Tweet
Every day for three years or so I drove past a restaurant called Legends not more than a mile from my home.
I never once went in. The restaurant went out of business this winter.
It’s not like I will only eat at Applebee’s, O’Charley’s or TGI Fridays — actually I prefer to eat at non-chain, independent restaurants.
As I drove by one day, I started wondering out loud with my wife why we had never gone into Legends.
She said and I quote:
“I have always wondered if it is expensive. I don’t know what they serve in there either and whether the food is any good. Is it Italian, seafood, steaks, pub food? There have been times when I wanted to try them out but I didn’t want to RISK it.”
Ok, so maybe that isn’t an exact quote but it is close. 
What Did Sarah Mean By “Risk” It?
When you go out to dinner, you are going to spend two things:
- Time
- Money
You don’t want to have a bad experience. This is what Sarah meant by risk it.
She (actually we) were never provided enough information to risk our money and time on this restaurant. So, instead, we would drive past and go to a less risky restaurant like an Applebee’s.
We all know that the food at Applebee’s will be average and the bill will not be outrageous. It is a safe place to go eat. We aren’t going to be “wowed” but it won’t be a disaster either. We see the commercials for Applebee’s and we know what they serve. We know what the cost is and the food looks pretty decent on the commercials.
Applebee’s has a brand and a large advertising budget removing all of the “risk” from eating there.
My Tiny Business Is A Risk
FYI… I wrote this post because I realized that I am the Legends restaurant in the above example.
I do not make it easy for people to know what I do. I don’t make it easy to know my pricing. I don’t provide as much social proof as I could on my site.
When people engage me in business — they are risking two things — just as they were in the restaurant scenario:
- Time
- Money
Here is the one sales generating tip — Do whatever is necessary to remove risk and keep your prospects from choosing to go to the “Applebee’s” of your industry.
I want to hear from you. What do you recommend? What are your thoughts? What kind of advice do you have for those of us that don’t want to go out like Legend’s?
By the way… I have since learned that Legends had “pub food”, it was reasonably priced and quite tasty. Who knew?
Learn more here or sign up below
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Interesting observations here, Russ.
Most restaurants now have their menus on line. This is a good filter for disqualifying those who can’t afford and/or don’t care for that kind of food.
Full disclosure, in this case, is good.
Probably for your business, also. It can be a good tool for eliminating prospects who are not a fit.
For many of the things YOU do, you may want to have a ‘range’ of pricing. This is important because so much of your work is custom.
I’m looking forward to seeing your ‘Menu of Products and Services’ along with the pricing.
Let your tribe know how it works!
@Fred Miller — I am getting closer to putting something out there — we will have to see what the future holds.
It is not that I am trying to be mysterious about my pricing but it is (as you said) custom work and hard to put on paper.
Russ, this is all too true for many businesses today, especially those that have continued to do “business as usual” in the way of letting their customers know about their company and their services through the written word like newspaper ads, fliers, etc.
Tiny businesses and many businesses today can not afford advertising on television and radio, and besides it may not be the best form of expenditure in advertising dollars. they most definitely need to value their online presence.
This brings me to the absolute truth about you and your business. It is essential to have an online presence that tells the world 365 days a year, 24 hours a day that you exist, you are trustworthy, and you have testimony of satisfied fans that rave about you.
What could be better? You can now tell the world about yourself for very little cost with the internet. You can now have people that have enjoyed doing business with you, tell the world how great and trustworthy you are, and you can now pick from a huge world wide menu of people to do business with without leaving your home.
I feel for Legends. There is value in the lesson taught in this post….but I have not time for more now…as I am typing faster to create my online presence to let the world know about the great web content and copy writing business that I am starting…
Thanks Russ
Jennifer Tobias
@jennifer — I felt bad for Legends too — I just wish they had dispelled the myths — it seems like a simple sign in the front with a menu item special and a price would have answered 75% of the questions we had about the restaurant.
Russ,
It’s like any business. We’ve got to have a quick elevator pitch that tells our customers what we do. For instance, a vinyl sticker on the back of my truck that says ‘Why can’t I find your business on Google?’. It’s a good conversation starter and hooks those people who want to know more.
Restaurants (like Legends, which my wife and I talked about but never went to) have plenty of ways to get in front of us, but some don’t try very hard. Word of mouth is a great way for them to ‘get noticed’, but if the food is average and no one is talking about it, then we’ll just stick with Applebees where we know what we’ll get.
Finding a good restaurant (or any business) is like finding a pond stocked full of huge fish. You can’t wait to go back.
How many potential customers do you see every day that won’t write articles because mashing RSS feeds is easier?
How many potential customers do you see every day that won’t risk SEO because they know PPC is safe (albeit more expensive)?
How many potential customers do you see every day that won’t risk building relationships via social media because direct mail is easier?
Good stuff Russ, thanks.
@St Louis SEO — I love that sticker — sometimes I see you driving around out there. People like to stick with what is safe — and if they don’t know what you do and what you cost — you are a risk.