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Business Killer 4: Non-traditional Competitors Cont’d
Posted by Ryan Volberg at October 19, 2007 2:15 PM
Moving from Critic to Customer – A necessary step in overcoming non-traditional competitors
Last week, we left our restaurant owner friend, Agnes, running on the treadmill as she contemplated her future. Her restaurant’s sales were dropping and while she initially blamed others for her lagging performance, the brisk run on the treadmill seemed to clear her mind. She had resolved to fight. More than that, she had resolved to win.
She finished her run and formulated a plan. The first thing she did was to go to her own restaurant. Not as an owner, but as a customer. She drove up and noticed that her sign was cracked in one corner and the bare fluorescent bulb was slightly visible. She pulled on the industrial metal and glass door with the broken mail slot on the side and stepped over the metal threshold. The artificial Boston fern on the corner of the oak hostess stand was a little dusty. She picked up a menu and looked over the offerings. Many of the items had been on the menu since she opened the restaurant. In fact, they were based on recipes handed down to her from her grandmother. But she noticed that the menu was a little greasy feeling. And, it was hard to read in some spots because of the fancy font.
At that point, Agnes realized that she’d now been standing at the hostess stand for well over two minutes and no staff member had even come out of the kitchen. The one table that was eating over in the corner seemed content, but it bothered her that “real” customers might get the same treatment she was getting. She turned and walked out, because that’s what a “real” customer would have done.
Her next stop was the nearby grocery store that carried the competitive products that several customers had mentioned. As she looked at the storefront with her newly sharpened eyes, she noted that the storefront was very inviting with a display of flowers and several exceptional bargains near the front of the store. She walked in and picked up a shopping basket and proceeded to the deli section where she suspected that she might find the packaged fresh entrees. The entrees were showcased with a display that extolled the virtues of the items. The words “fresh” and “organic” were prominent. She noted the type of containers that were being used. She had to admit that the meals were enticing. Even the way they were garnished with brightly colored herbs “popped” against the black plastic tray. As she moved from critic to customer in her mind she noted the prices. They were actually quite high. In fact, they weren’t much less than a meal in her restaurant. The size of the portion seemed small as well.
While she was inspecting the display, a staff member began to replenish some of the bare spots. She caught Agnes’ eye and offered a friendly suggestion, “These are all really great, but my favorite is this one,” as she pointed to a particularly appealing dish. It happened to be a dish that was very similar to one of Agnes’ own signature entrees. Agnes put that entrée and two others into her basket and proceeded to the checkout.
After returning to her car, Agnes headed to the meal preparation concept. As a restaurant owner, it wasn’t the type of place that she would normally go. As soon as she went inside she was greeted by a young woman behind the counter, “Hi, have you been in before?”
“No, I haven’t,” replied Agnes.
“Would you mind if I explained how it worked?”
“Not at all,” said Agnes. She found it interesting that the question was asked in context of permission, rather than just launching right into her presentation. It was very engaging.
As the clerk explained the virtues of the process and the quality of the ingredients, Agnes began to understand the appeal. As the explanation was coming to a close, Agnes asked “Are you the owner?”
“Me? No, I just started three weeks ago,” replied the young clerk.
Agnes was shocked. Her longest serving employees wouldn’t hold a candle to this person. “Well, you’re doing a great job”, she responded.
“Thanks,” blushed the employee, “The owner spent nearly a week training me personally. He grilled me on practically every question that a customer would ask and made me take him through the speech I just gave you over 30 times. He takes customer service pretty seriously.”
The clerk then reviews Agnes options for today’s visit. She could either proceed with a single meal since there was an opening or book a time to come back and prepare a larger number of meals. Agnes opted for the single meal.
When Agnes walked out the door, she was carrying a bag filled with several containers. Each container was microwavable and had instructions for reheating attached. She noticed that there were some nice touches on each package as well. For example, the entrée had a suggested wine pairing and the starter had some presentation ideas.
While Agnes felt saddened and disappointed when she left her restaurant, after visiting these other concepts with a fresh, competitive perspective, she now felt invigorated. She now had some concrete ideas on how she would change her restaurant. And win back her customers.
Next week, find out what changes Agnes made…
Ryan Volberg is the CEO of Vivonet, a company dedicated to ensuring retail and restaurant success.
 Category: Survival Tips Story of Agnes the Restaurateur
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