July 2019 Archives

Why do people consistently order using 3rd party aggregators, instead of using the restaurants's own website or app?

Interesting discussion, have your say.

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Do you agree with the claim we have too many restaurants -- and the evidence in this article?

Are we due for a shakeout -- because it has been so long in coming, have people in the industry forgotten what it will be like?

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How Important to are Environmental Certifications, like Arooga's being a Certified Green Restaurant to the restaurant crowd, do you think?

Do guests care about a restaurant being Certified Green? Or, is it just a Marketing gimmick?

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Here is a good dialogue between two experience franchise salespersons - about both the value of scripts and active listening.

The two concepts go hand in hand, when used correctly.

Christina Chambers:

I have always found that good franchise sales reps have the ability to truly listen to candidates, ask enough probing questions to unveil true buyer motivation early on, and use the candidate's own motivations as tools for the close.

You can find out pretty quickly during on-boarding and call shadowing in the first 30-60 days whether you have a sales rep that has this ability or willingness to learn, practice, and master.

If they don't, then it's highly doubtful they will really sell vs just taking an order. ...

Joe Caruso:

Christina Chambers writes about on-boarding and call shadowing in the first 30-60 days"

How did you do this? Was it a formal or informal process?

Christina Chambers:

Formal process. Starting with rep shadowing me or another experienced rep so they can hear how it's done, then shadow them.

To help give direction, I provide a "script" / a la carte list of probing questions that the rep can use as the conversation flows.

Also suggest not being in the same room while shadowing calls or you create anxiety ... conference in from a separate line on mute. Meet immediately afterwards, talk about the good and the not-so-good as teaching opportunities. Rinse and repeat!

Joe Caruso:

Hey Christina Chambers brilliant of you to explain how you were able to do this with your franchise sales team members. Especially like the tips on observing and keeping the salesperson comfortable, that's a good idea.

Christina Chambers:

Thanks Joe Caruso! Happy to share best practices L

Joe Caruso:

Christina Chambers what did you discover after doing this. Did you see any common patterns?

Christina Chambers:

Yes! The ones who had mediocre or poor sales results were those who fought the process and feared that asking deep questions would "turn off" a candidate before building rapport by becoming their "friend" first.

On the flip side, those that embraced active listening but relied heavily on a questioning script in a robotic manner also did not perform well.

A sales rep who can sell has to have that mix of process and finesse, with a heavy dose of overall brand knowledge.

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Nice piece by Danny Klein pointing to the complexities that the new minimum wages have caused for some restaurants, discussing the recent bankruptcy of Restaurants Unlimited.

"Over the past several years, certain changes to wage laws in the debtors' primary geographic locations coupled with two expansion decisions that utilized cash flow from operations resulted in increased use of cash flow from operations and borrowings and restricted liquidity," filings said.

"These challenges coupled with additional state-mandates that will result in an additional extraordinary wage hike in [fiscal year] 2020 in certain locations before all further wage increases are subject to increases in the CPI and the general national trend away from casual dining, led to the need to commence these chapter 11 cases."

This is a more general complaint and we will likely see even more technology replace these lost jobs.

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Because the US has mastered the art of selling expensive technology.

For example, "Salesmen pushed customers to buy products or services that they might not have otherwise purchased.

They were particularly good at introducing new products to customers.

For instance, the cost of selling the first electric refrigerators in the early twentieth century was very high as salesmen worked to convince homeowners of the value of the new machine over the traditional delivery of ice."

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The entry level wage for restaurant workers in the US has always trailed the minimum wage for other industries.

That is about to change -- with the drive for a $15 minimum wage.

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I am not sure what natural stupidity is, so I am less clear on the obverse idea: artificial intelligence.

It appears that I am not alone...

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