One of my favourite restaurants doesn’t have a menu. It has a specials board. One single waist-high blackboard that travels around the restaurant with the waiter. When the restaurant is busy it may take 5-10 minutes before you get to witness the specials board first hand. Prior, you’re twisting and turning to catch a glimpse before it’s your time to order.
The beauty of the specials board
I wouldn’t hazard a guess at the amount of times I’d dined at the restaurant. My investment, as a consumer, was enough to ensure I was greeted with a hearty welcome and a pat on the back. I’m quite sure we were fast-tracked to view the board.
I always knew what I wanted. The meals listed on the board rarely changed. Wednesday evening? Yes, I’d be ordering the mussels. Saturdays? It would be the steak.
For the first-time visitor, it was a wholly different experience. When it was your turn, you were greeted with a rundown of the specials. You were asked what you fancied to eat and recommended a meal. The chef’s personal culinary concoction. You would rarely deviate.
The long-term customer was a member of the inner circle. The new customers… they wanted in.
The ordinary option
The standard fare in restaurant marketing is one you’ll instantly recognise. The five choices on the 2 for £12 menu. The five obvious choices. The desserts. The pasta dishes. The 2 salad options thrown in for the ‘lighter option’. Eating out can become a chore as much as an endeavour.
Do we return to take advantage of the offers? Do we recommend the restaurant due to the meal deal? (‘It was a bargain and the food was nice too….’) Or is it the personable welcome capped off by the delicious unhurried meal that caps off the experience, that leaves us feeling special. The primary motivator that leads us to return and recommend to our friends?
What’s on your specials board?
A brand less ordinary is a brand that’s prepared to make an experience memorable. Offline or online. Your local restaurant or the catering supplier who the restaurant buys from. There’s the ordinary representation. The generic navigation, the one-size-fits-all content (are you really the leaders of your market?), the obvious route. The forgettable route.
A brand less ordinary is a brand offering that caters to me. It’s beyond price. It’s beyond size. It’s personable. It’s memorable.
Your blog articles. Don’t tell me what everybody is telling me.
Your welcome message. Is it shared your competitors?
Your imagery. Is it stock? Do those smiling faces really represent the greeting I’d receive as I pass through your office?
Offering a specials board isn’t about being different. It’s about knowing what your customers want and what makes your experience memorable.
An element of every market will be drawn in by price. They’re the minority. Yet, we cater to them because it’s an easier route than making our offering special. We just compete on price. Easy. For the majority, it’s not about price.
Put the chalk down…. I don’t want to hear about your 2 for £12. I want to know what you can offer me that will make me feel special. Something memorable. Something a bit less ordinary.
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