“The customer is always right” goes the popular saying of the knowledgeable public. However, just as times change, the ways in which the customer communicates with us and the way in which the customer decides to buy from him have also changed. Not so long ago, 50 years of experience and the best enchiladas were enough – success was based on a good product – to
conquer the market with a product and/or service and, consequently, presume to have a secure and loyal customer to our brand. “Serve him well and give him some warm enchiladas and the customer will come back” the experienced restaurateur told us proudly. Now the new generations have put us to the test by making their purchase decision for reasons other than those that Don Juan had taught us.
Today it is not enough to appear in the listings of the oldest or most traditional restaurants, nowadays the message and the image are above the flavor of the enchilada.
The great Mark Twain said “It is easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled”. I’m not saying fool people, no! What I am saying is that we need to make our business models multi-generational. What good will it do you to have a 50-year-old restaurant based on service and based on your client attending to celebrate their special occasions when the new generations do not have that custom and when the trend in the mode of sale is delivery, which is winning the battle over the sale in the dining room.
The multigenerationality of business models is what made some entrepreneurs take advantage of the blue oceans during the pandemic by increasing their sales, positioning their brands and growing with new units, finding locations that others left behind, while those others continued to “wait” for all this to happen. it will happen. The restaurants that understood that you had to be on the platforms (at least you must have 6 different points of contact with your client for delivery between external platforms, own apps and other communication mechanisms), redesigned their layouts to give a space to the correct and timely packaging of the products, they redesigned and simplified their menus and the portions of their dishes so that they can travel and that the customer experience remains the same, they developed a new and
eye-catching “instagrammable” packaging, they reviewed their organization charts changing from passive cashiers inside a cage to McDonald’s-type vendors and packers and, of course, they understood the new income statement where the business financially speaking ceased to be food to become a business of logistics with different costs; These are the ones who can tell us about it today.
In the book The Power of Instagram, Jason Mils talks about the importance of having a clear message, defining and interacting with your tribe, “Define and Find your online community. Serve them as a thought leader, through advice, ideas and resources. Become the person who summons and encourages them, who makes them laugh and connects them. If you do it right they will follow you” The verb
instagrammable is here to stay and our businesses will have to be redesigned architecturally and functionally to attract new generations.
Once the tribe is defined, the message must be clear and meet their tastes, expectations and affiliations. Martin Diez in his book “Ten Myths of Neuromarketing” mentions: “…the perception, filter that each individual has, based on education, lifestyle, culture, in short, all the background that each individual has in their long-term memory … as well as the concept of historical and socio-cultural context…”; understanding the characteristics of our tribe and speaking to them in their language with precise communication and according to what the tribe is looking for will generate brand loyalty.
On the other hand, starting a business on your own will always be an attractive idea, but trying it without having these 4 perfectly defined components may not lead you to success in an environment where the brand war is getting stronger:
- Differentiation
- Innovation
- defined niche
- Competition
Presenting the client with an innovative product that allows you to differentiate yourself from the competition and play it on another court, understand and define your market, that is, your tribe, understanding the competition, is what franchises have worked to achieve to seize national and international markets. international.
The rivalry between McDonald’s and Burger King has never existed since each brand has its defined niche and different customers attack with different messages, the result? Two chains with a presence in almost the entire world, both with extraordinary sales. “McDonald’s seeks to associate the taste for the product with the brand image, while in the case of Burger King it seeks to promote a greater offer and variety of its products with which it intends to capture the customer. The slogan of each of them reflects these philosophies: “I’m lovin’ it”, one of the best known in history, in the case of the first, and “Have it your way” in the case of the second” can be read at https://forbes.es/up-down/41759/mcdonalds-vs-burger-king-las-cifras-definitivas/
Note that the product is not, at least in the opinion of my servant, the most important component, or if you want to see it from another point of view, the product is no longer the number one purchase motivator on my list. If you want to make the entrepreneur check very well that you have the right offer, I assure you that the market can no longer support a single coffee shop
cappuccinos and cupcakes more. The idea of joining a franchise, where all these issues are studied, defined and tested, may be more interesting than risking the idea of the century that you came up with on a night of dominoes with your friends.
The times where we installed a business, opened the curtain and waited for all the clients to arrive are over. As the classic Dylan would say “The times are changing”.