local sign maker is that commercial menu board companies continually monitor regulations a restaurant may have to follow in terms of, for example, listing calorie counts of specific offerings. Pankow says, "We're closely watching the calorie situation so we can advise our customers."

It may surprise restaurateurs to know that you don't even have to include all of your menu offerings on your menu boards. According to Kozicki, the average pizza or deli may offer up to 200 items, and it's impossible to list all 200 if you want the customer to decide what he or she wants to order in less than 20 seconds. He says, "So you list only items that you want the customers to buy -- the most profitable or the lowest food cost -- whatever you want to promote."

And it's slightly more scientific than that. Pankow says that people don't read menu boards; they scan them. That's why she recommends careful placement of each item on the board. She says, "You have different positioning. You put high margin items in the middle or upper left and list your items highest margin to lowest margin."

Worth a Thousand Words

Pankow and Kozicki agree on another point too: the importance of pictures. Pankow says, "Use pictures, pictures, pictures! Use images because they sell and will increase your sales." Kozicki concurs and says, "People eat with their eyes before they eat with their mouths, especially in an outdoor drive situation." He then adds another factor to consider in the design of your menu boards. He recommends not only showing photos of food, but bundling food offers just like the chains do. He says, "Offer combinations -- meal deals, value deals or whatever you want to call them."

Bundling menu items into package deals speeds the ordering process up. Too much information on your menu boards does nothing but slows down the ordering process. With package deals, a customer can then simply order #3 or #6. And then there are margins to consider. Kozicki counsels, "If you want to make money, you better be selling a lot of chips, Coke or Pepsi."

Bob Batley describes his two Stadium Grille Restaurants as "Fuddruckers on steroids." Despite the many good reasons for using a commercial menu board company, Batley decided to use a local sign maker. When attending the National Restaurant Association show, Batley says, "We saw lovely stuff, but there's no inexpensive way to change an item. When the price of chicken goes up, we need to change our prices."

Batley uses a piece of black metal that looks like a chalk board. He says, "The whole board costs $150 and so I can change it two or three times a year." Sometimes the changes are prices, other times the change is to delete a new menu items he had tried. He says, "Our regulars come in three to five times a week, so we try to keep it fresh and seasonal. We have four or five burgers that work fairly well." He laughs, "I found out that ostrich doesn't sell; neither does deer. No one wants to eat Bambi."

Since Batley has plans to franchise Stadium Grille Restaurants in 2008, he is still on the lookout for a better system. For now, though, he says, "Until I find something better, I have a totally custom sign. The sign maker has our logo, and we have rotating boards so we're never down."

Making changes is a problem that Scott Buford, owner of Market St. Café in Akron, Ohio, faced as well. Now in its third successful year, Buford describes his operation as "an upscale Panera." Because his goal is to make Market St. Café into a regional chain, Buford selected his menu board based on the brand he wanted to create for his restaurant.

After exhaustive research, Buford chose a company called Chalk It Up which creates custom chalk board menu boards complete with artwork. A coating on the chalkboard keeps the lettering crisp, but also prevents making changes. Although you can opt to have the prices uncoated and therefore able to change, Buford says the handwriting won't match and just plain will look bad.

With the exception of frustration over making changes, Buford is delighted with his menu board. He says, "We have soft, earthy colors in the restaurant, and I sent Chalk It Up paint swatches and a logo. We wanted them to match the walls and color schemes, and they did a phenomenal job."

Buford may still be struggling with how to best make changes, but he did something very right: he got his menu board company involved early on with the process. Both Pankow and Kozicki can relate stories of operators who "forgot" to order menu boards or who waited far too long to order them. Kozicki says, "Signage and menu boards have got to be on top of the list for you."

Take Advantage of Design Services

You can contact a menu board company directly or order them through your broad-line distributor. One of the first things you'll need to provide is your menu in an e-mailable format. You'll want the menu to be as close to its final form as possible. Different companies offer different services, however. Pankow says, "Most companies have a free design service so take advantage of it."

For example, Impact Menu Systems will design a logo for you. Kozicki says, "We offer all our customers free layout and design service. Our graphic designers design a logo since a lot of operators have a good idea what they want them to look like, but they don't know how to get there. Our layout and design service is the opportunity to demonstrate what we're capable of doing, but it's a no obligation service."

Although both Pankow and Kozicki have turned menu boards around in remarkably short time, a typical process takes 30 to 45 days, according to Kozicki. That may seem like a long time, but you must factor in the design time as well as production time once you've given your approval. The biggest time-eater, though, is revisions. Kozicki says, "We live and die by how quickly we can get the customer's information and how thorough it is, but the process can get bogged down in revisions -- we dropped that item, that sandwich is on rye bread, we have thin and stuffed crust." Once the final version is approved, the menu board can be ready in seven to ten working days.

Pankow's company takes a similar amount of time. She says, "We can make anything in ten working days, but plan ahead. You don't have to know every detail of your menu to get the designers started. We understand that you're finalizing your menus right down to the last minute."

Something else to consider is whether you also have a printed menu. Buford does for Market St. Café. He says, "They are full color with our logo and part of our branding. The printed menus match the menu boards." Kozicki advises, "If you have that many items and they're that important, then have a handout menu printed."

When it comes to drive-thru menus, Kozicki cautions new operators to make sure they have what he calls a "drive-thru demographic." He says, "It's important that you do your homework prior to committing to a drive-thru." He's talking about traffic patterns, road layout, exits, and routes. Pankow reminds restaurateurs about the added time needed for outdoor, drive-thru menu boards. She says, "Don't forget you'll need time to get the concrete poured and other elements that go with outdoor installation."

And if your budget can afford it, or you have a concept that demands it, there are also digital or plasma screen menu boards too. Pankow says, "Although digital signage has been around for ten years, I would say the demand for these have picked up speed because the cost of the hardware is going down. Digital retail signage as a whole is more popular." Pankow notes that you don't have to go fully digital. You can have a hybrid where part is static and part -- perhaps the special of the day -- is digital.

Both Pankow and Kozicki say another trend is a call for environmentally-friendly or "green" signage that is energy efficient. For example, Impact Menu Systems offers LED back- lit panels with light emitting diodes that he says require no maintenance and are controlled from a computer. According to Kozicki, the system uses less than five dollars a year in energy.

Work Out the Kinks Early in the Game

When you think of your menu as the most important marketing tool in your restaurant, you will know to take the time to design the menu board that is optimal for your concept. There are good reasons to go with a commercial menu board provider, not the least of which is their ability to save you from yourself as you tiptoe through the minefield of trying to do it on your own. When your concept, colors and basic design are set, it's time to start thinking about your menu boards. Working on them ahead of time will give you a better opportunity to work out all the kinks so that the menu boards can start working hard for you from opening day onward.

Menu Board Suppliers

Aarco Products, Inc www.aarco.com

Allure Global Solutions, Inc www.allureglobal.com

Architectural Brass www.architecturalbrass.com

Babco International http://babcotucson.com

Cal-Mil Plastic Products, Inc www.calmil.com

Chef-Master http://chef-master.com

Coca-Cola Foodservice www.cokesolutions.com/lam

DGS Retail www.dgsretail.com

Easyboard, Inc www.easyboardinc.com

Epicure Digital Systems http://epicuredigital.com

Etiq-Etal www.etiq-etal.com

FB Johnston Graphics www.fbjohnston.com

Florida Plastics International www.keyserind.com

Forward Signs, Inc www.forwardsign.com

G Vermes B.V. www.vermes.nl

Impact Menu Systems www.impact-pop.com

ISD Menus www.idsmenus.com

Lawrence Metal Products, Inc www.lawrencemetal.com

LSI Industries www.lsi-industries.com

Mainstreet Menu Systems/The Howard Co www.howardcompanyandmainstreetmenus.com

MDI www.mdiworldwide.com

Menu-Cast™ www.menu-cast.com

Menu --Quik (Signets) www.menu-quik.com

Millennium Visuals Systems www.millenniumvisuals.com

Mountain Commercial Graphics www.mountain-cg.com

National Menuboard www.nationalmenuboard.com

National Sign Systems www.ntionalsignsys.com

Nextep Systems www.nextepsystems.com

Podia by Consort www.4podia.com

Posterloid Corp www.posterloid.com

Revention Restaurant Management Solutions www.revention.com

Schult Industries www.schult.com/en

Standex International www.standex.com

The Tablet & Ticket Co http://tabletandticket.com

UnoLink www.unolinkweb.net/en

Visual Graphic Systems, Inc http://vgsonline.com