Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: I want you to imagine something. It's 6:30 on a Thursday evening. There's a couple sitting on the couch. They've both had long days and they're tired. Right? Nobody feels like cooking. One of them turns to the other and asks a very simple question. Hey, what do you want for dinner? And right there in that moment, a decision is about to be made that will have an impact on your restaurant. Now, you might think the next question is going to be, should we go to the Italian place or the Mexican place? But that's not what happens. Instead, they start going through the options. Well, we could order something. Well, we've got leftovers. Or I can make some pasta. You know, there's that new place down the street. Yeah, but then we'd have to get dressed and find parking and get a sitter and maybe spend 150 bucks. And eventually one of them's going to turn to the other one with the most dangerous words in the restaurant industry.
You know, let's just stay home.
And that's it. The decision is made. And your restaurant never even entered the conversation. No bad review, no complaints about your prices, no problem with your food. They simply decided that going out wasn't worth the trouble. And here's what I want you to understand. Your restaurant isn't just competing with other restaurants. You're actually competing with every alternative to visiting any restaurant. You're competing with the grocery store. You're competing with doordash. You're competing with leftovers. You're competing with frozen pizza. And sometimes you're competing with a comfortable couch and a Netflix subscription. Which means the question you actually need to answer isn't simply, why should somebody choose my restaurant over the one down the street?
The bigger question is this. Why should somebody leave their house in the first place to visit my restaurant?
And that's what we're talking about today. If you get this right, I think it can fundamentally change the way you're marketing your business. Let's get into it. 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, and those who can see when shown. This is Restaurant Strategy, a podcast with answers for anyone who's looking.
Hey, everyone, thanks for tuning in. My name is Chip Close. This is the Restaurant Strategy Podcast. Two episodes every single week. We're doing this for seven years. The entire point is to help independent restaurant owners level up, build a more profitable, predictable, sustainable restaurant business. This is what drives me. This is what has helped me create all of the things I've created. So I put out content on YouTube, on LinkedIn, on TikTok, on Instagram, on Facebook, and obviously here I do it to help you level up. In addition to all of the free resources, I also have paid resources. I coach restaurant owners all over the country. I've got a team that works around me all, I promise you, all with better resumes than me. If you are ever curious about learning how to do it, to spend just 1% of your monthly budget and see a huge outsize return on that investment, then it's worth a conversation. RSProfit.com is where you go to learn more about the P3 mastermind. That's the program I run. RSProfit.com as always, you'll find that link in the show notes.
Avi, you love to go out to eat. So as a guest, what's your biggest pet peeve when you're trying to choose a place to eat?
[00:03:40] Speaker B: Yeah, as the father of two children, I can't leave the house for less than $30 an hour. My wife has Celiac. So when we're going to make a dining decision, I live and die by that menu. I'm in there researching what's available, what can my wife eat, what can we share? What do I get to eat off of her plate?
And so that menu is just a crucial part of all decision making for me as a consumer. It's why at Marquee, we focus so much on our menus, our menu integration, so that as operators, your menu that lives in your point of sale that you want customers to see is available and up to date everywhere.
[00:04:13] Speaker A: To learn more about Marquis, go to marquis.com, m A R Q I-I.com to learn more about this and all of the incredible features they have.
So when I work with restaurant owners, one of the exercises I take them through is what I call the abcds of marketing. You've probably heard me talk about this before. ABCD stands for audience brand Competition and Differentiation. And when we get to the letter C, right, that's competition. I usually ask them to identify their biggest competitors and they'll give me three or four restaurants, right? The steakhouse across the street, the Italian place around the corner, that new joint that just opened in the shopping center across the way. And that's a reasonable starting point, but I think it's incomplete because your customers don't necessarily think about the competition the same way that you do.
See, you might look at your restaurant and say, well, we're a casual American restaurant, therefore our competitors are, you guessed it, other casual American restaurants. But your customers aren't walking around with a spreadsheet comparing, you know, all of the casual American restaurants. They're trying to solve a problem in that moment on Thursday when they're, you know, finishing work, they're hungry and they're tired, or maybe they want to celebrate something. They need somewhere to meet a friend, they want a break from cooking. Maybe they just want to spend time with their spouse, or they need to entertain kids or family. And the alternatives they're considering depend on the problem they're trying to solve. Let me give you an example. Imagine you own a neighborhood pizza restaurant, right? I'm guessing many of you listening do own a neighborhood pizza restaurant. So you don't have to imagine very hard. It's Friday night and you might be competing with, let's say, another pizza restaurant. But on Tuesday night, when a family is exhausted after soccer practice, you might be competing with, I don't know, a drive thru. On Saturday afternoon, your neighborhood pizza restaurant might actually be competing with a family entertainment center. And when somebody wants a quiet evening at home, you might be competing with a frozen pizza that they got from the grocery store. See, it's the same restaurant, same menu, but very different occasions, and therefore very different competitors. And this is why I want you to stop defining your competitive set exclusively by cuisine. Because people don't always start by deciding what they want to eat. Sometimes they start by deciding what they want to experience.
And if you don't understand that experience, you're going to struggle to market it effectively. Now let's go back to that couple sitting on the couch, right? Remember the one we started with?
They're trying to decide whether to go out for dinner at all.
And let's say the restaurant they're considering has great food. Maybe they've got excellent service, it's a beautiful dining room, they've got a terrific reputation. You might think all of that's enough. But the customer in that moment is doing a much different calculation.
They're thinking about the entire evening. See, because they have to get ready, they have to drive, they have to figure out where to park, they might have to wait for a table, they have to spend maybe more money than if they just did leftovers. And then at the end they have to drive home. Maybe they have kids, so they need to figure out childcare. And maybe they've been working all day, so now they gotta find the energy to get Dressed and leave the house.
And suddenly a meal that costs 80 bucks on the menu feels like a much bigger investment.
Because, see, the real cost isn't just the money. It is actually the time, the effort, the uncertainty, the inconvenience, and the. The opportunity cost of doing something else.
See, look, I want you to understand this because it reveals a major weakness in the way that many restaurants market themselves. They advertise the food, right? Beautiful photos, delicious descriptions, specials. But they don't give the customer compelling reason to even make the effort in the first place. They don't answer the question the customer is actually asking, is this going to be worth it?
And see, now there are two ways to approach the problem. You can reduce the friction, or you can increase the perceived value of the experience.
Ideally, you do both, right? So let's start with the first thing. Reducing friction, right? Is it easy to make a reservation? Is your menu easy to find? Are your hours accurate? Can somebody figure out where to park? Do you offer online ordering? Is your pickup process convenient? Do guests know whether they can bring their children? Can they get in and out during a lunch break?
These might sound like operational questions, but I promise you, they're actually marketing questions. Because every unnecessary obstacle gives the customer another reason to just stay home.
Now, let's talk about the other side of the equation, right? Increasing the perceived value. And this is where things get really interesting. So stay with me. Because you cannot always win by being, let's say, more convenient, right? A home cooked meal is pretty convenient. Delivery is very convenient. A frozen pizza is convenient. So sometimes your advantage has to be the experience.
And the experience obviously needs to offer something that the alternatives cannot.
So when you think of it that way, I want you to ask yourself this question.
What occasions does my restaurant deserve to own?
Not what kind of food do I serve, not what category am I in, but what occasions? Because the answer to that question can completely change your marketing. So let's say you own a casual restaurant in the suburbs. You've got good food, a comfortable dining room, and friendly service. That's fine, but it's not particularly memorable. Now imagine you decide to become the best restaurant in your neighborhood. For families celebrating small victories. Think of this. A great report card. Winning the soccer game, a birthday, the last day of school, the first day of summer vacation.
Now suddenly, you're not just selling burgers and chicken fingers. You're selling a place where families celebrate, where they make memories together.
And that, I think you'll find, will create opportunities.
Because maybe your servers have a special way of Recognizing those celebrations. Maybe you have a dessert that's designed specifically to be shared on just such occasions. Maybe there's a photograph guests can take home. Maybe your social media highlights all those little moments. Maybe your website makes it clear that this is the place families are welcome to celebrate. And see, none of those ideas requires you reinvent your entire restaurant. But see, together, when folded in with what you do at your restaurant, together, they can create a more specific reason for people to actually choose you.
Pop Menu has reimagined the restaurant. They're breaking the mold of the menu. Take the kitchen doors off the hinges. Serving up their most comprehensive solution yet. It's called Pop Menu Max. So it's got everything you've already heard me mention, right? Well, websites, SEO, marketing tools, all of that. But now we get phone answering. Now we get third party online order aggregation, we get first party ordering, we get waitlisting. All of that is now in the, is now in the in the bag. Pop Menu is phone answering. For example, that technology gets your ringing phones covered, right? AI AI helps the simple questions get answered. So your phone line's not tied up right. So you don't have a staff member just answering the phone that can actually be there for your in person hospitality. No more missed reservations, no more missed orders, no more people asking for hours, anything. And that's just the beginning. You have a passion for food. Pop Menu is a passion for technology. Together, it's a recipe for restaurant success. Listen, if you're a restaurant owner, you need Pop Menu. It's going to take your business to the next level. For a limited time only, get a hundred dollars off your first month. Plus you get to lock in one flat unchanging monthly rate. Go to popmenu.com restaurantstrategy to claim this offer. Again, it's a hundred dollars off your first month. And yes, you're gonna find that link in the show notes.
Now, let's imagine a different restaurant. Let's say it's a small neighborhood wine bar.
So instead of trying to be everything to everybody, that wine bar will position itself maybe as the perfect place for a first date. And think about what that means. Lighting, music, seating service, menu design, reservation, availability, even the way the website will describe the experience. And everything can be designed around making that occasion feel comfortable and special.
And then the marketing becomes much more compelling. You're not saying, come try our wine selection. You're saying, in effect, we've created the kind of place where you can relax, connect and have a great evening together.
When you think about it that's a different promise altogether, and I think it's a much stronger one for the right audience.
See, this is the difference between selling a product and selling a solution.
The product in this case might be wine, but the solution is a great first date. The product might be the pizza, but the solution is an easy, enjoyable family dinner. The product might be a tasting menu. The solution is an unforgettable anniversary.
And when you start thinking this way, you begin to see opportunities that your competitors, I promise, you, are missing.
And so now I want to address something that I know will make some of you out there very uncomfortable.
You cannot be the best choice for every occasion. You just can't. And when you try, you usually wind up becoming a mediocre choice for all of them. I mean, think about it. The restaurant that's perfect for a romantic anniversary dinner probably isn't the restaurant where you want to take a group of 12 screaming 8 year olds after they won the basketball game. The restaurant that's perfect for a 30 minute business lunch probably isn't the restaurant you choose for a leisurely three hour celebration.
See, different occasions require different experiences.
And again, let's go back to this. Here's where the ABCDs become so important.
You have to know your audience. You have to understand who your brand is. You have to recognize the alternatives. And then you have to differentiate yourself.
Not for everybody, right? For the people you actually want to serve.
So I want you to identify three occasions that your restaurant can own.
Maybe it's Friday night, date night. Maybe it's Sunday brunch with the family. Maybe it's a quick weekday lunch. Maybe it's business dinners. Maybe it's the place everybody goes after the high school football game. Whatever they are, just choose three and then ask yourself a series of questions. What matters most to somebody on that occasion?
What might prevent them from choosing us?
What would make the experience feel exceptional?
What could we do that would be difficult for the alternatives to replicate?
And how can we communicate all of that through our marketing?
Because once you know the occasions that you're trying to own, your messaging becomes way more specific, laser focused. Meaning instead of posting a picture of a cheeseburger with the caption come see us tonight, you can actually tell a story about the experience you're offering. Instead of running some generic discount, you can create an invitation tied to a specific occasion.
Instead of trying to attract every person in town, you get to focus on the people who are most likely to value what you've actually built.
And that is how you become relevant it's how you stay relevant. And before we go any further, let me just clarify something, right? I'm not suggesting that your restaurant needs to become a theme park. You don't need fireworks. You don't need elaborate entertainment. You don't need to turn every meal into some over the top production. Sometimes the most compelling experience is incredibly simple. Imagine a neighborhood restaurant where the staff remembers your name, they know your favorite drink, they recognize your kids, they make you feel comfortable.
You walk in after a difficult day, you sit down, and you feel like you're exactly where you belong. I gotta tell you, that can be an incredibly powerful reason to leave the house.
And it has nothing to do with gimmicks. In fact, it has everything to do with hospitality.
Now think about how you might communicate that.
You could introduce the team on social media. You could tell stories about your regulars. Of course, with their permission, you could highlight the traditions that make your restaurant feel like part of the neighborhood. You could show people what a typical evening actually feels like when somebody is sitting on their couch trying to decide what to do for dinner. Or I promise, those impressions matter because they're not simply comparing menus. They're imagining an experience.
And if you've done your job well, they're imagining themselves having a better evening at your restaurant than they would have at home.
And obviously, right, that's the goal. Not to convince somebody that your food is marginally better than the food at another restaurant, but to convince them that visiting you will improve their evening.
And here's the beautiful part. When you consistently deliver on that promise, you create repeat customers. People who stop asking whether they should go out and start saying, man, let's go to our place and think about that phrase, our place.
That's what we're trying to build. I've shared together on this story, there was a period of time, about five years, when my wife and I only had one day off together. It was Sundays. And every Sunday we would go to Gramercy Tavern. We still lived in the city at the time. We would sit at the two corner seats at the bar. They would save them for us. Every Sunday, we would get there at 4 and leave at like 9. It was the five hours we had together where we just nursed our drinks and had a little bit of food and a little bit more food and then some cheese and a little bit of dessert. And we just sat there and caught up over the week. And it was our place.
And see, that's what you're actually trying to build. A restaurant that becomes part of somebody's life in the same way that Danny Meyer's Grammar Tavern became a key core part to my life.
You want a restaurant associated with specific moments and occasions. A restaurant that they think about naturally. And see, when that happens, marketing, I promise, gets a whole lot easier. Because you're no longer trying to manufacture demand out of thin air.
You become the obvious choice for an occasion that already exists.
So now we get to the homework, right? Your assignment. Here's what I want you to do. I want you to identify three occasions like we talked about earlier. Three occasions that are especially important to your restaurant. Not three demographic groups, but three occasions. And for each one, I want you to answer the four questions. First, what problem is the customer trying to solve? Second, what alternatives are they considering? Third, what friction might prevent them from choosing us?
And fourth, what can we do to make our restaurant the obvious choice?
Then I want you to take one of those occasions and just build a marketing message around it.
Note, not a promotion, not a discount, but a message. Something that communicates the value, something that communicates the experience.
It should make the customer picture themselves in your restaurant. It should be something that gives them a reason to leave the house.
And once you've created that message, make sure the actual experience can deliver on it. Because the worst thing you can do is promise something that your restaurant cannot provide.
And so, again, as we wrap this up, let's go back to that couple on the couch. It's 6:30 on Thursday. They're tired, they're hungry, and they're deciding what to do for dinner. One of them suggests staying home, but then the other one says something different.
Actually, you know what? Let's go to that place we love.
And just like that, the whole energy changes. The decision changes. Not because your restaurant has the cheapest food, not because you just posted the prettiest picture on Instagram, and not because you ran a 20% off promotion. They chose you because they associate your restaurant with an experience they want to have.
They know what they're going to get, and they trust that you will deliver it. And they believe the evening will be better because they came.
And see. That's what I want you to build. That's what I want for all of you. Because the goal isn't simply to be better than the restaurant down the street. The goal is to be more compelling than the alternative of not going out at all.
Listen, my name is Chip Close. I am your host here of this the Restaurant Strategy podcast. I know there's a lot of great podcasts for you to listen to. I appreciate you making this part of your week. One final reminder. If you are struggling with profitability, let me show you a way to make more consistent money to the bottom line through my program. It's called the P3 mastermind. It's an incredible community. You learn more about it by visiting RSprophet.com thanks again everyone and I'll see you next time.
