Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] I think someone famous once wrote a song that said, let's give them something to talk about.
[00:00:06] Let's talk about that. Let's talk about how we get people to talk.
[00:00:10] Today I want to talk about five very important words that the best publicists in the world always keep in the tip of their tongue. What are they? We're going to go over that in just a minute. On today's episode of Restaurant Strategy, there's an old saying that goes something like this. You'll only find three kinds of people in the world. Those who see, those who will never see, see, and those who can see when shown. This is Restaurant Strategy, a podcast with answers for anyone who's looking.
[00:00:56] Hey, everyone. Thanks for joining. My name is Chip Close. This is the Restaurant Strategy Podcast. We put out two episodes every single week. Ways to help you level up building more profitable, therefore, a more sustainable business. I wrote two books. The first one came out in 2023. It's called the Restaurant Marketing Mindset. We talked a lot about these ideas in this book. My next book is called the Restaurant Profit Playbook. Guess what? It comes out in a couple of months. More information soon about how you can get it. I also give talks. I run a coaching program. It's called the P3 mastermind. I'm also getting ready to host the Restaurant Podcast Profitability Summit. I do this every year. It's our biggest event of the year. It's still intimate. It's capped at 200 people. But if you want to be in the room with me and my other coaches and a whole bunch of other restaurant owners from all over the country who are all there to learn the tactical how to's, the actionable playbooks for how to build a more profitable restaurant. Then you get your tickets by clicking the link in the show notes. I've been talking a lot about it, so I don't want to bore you. We have a headliner this time, Chef Gavin Casen, two time James Beard Award winner, talking about the stories that drive him. About success, about profitability, about growth, about contraction. The entire event is a way to all get together and level up. You do that by clicking the link in the show notes. Secure your spot. Today, there are less than 100 tickets left. If you want to be there. I very much want you to be there.
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[00:03:04] Massive savings that those 10 points drop straight to the bottom line. Trust me, there's a reason I recommend Margin Edge to so many my clients, so many listeners, so many P3 mastermind members. It's because it works. I know it works. If you've been listening for a while, you know I talk about it. If you're interested in learning more or you want to see how Gather brewing went from 38 to 28%, they put together an incredible video. Video. Head over to Margin Edge.com/Chip again, Margin Edge.com/Chip. As always, you'll find that link in the show notes.
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[00:04:27] So we're talking all about stories and how stories drive our business. I think stories are how we get talked about. Last episode I talked about comma, but right. I say, hey, I just went to Restaurant xyz. Someone says, oh, I've heard about that place. How was it? And I said, oh, it was great.
[00:04:41] If the story ends there, the story ends. Nobody goes back. I don't go back. My friend certainly doesn't go back. But if they say, how was it? And I say it was really great. But you know what? They do really well. But you'll never believe what happened. But you'll never Believe what the server did for us. You need a comma and a but, and you need stuff after that. That's what helps people to talk about your restaurant. I think the best companies, the best products, and certainly the best restaurants in the world do that exceptionally well. I've been spending a lot of time talking about all the different ways that great restaurants have done that over the years. The way that people are doing it now, the way that I've helped customers do that. I'm reminded, though, as we're doing this, that a publicist friend of mine, so somebody, a guy who has been running a PR company for almost 25 years now, and he told me, first, last, best, most only.
[00:05:30] Those are the five most important words in my business. Because every time I pitch a story to a writer, a food writer, a travel writer, a lifestyle writer, anytime I pitch to a magazine, tv, a newspaper, they're going to say, why would my. Or they're going to think, why would my readers care about this? Why would the viewers care? Why would this matter? Why?
[00:05:52] We've talked a lot about why you supply the why. And so he said he's always trying to think about why the viewer would be interested. He said, because I have to tell the food writer why this is something they might want to cover. Hey. And the word. He does it as he said those five words. The way he does it is he focuses on those five words. First, last, best, most only. And he said, those aren't the only words I use, but that's where I start.
[00:06:18] Basically, it's about pushing brands to the edges, not doing everything that's safe. Anybody serves burger and fries? There's a lot of places that serve burger and fries. Oh, we use quality ingredients. Well, a lot of people believe they have quality ingredients, or a lot of people source from the same places that you're sourcing. Who cares? Next.
[00:06:35] What is it about yours? Oh, they're smash burgers. Oh, they're sliders. Oh, we're kid friendly.
[00:06:41] Okay. What else? You have to supply it. Why is this newsworthy? And I think sometimes thinking of it through that lens, why would the news care about it? Meaning why would thousands or millions of viewers care about it? Will help you get clear on why you matter. Because for most restaurants, and this might be uncomfortable, most restaurants actually don't need to exist. We have more than enough restaurants, right? We've got more restaurants than ever before, better restaurants than ever before, more diverse restaurants. Meaning no matter what you're in the mood for, you can find somewhere to get food from Whether you go, make a reservation, sit in the dining room, go to the bar, or order in, there are tons of options for you to patronize these places.
[00:07:19] Why should they go out? Why should they come out to. To you?
[00:07:23] Whether you realize it or not, that is your job to supply those answers. Because whether the diner realizes it or not, they're looking for an answer to that.
[00:07:32] So I travel a lot and I dine out a lot. Not just for fun, for vacation and things like that, but I travel for clients, for work, visits, for networking, for conferences, trade shows. I give talks. And I find myself in a lot of markets, a lot of cities I've never been to before.
[00:07:46] And I'm always thinking, I need breakfast, I need lunch, I need dinner. Well, I'm going to take my clients out and I have to think about where should we go, what should we do, where do we, why do I, why do I go to the places I go to? How do I make my decisions? I'm always thinking about that. And if you don't find yourself in other markets, if you stay familiar, you just stay local, you're doing yourself and your business a disservice.
[00:08:12] Go out, go outside of your comfort zone.
[00:08:16] Try a market that you've never been to before and then try to decide where to have dinner at, a place that you're going to enjoy with the limited information you have, and look at where you find that information. Do you go to Google? Do you look at pictures? Do you look at their menu? Do you go to the website? You go to Instagram? Do you go to Yelp? Do you ask friends?
[00:08:34] Do you go to Reddit? Do you go to Twitter?
[00:08:38] Do you look at reviews? Go to the newspaper? How do you make your decision?
[00:08:42] When you have to make decisions, it will clue you in to how other people make decisions.
[00:08:50] My publicist friend reminds me, first, last, best, most, only. We are the only place in town that serves this dish.
[00:08:59] We were the first restaurant in the world to introduce this dish.
[00:09:04] We're the last place that still does this traditional blah, blah, blah.
[00:09:09] We're the only place that da, blah, blah, blah, blah, whatever it is, supply that answer. Are you the first at something? Are you the last at something? Are you the only, Are you the best?
[00:09:21] Do you do something the most?
[00:09:23] I think what happens is that either you're going to realize yes, and then you're going to have something to talk about, which is great if I've merely brought your attention to it, but what I think a bunch of you are going to find out is that, like, oh, we got. We got nothing to hang our hat on.
[00:09:37] And you're gonna have to go make stuff. You're gonna have to manufacture stuff. It's not enough just to have good food. Nobody cares.
[00:09:43] Nobody cares. I assure you. They want good food in a story.
[00:09:47] First, last, best, most only. It's a way to get you to the edges.
[00:09:54] So go to the edges.
[00:09:55] Try and figure out ways to manufacture a story. I will tell you. You can do this with unique combinations. You can look around and see the dishes that are offered at similar places in town and offer something totally different.
[00:10:08] You can do this with the way you played it, with a service flourish.
[00:10:12] You can do this with size, right? Most you can do big dishes. We do a dish for the table. I was just working with a client. We're doing now a dish for the table. Nobody in the market does that. I haven't seen anybody really do what we're. We're about to roll out in a month, but we're doing a dish. So dishes for two. They're sizable, right? Like, think of what a tomahawk chop looks like when it goes through the dining room.
[00:10:35] Think about fajitas. Sizzling fajitas on that plate. It sits tall. It's a huge portion because it's usually for multiple people. It's sizzling, so it makes noise. People see it.
[00:10:45] It's. It's one of the originals of this. Where do you think Bananas Foster came from? Or flambe?
[00:10:51] You know, all of that souffle, that big towering thing where the. The souffle actually comes out of the dish, right? And I've given tons of these examples over the years, right? The shellfish towers, the bacon on a clothesline. But like, man, we can go back 50 years, 60 years, and we can find examples of this. Don't think we invented it. Certainly don't think I invented it. I'm just drawing attention to it. First, last, best, most. Only with the food you serve, the interesting combination, flavor combinations, the way you plate it, the way you serve it, something about it should go to the edges, and you should have something that nobody else does.
[00:11:28] Again, I look at, like, black tap, right? Black taps, you know, craft burgers and beer. Fine, cool. They are not famous for their burgers or their beer. They are famous for their crazy shakes, the big milkshakes with a giant hunkin piece of cake right on top. People are like, what the heck? And the whole point there is this. Everyone's going to come in and get a burger and a beer. We need to make sure they get something else. So we're going to make sure they get these milkshakes. Our milkshakes are famous, the crazy shakes. And now if you go to some of the new ones, like the one down in Disneyland, they've got a separate door in the side. Or if you don't want to come in and have dinner, you just want to get the crazy shakes, you can do that. There's like a separate little, like, ice cream parlor on the side. Brilliant. Genius. Absolutely. So the place isn't famous for what they serve. They're famous for the thing that they manufactured, that they made themselves famous for.
[00:12:16] You win by going to the edges. You win by making stories, by building things, giving people context, a point of reference so they have something to talk about so that they do talk about you again. I appreciate you guys making this show part of your week again. If you ever want to learn more about the coaching program I run, it's the best way I know how to help restaurant owners. It's called the P3 mastermind. That link is in the show notes if you want to learn more about the Summit. Tickets are on sale now. They are going. They will not last long. That link is also in the show notes. Appreciate you guys very much. I will see you next time.
