Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Do you know your competitors? Right, the consideration set. When somebody is thinking of coming to your restaurant, where else are they considering going?
[00:00:10] See, most restaurant owners, at least the ones that I know and get to talk to, think that they know who their competition is. Well, it's the place down the street. Or yeah, this new. This new place that just opened. Or, well, the restaurant, you know, over there, but they got cheaper prices and. Or that place gets better reviews.
[00:00:27] Whatever it is, here's the actual truth. You're actually not competing with other restaurants. Not really. And the moment you understand who your real competition is, your marketing, your positioning, your decision making, will change forever. I want to get into that on today's episode of Restaurant Strategy.
[00:00:45] 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.
[00:01:16] Hey everyone, thanks for tuning in. My name is Chip Close. This is the Restaurant Strategy podcast. Two episodes every week to level up. But did you know I put out posts every single week on LinkedIn. If you don't follow, follow me, follow me, ship close, find me, be a part of that community.
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[00:02:24] Okay, restaurant owners, you want a steady, predictable flow of new customers, right? If that is the case, then you need to check out Restaurant Scale Secrets. They have a fully done for you marketing system that has already helped tons of restaurants, including more than 50 members of this restaurant strategy community. They work with a ton of my P3 members. I recommend Restaurant Scale Secrets because I know it works. They run meta ads, they run Google Ads and they have an entire automated system to get people into your orbit and to get them coming in and coming back. The program works. It's why I recommend it not only here, but to all of my P3 members. You get to fill tables and add tens of thousands to top line revenue. So if you're ready to take that whole piece of marketing off your plate and start filling your seats, head to restaurantscale secrets.com chip book a free discovery call. There's no pressure. Get to meet Monica and her team and you'll see what they do and what they have already done for so many people in this community. Again, restaurantscalesecrets.com chip as always, you'll find that link in the show notes.
[00:03:34] So when it comes to marketing your restaurant, here is the biggest misunderstanding I see, right? Competition analysis is one of the most misunderstood exercises in our industry because owners always look outward. They look at menus, prices, decor, concepts, and they ask, well, how do we beat them?
[00:03:55] And that question is already flawed because guests are not choosing between restaurants most of the time. They're choosing between experiences, vibes, moods, effort, convenience.
[00:04:07] See, your real competition is inertia, right? It's easy for people to stay home to just order delivery, to just cook something easy. Or to just scroll endlessly and snack all night. Or maybe just doing nothing.
[00:04:21] Inertia is powerful. It is the thing that makes leaving the house difficult. Why? Because leaving the house requires energy, intention, justification. And it requires often that you spend money. And people don't often like to spend money.
[00:04:36] So if your restaurant doesn't give people a reason to overcome that inertia, well, it doesn't matter how good your food is.
[00:04:46] And here's something important. Dining out is no longer about the food. Extra, extra. Read all about it. This is a shift that many owners are still resisting. They still think about their food, their menu, oh, coming up with something, you know, complex or interesting, it doesn't matter.
[00:05:02] Food is no longer scarce. Good food is everywhere.
[00:05:06] Dining out is now about escape, connection, emotion, status, experience.
[00:05:13] We're simply just changing your location, your environment, or your state.
[00:05:17] And if all you're offering is a good meal, then guess what? You're competing with the couch. And the couch.
[00:05:25] The couch, most nights of the week is undefeated. You're never going to win.
[00:05:31] See, people don't ask, well, where should we eat? They ask, what do you feel like? And this is a subtle difference, but it's critical.
[00:05:38] See, guests don't search rationally. They search emotionally. They're asking, do I Want comfort or energy?
[00:05:45] Do I want familiar or exciting? Do I want easy or memorable? Do I want to be taken care of? Or do I really prefer to be left alone tonight?
[00:05:54] Restaurants that win understand the emotional job that they've been hired to do.
[00:06:00] See restaurants that lose talk about food quality and prices and vendors and God, God help us. Farm to table.
[00:06:10] See most restaurants and this is a marketing flaw, they promote their features, not their feelings.
[00:06:17] I mean, look at most restaurant marketing. What do you see? You see photos of plates, list of ingredients, specials and prices.
[00:06:24] None of that answers the emotional question, which is why should I leave my house for this?
[00:06:31] See the best restaurant marketing doesn't describe food. It frames outcomes.
[00:06:36] Meaning how will someone feel after?
[00:06:39] What does this night become for someone that's a part of it? Or who is this for and when is this for them?
[00:06:47] All of those are talking about outcomes, experience, feelings. It's emotional. It's not. Our veal is really good.
[00:06:55] It's veal will make you feel special.
[00:06:58] This is something. Cesar Morels are here today, gone tomorrow. When you bring a date here, it shows status.
[00:07:06] There's so many other things that great restaurant marketing can do.
[00:07:10] That to limit yourself to talking about, you know, ingredients on a plate is sort of missing the entire point.
[00:07:18] Now do you want to pulse on what's actually happening in your restaurant? Ovation gives you real time understanding about your guest experience, transforming guest feedback into clear, actionable insights so you can stop guessing and start making smarter decisions about your business. Their AI driven reporting breaks down every review into restaurant specific categories like speed of service, order accuracy, or food quality. And it shows you where to actually focus. One operator put it like this. Ovation is a game changer. It helps us identify issues early before they turn into bigger problems. Another operator starts every staff meeting by reviewing recent Ovation data, giving the team one source of truth to work from. With heat maps, goal tracking and performance dashboards. Ovation doesn't just tell you what's wrong, it actually helps your team fix it. You can even assign action items and track the follow through on those items. So if you want to get all the answers without having to ask all the questions, go to OvationUp to book a demo. Mention this podcast and guess what? They'll waive your setup fee. As always, you'll find that link in the show notes.
[00:08:32] So in addition, you're also competing with time. Not just money, but time. Remember, time is the new luxury. Actually, not so new. I think it's always been a luxury. Just now we seem to talk about it a lot.
[00:08:43] People are tired. I'm tired, you're tired. We're overstimulated. I am. You are. We're overbooked. We're pulled in a million different directions.
[00:08:50] And so if your restaurant feels stressful or complicated or unclear, it loses. You lose clarity, ease, confidence.
[00:09:01] Those are true competitive advantages.
[00:09:04] Who are you for and when?
[00:09:08] When are you for them?
[00:09:10] This is the kind of place for people like this when they are trying to do this.
[00:09:15] This is for businessmen looking to close deals. This is for people celebrating an anniversary, looking to impress their spouse.
[00:09:22] See, differentiation is about context, not uniqueness. And see, owners obsess over being unique.
[00:09:30] And unique feels like.
[00:09:33] Feels like a natural extension of the word differentiation, but it's not. Uniqueness is overrated. Relevance is everything. And follow me here.
[00:09:42] You don't need to be different from every restaurant. You need to be perfect for a specific moment.
[00:09:49] So where's the restaurant that you should go to for Tuesday night?
[00:09:53] Where should someone go on date night? Where should someone go for a celebration? Where should someone go just for comfort to be taken care of? What's the restaurant that folds seamlessly into someone's routine when you win that, you win the moment, not the market. You don't need to win the market.
[00:10:10] You just need to win the date night. You need to win for convenient and routine.
[00:10:16] See, most restaurants try to then compete on the absolute wrong axis. You get price wars, portion wars, menu wars, and those are all losing games. It's a commodity play.
[00:10:28] The restaurants that dominate compete on emotional clarity, confidence of the experience, ease of choice, consistency, convenience. They make the decision feel obvious.
[00:10:41] And so think about your own experiences.
[00:10:44] How many times are you, like, on a Tuesday night and you're like, ugh, all right, I'm not at the restaurant tonight. I just want an easy meal. I don't want to go too far.
[00:10:52] All of those easy meal, not too far. You've probably narrowed it down quite a bit. I know in my neighborhood, it narrows down our options quite a bit. If I want something easy, comfortable, delicious, and nearby.
[00:11:05] Likewise, if I want a really nice meal for me and my wife. But I don't feel like traveling very far.
[00:11:12] Small, you know, small list of options. I'm sure it's the same thing with you. All of those things will make the decision feel obvious. That is your job.
[00:11:24] So here's the shift. Understand that you're not competing with other restaurants. You're simply competing with consumer indifference. And indifference only gets beaten by relevance.
[00:11:38] So ask yourself this question and really work through it.
[00:11:42] What emotional job does my restaurant do better than someone staying at home?
[00:11:51] If you can't answer that, clearly marketing your restaurant, your experience will always feel hard.
[00:11:57] So who is this for and when is it for them?
[00:12:01] That will help you a great deal.
[00:12:04] And so when you start doing that, when you stop fighting other restaurants and start fighting inertia, everything about how you position, market, and operate your restaurant becomes clearer. And as we've said a lot over the last four, five, six weeks, clarity wins every single time.
[00:12:24] Clarity beats creativity. Clarity and consistency win time, over time, over time. It's like we talked about Dave Ramsey. Dave Ramsey's been saying the same thing for, what, 40 years?
[00:12:35] Spend less than you make. That's his entire mantra. That's his mission. That's basically what he's saying. It's very clear, and he's very consistent about it.
[00:12:44] So who are you? Who are you for and when are you for them? You say that consistently and with clarity.
[00:12:52] You win. You win every single time.
