Mary Schmidt Marketing Troubleshooter

…or as I’ve noted before, you can’t sell more by doing less…

Mike Neiss at Tom Peters recently posted, Everything Matters, in which he talks about companies cutting costs. He notes that apparently the manager at one of Mike’s favored restaurants believes (about the wine list), “It doesn’t matter, they [customers] will just order something else.”

Recently, I’ve noticed that one of my favorite restaurants has cut way back on their portions. Now, most restaurants actually give us Americans too much (no wonder we waddle around the mall…we’re cleaning our plates, Mom!) But, in this case the portions have gotten downright skimpy - for the same price.

I ordered an entree vegetarian salad ($9.00) that was supposed to include blue cheese and almonds. What I got was some specks of what appeared to be feta and a few slivers of almonds at the bottom of the bowl, along with about a handful of lettuce and a few strawberries (one of which hadn’t even been hulled.)

Hmmm…well, maybe there was a trainee back in the kitchen…

Then at a couple of lunches, I realized that the side order of cole slaw had gotten noticeably smaller. Ditto the size of the fish and chips entree. Again, all for the same price. (Portions here have never been huge; they were about right, for the quaiity and price.) So, what’s happened?

The restaurant may be controlling their costs by skimping…but I’m skipping them now.

Ideas for what I hope will turn back into one of my favorite restaurants:
1. Reduce number of selections to the very most popular ones. Post a sign saying why (”We want to continue to provide value,” etc.)
2. Revisit your bulk buying. (This restaurant is part of a local chain.) What ingredients are the most expensive? Could you replace them with something equally tasty and less costly?
3. Don’t be afraid to raise the price a bit on some things (and explain why.)

Tags: marketing, marketing troubleshooting, US Economy, cost cutting