The Sweet Way To Sales:
Keeping The Customer in Mind
March/26/2008 Selling
Last evening Marathon's Bill Camacho and Mark Weber and I had dinner with Steve Troup, whose Buckeye Color Lab was hosting a Marathon Strategic Marketing Workshop in Columbus, Ohio. We dined at P.F. Chang's. Earlier that day, I had presented a workshop section on the branding tools that are part of "The Marketing Mix" . . . the time-honored 4 P's of Marketing: Product, Promotion, Place and Price. Just when we were about to tell the waiter that we didn't care to have dessert we knew he was about to offer, we observed the 4 P's at work in a very effective marketing twist. Instead of asking us if we cared to have dessert, the waiter presented us with a beautiful tray featuring 8 innocent-looking mini-desserts attractively presented in shot glasses. He skillfully informed us that these delicious-looking deserts were only $2 each. Now who can turn down such an delectable idea! We jumped at the offer.
When you think about it, what's are the major objections to dessert?
1. Even if you love dessert better than life, you're already stuffed, and now you are forced to prove to your friends that you have no will power. Heaven forbid you should be the first one to give in to your sweet tooth!
2. No one needs the extra dessert pounds. The size of the average dessert today blows every rational eating plan out of the water. And the guilt it leaves behind . . . oh my.
3. The cost: Dessert is now as expensive as a main course was not too many years ago.
So in one clever offering, P.F. Chang's has solved all three problems, approaching the Marketing Mix in a brilliant fashion:
Product: It's cute and non-threatening. One shot glass of dessert won't hurt anyone. Why not have two . . . or maybe even three? Besides it's much more fun to have your cake and Tiramisu too!
Promotion: All it took was a few words from the waiter . . . then we created further viral buzz by telling our class about our experience. We shamelessly made their collective mouths water.
Place: Our experience at P.F. Chang's was very positive, and this literally put the cherry on the top of the evening!
Price: Two bucks for dessert . . . No problem.
So what's the lesson here? When you put yourself in the consumer's shoes by providing something the consumer really values, then it's amazing what can happen. According to the waiter, this outside-the-box approach to dessert has tripled dessert sales . . . a sweet reward for everyone involved!
When you think about it, what's are the major objections to dessert?
1. Even if you love dessert better than life, you're already stuffed, and now you are forced to prove to your friends that you have no will power. Heaven forbid you should be the first one to give in to your sweet tooth!
2. No one needs the extra dessert pounds. The size of the average dessert today blows every rational eating plan out of the water. And the guilt it leaves behind . . . oh my.
3. The cost: Dessert is now as expensive as a main course was not too many years ago.
So in one clever offering, P.F. Chang's has solved all three problems, approaching the Marketing Mix in a brilliant fashion:
Product: It's cute and non-threatening. One shot glass of dessert won't hurt anyone. Why not have two . . . or maybe even three? Besides it's much more fun to have your cake and Tiramisu too!
Promotion: All it took was a few words from the waiter . . . then we created further viral buzz by telling our class about our experience. We shamelessly made their collective mouths water.
Place: Our experience at P.F. Chang's was very positive, and this literally put the cherry on the top of the evening!
Price: Two bucks for dessert . . . No problem.
So what's the lesson here? When you put yourself in the consumer's shoes by providing something the consumer really values, then it's amazing what can happen. According to the waiter, this outside-the-box approach to dessert has tripled dessert sales . . . a sweet reward for everyone involved!