There’s a restaurant near me that makes this promise on the front of their menu:
Food is what we are all about.
We buy only the best.
We cook from scratch.
We cut our own meat.
We make our own soups.
We take pride in our craft.
We will never be the cheapest, only the best.
If you are not happy in anyway let me know. We will make it right.
This restaurant is always packed and its not cheap–but its not too expensive either: think world class meets slightly-higher-than-small-town prices. But no matter the price, after reading their promise, I don’t expect “diner” pricing. I just expect the food to be good. . . Really good. (And trust me, it is.)
Go to the restaurant next door? Not a chance.
And this promise is not just a piece of marketing fluff. This is the owner/chef’s strategy. Everything he does reinforces it.
For example, the restaurant is tiny–a bar and about 5 small booths in an old building. There’s always a wait. But getting bigger would require a more expensive location, higher rent and more support staff. Costs would creep up. Prices would then have to increase, which this small town would not support. Or, they would have to cut back on the best ingredients, which means they could not live up to their promise. Their promise runs deep and is reinforced everyday by how they operate and what they choose not to do.
At your next management meeting, ask the following:
- What would the front of our company’s menu say?
- What are we promising our customers that really matters to them and our competitors can’t match?
- Can we list the things our company does that directly reinforces our promise? (If you can’t, your promise just might be an empty piece of marketing.)
- Can we list the things we should stop doing that does not support our promise?
–Tony Collins