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Million-Dollar $ecrets To Getting More Customers--Gaslight Grill / Country Club Hotel & Spa, Richard Hawk


  A NOVEL IDEA--CREATE A PRE-RECORDED JAZZ SHOW--AIR IT WEEKLY ON A LOCAL RADIO STATION--THEN FEATURE THE BAND FIVE NIGHTS EACH WEEK AT YOUR VENUE!



Dick Hawk, the owner of the Gaslight Grill in Overland Park, Kansas is an entrepreneur's entrepreneur.

From owning a five-star luxury hotel in the Ozarks to an insurance company and now a beautiful restaurant--he's demonstrated how to do it right.

The centerpiece of the restaurant is "Lyn Zimmer and the Jazz Band"--heard five nights a week at the Gaslight Grill's back room.
















Not only are the guests "way above average..", (a phrase Dick Hawk uses often) but the food and service are excellent.

The Gaslight Grill advertised with me on our classical station which aired his Dick Hawk's Jazz Show as well several other stations I worked with at Entercom--such as KMBZ.

One of our afternoon personalities had enjoyed going to the Gaslight Grill and hearing the music. We ended up having him voice commercials with Mr. Hawk that were very effective in bringing in new customers.

Probably one of the most enjoyable and effective promotions we did was to have a "party" once a quarter with our afternoon team of Mike Shanin/Scott Parks--inviting the first 120 listeners who emailed the Gaslight Grill to attend.

They would get over 100 within minutes after one announcement! The listeners got free food trays and special drink pricing--all while enjoying Lyn Zimmer & the Jazz band in the back room.

Mr. Hawk was also very innovative and generous--offering listeners who stopped by his restaurant a $25 gift card for making a donation to our annual KMBZ Coats For Kids charity.

Several things Mr. Hawk did that has made him successful:


  • Provide a unique dining experience in an upscale area with live music weekly.
  • Created and recorded a musically-driven Jazz radio show that airs weekly--inviting listeners to stop by and enjoy the food and music.
  • He would do his own radio ads--as well as narrating the show with his very unique voice/style (sounds very down to earth, friendly).
His competitors didn't have the live music, quality of food-nor radio personalities talking about him on a regular basis.

This was huge--as "fans" of the personalities' radio shows would come in just because their favorite personality said it was a great experience at the Gaslight Grill!

Getting listeners through a free party from one radio announcement is standard proof of radio's power today--150 emails sent in five minutes.

This is why tying radio messaging in with social media can be so powerful. You have an on-air passion in real time combined with real-time tweets/posts that can empower a customer very quickly.

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