Taco bars and burrito buffets are excellent ways to attract new clients and to keep them in the office while you talk business. But few firms know how to pull off a successful taco bar, often resorting to a meet-up at Qdoba instead of doing it themselves. But a private reserved taco bar at the local Bueno isn’t the same as a hot taco bar delivered from the heart. Details count, and a hot taco bar in the firm lobby is something clients will notice and remember. If you are considering a law firm taco bar but don’t know how best to pull it off, here are some of our top considerations.
Fresh, Not Del Monte
Del Monte is a decent company that makes some fine products, like Meow Mix, Milk-Bone, and those cute little Snausages. But don’t skimp on ingredients and buy canned enchiladas thinking you can pass them off as fresh tacos. Buy fresh ingredients, including ripe tomatoes and avocados, cheese, sour cream, and cilantro. Brown the ground beef in organic taco seasoning at the office, not at home or with the office Crock Pot or bunsen burner. Warm the tortillas. Canned refried beans are OK, but make sure you mash them up with a wooden spoon and microwave them so that the can lines are no longer visible in the serving bowl.
Margaritas
A successful office taco bar will depend almost entirely on having an open bar at the office. If you already have an office bar, great. If not, create a station in the office for a “mix your own margarita bar.” Have an associate or secretary man the station to make sure clients get decently soused. Don’t make it a cash bar. That’s just chintzy. But do insist on signed liability waivers before anyone takes a swig—or takes a bite of tacos for that matter. You can never be too careful.
Advertise and Market
It’s great to have an office taco bar, but if you don’t tell anyone or market it aggressively as part of your law firm’s branding, no one will come and no one will care. Create an incentive or rewards program that invites clients each month to “the DeBussey, Harcum and Collins All You Can Eat Hot Taco Bar.” Put a splashy and iconic Tex-Mex reminder on invoices, even enclosing for clients your firm’s recipe for chili con queso or instructions for making walking tacos. Or have a branded “Taco Tuesday” each week at the firm, sending out Twitter announcements to let current and potential clients know about the taco bar. With creative use of sandwich boards, you may also be able to attract clients in off the street or from a local courthouse or construction site. Bottom line? Sparsely attended taco bars bite, no matter how fresh or hot the queso or gorditas.
Not many respectable law firms are ballsy enough to pull off an office taco bar. But with sufficient planning, solid ingredients, and aggressive hot taco bar marketing, you can spice up your practice and attract new clients. Let us know how you do. Better yet, send us an invitation to your next Taco Tuesday. We’ll promise to drop by.
