Swiss Chalet Review - Ms Sternface & Mr Stoic

“I don’t know what is going on. I was supposed to leave an hour and a half ago.”

That was the first thing that our waitress said when she arrived at our table. We had arrived more than six minutes ago and quickly decided on our usuals. Swiss Chalet is one of our regular restaurant chains. We had not been to this location (Wellington South, London) before. We were on the way home after a long drive so we turned off the 401 with anticipated delight when we noticed Swiss Chalet on the highway sign. We were looking forward to enjoy our usual, quick service and then back onto the highway for the final leg home towards Burlington.

Instead we were seated by a friendly hostess and quickly forgotten – or so it seemed. A stern waitress walked by us at least three times without making eye contact. A stoic waiter (who also had mastered the power of avoiding eye contact) served the group across from us who arrived a few minutes after us. We were wondering if we should leave. Perhaps we were at the wrong table.

For some strange reason I felt a little better when the group behind me got up and mumbled something like “let’s just pay at the cash.” It wasn’t just us that was being ignored.

We caught the eye of the friendly hostess across the room and suggested that we were waiting to order. She nodded and moved to do something.

Within 30 seconds the stern waitress (the same one who had walked past us three times) arrived at our table and opened with that line, “I don’t know what is going on…”

There was no apology, no greeting, no “welcome to our restaurant”.

Then she added, “I’ll take your order.” as if that implied that she was doing us a big favour.

Realizing how lucky we were, we quickly place our order. We even said please because we didn’t want to upset Ms Sternface. She might sabotage our food.

The food arrived quickly. It was delivered by Mr. Stoic. He was mechanically efficient. He was personally cold. There was no explanation about the handoff, no apology, no greeting – not even an “enjoy your meal”.

The food was delicious and up to our usual expectations.

However the service had annoyed us. I must have said “no tip” to myself several times – yet when it was time to pay the bill I still added a tip – a small one – but certainly unearned one. I left a tip because I felt an obligation to be kind. As I walked away from the restaurant I felt cheated by the poor service and guilty that I had been weak to give any tip. If only I had that same power of Ms Sternface and Mr Stoic.

I also realized that the only one who said “please” and “thank you” were us – the customers.

We will visit Swiss Chalet again – but not this location.

This visit occurred Wed August 25 around 8:00 pm at the Swiss Chalet on Wellington South in London, Ontario

George Torok

Swiss Chalet Restaurant Review
Wellington South,
London, Ontario

PS:
One might ask, "Is this a staff problem?
Maybe. However, a staff problem is always a management problem.

The Great Marketing Myth Exposed

The Great Marketing Myth Exposed

View more presentations from George Torok.

Marketing Strategy: Fight an Evil Enemy

Conflict sells. If you want to be noticed fight a powerful and evil enemy. Who or what are you fighting? While planning your marketing strategy pick an enemy. The tougher, the meaner, the more disgusting your enemy – the better for you. That positions you as the hero.

“You complete me”

The Joker taunted Batman with that phrase in the movie The Dark Knight. The public image of both Batman and the Joker were stronger because of their conflict. A champion needs a formidable villain and vice versa.

The marketing lesson from that is that the public defines you by your competition. If you are not well known maybe you need to pick a tougher enemy.

Make your enemy appear more frightening.

The boxer Mohammad Ali understood this marketing principle and demonstrated it well. He built up the credibility and threat of each of his opponents before every fight. That made his victories more exciting. He promoted his fight against Smokin Joe Frazier as the Thrilla in Manillia. After the fight Ali said, "Joe Frazier, I'll tell the world right now, brings out the best in me. I'm gonna tell ya, that's one helluva man, and God bless him." In a brief post-fight interview with one of the commentators, Ali announced, "He is the greatest fighter of all times, next to me."

There’s no glory or fame in defeating a weak opponent.

Superman was a bigger hero because of his dangerous enemy Lex Luthor. Sir Edmund Hillary would be nothing without the challenge of Mount Everest. Wyatt Earp is defined by his fight with the evil Clantons. The 300 Spartans are defined by their stand against the unstoppable forces of the Persian Empire. David and his sling shot is only remembered because of his conflict with the giant Goliath. Buffy the vampire killer would be unknown without the blood sucking vampires.

Conflict captures attention and helps to define your position and value.

Many consumer products are sold by fighting previously unknown enemies that were glorified by the marketing campaigns. Consumer products were promoted to fight morning breath, dandruff and ring around the collar.

Present yourself as the alternative.

Avis could not defeat the market leader in the car rental business Hertz, so they defined themselves by the phrase, “We try harder.”

With the taste tests Pepsi defined themselves as the alternative to Coke. It worked so well that it unnerved Coke into blinking and bumbling with New Coke. The folks at Pepsi must have enjoyed how they unnerved the market leader, Coke.

Make fun of the enemy.

With its clever TV ads, (Hello, I’m a Mac. I’m a PC) Apple positioned itself as the alternative to the market leader, Microsoft based computers.

A local plumbing company positioned themselves as fighting clogged drains. The owners of the business made their enemy more formidable by posing for photos with clothes pins on their noses.

People love conflict. It’s entertaining, memorable and often vivid. Sometimes it can be funny. That’s why the “reality TV” shows are so popular.

If you want to be better noticed and remembered – pick a colorful enemy and start a fight. Only start one that you can win.


© George Torok is the co-author of the bestselling Secrets of Power Marketing. He helps business owners gain an unfair advantage over the competition. He helps connect business strategy to effective marketing tactics. To arrange an executive briefing visit
http://www.PowerMarketing.ca For more free marketing tips visit
http://www.Torok.com To speak directly to George Torok call 905-335-1997

Marketing Strategy: Fight an Evil Enemy
Power Marketing on Facebook

Marketing Lessons from Port Dover Friday 13

It’s Friday 13.
For Port Dover, a normally sleepy cottage and fishing village on the North shore of Lake Erie, Friday 13 is a bonanza. “Unlucky” Friday 13 has become the luckiest day for the businesses of Port Dover. It’s like the typical retailers’ Christmas & Boxing sales rolled into one.

Every Friday 13, depending on the time of the year and the weather, thousands or tens of thousands of people visit Port Dover to celebrate Friday 13. Because this is a sunny August 13, there might be over 100,000 celebrants on the streets of Port Dover. The population of Port Dover is 6,000.

Most of these pilgrims arrive by motorcycle. The streets become transformed into miles of parking lots for lines of thousands of motorcycles.

And these motorcycle riders bring and spend money – lots of it. They buy food, drink, accommodation and souvenirs. These are your weekend warrior motorcyclists. There are accountants, managers, entrepreneurs, retirees, mechanics, doctors, lawyers, teachers, administrators, executives, production workers, electricians, plumbers, truck drivers, politicians…

You get the picture. Good customers with money to spend looking for an experience. They just happen to ride and like motorcycles.


What can marketers learn from this phenomenon?

One Person Had an Idea And Made Phone Calls
This event started by chance in 1981 when 25 motorcycle riding friends got together at the Commercial Hotel in Port Dover for a few beers on November, Friday 13. They decided to meet again on the next Friday 13. Perhaps the beer influenced their enthusiasm for more. They had no other agenda. They were just friends getting together.

People Tell Friends About Good Experiences
The next meet there were more, then more again. The original organizer promoted the event around his network. He did this before FaceBook, Twitter and blogs. Friends told motorcycle riding friends about Friday 13 in Port Dover. At some point the event attracted the media. That captured more attention. The event hit what bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell calls the “Tipping Point”. It went viral. Almost nothing can stop it now.

The Date is Memorable
Friday 13 was already notorious because of the superstition associated with that date and the corresponding fear known as triskaidekaphobia. The string of “Friday the 13th” movies helped to anchor that date in people’s minds.

The superstition around the date might even have appealed to motorcycle riders because they know that they are fighting the odds against cars and trucks every time they are on the road. I think that there is a rebel in every motorcycle rider.

Controversy Grabs Attention
Motorcycles are controversial. Some people hate them. Some love them. Motorcyclists might be considered undesirables in some places. Think motorcycles and it’s easy to think about the criminal gangs – the one percenters - Hells Angles, Satan’s Choice and Outlaws. The date “Friday 13” is controversial. You can imagine that at some point the town council, business owners and residents of Port Dover had some controversial meetings about what to do about this event – “should they allow it or ban it?”


Marketing Lessons

Look at new ideas. Don’t discount the source of the idea or the lack of immediate profitability.

The best marketing is word of mouth. Look for under-satisfied communities. A community could be a group of people with a common interest, joy and/or pain.

It might take awhile for it to hit the tipping point and catch fire. If it’s a good idea and the conditions are right you will have a winner.

People want a unique experience. Give them that and they will reward you. They’ll buy, they buy again and they tell their friends.

Grab attention with controversy. Take a position. Embrace the rebels and you will have loyal fans. Be prepared to alienate dissenters.


George Torok
Marketing Author & Expert
Business Speaker

Flight Attendant Meltdown and Quits Job

How a marketer sees the Jet Blue Flight Attendant thing…


Right or wrong, the publicity surrounding the Jet Blue flight attendant who quit his job seemed to hit a public nerve. His recent “celebrity” status might get some marketers thinking.

Beer
The flight attendant grabbed two cans of beer before leaving the plane. What brand of beer was it? Must have been very good beer. Did he drink the beer? Did he mention “beer” in his tirade? Perhaps there is a beer advertisement in this. Perhaps “grabbing a couple beers and taking the slide” can become a new metaphor.

Hate and Pain
If that many people thought this guy was a hero – there are a lot of hurting people out there. And hurting people buy things that relieve their pain. How can we learn more about their pain? Why do they hate their job? What do they hate their customers? How can we rip the bandage off and expose the pain? What product or service can we sell to them?

Demanding Customers
Are customers becoming more demanding? If so why? How can we offer targeted services to these more demanding customers at a higher price? Is there segmentation in service delivery that we can leverage?

Job Stress
Are service deliveres experiencing more stress in their jobs? Do they need better tools, training and support? What product or service might satisfy this need? What industries have the highest level of stress? What ideas and lessons can we take from those?

Hiring Staff
Are companies making mistakes in the selection of staff? Are managers missing warning signs of “Postal” behavior? Why? What products or services could predict, prevent or mitigate these incidents?


Every crisis offers opportunity. Smart marketers look for the opportunities and lessons.


George Torok

Executive Briefing

Customer Service is Marketing Too

Your best marketing is good customer service.

Why? Because the purpose of your marketing is to get more clients buying more from you, more often.

You could have a wonderful advertising campaign that brings in eager prospects. But if your customer service is turning them off then all that advertising was wasted money.

How much did you spend on marketing and advertising last year? How much did you spend on customer service training? Customer service is the most important part of the marketing/sales chain. If customer service is your weakest link then you are hemorrhaging lost sales.

Customer service development and training must be an integral part of your marketing plan and action.

Customer service can be that distinguishing feature that attracts clients to your door. Or it could be the fly in the ointment that is secretly killing your business. Which is it?

When was the last time that you examined and invested in your customer service?


George Torok

Marketing Speaker

Marketing Page on Facebook

How are you?

The phone rang. I answered. The person on the other end asked, "Hi, How are you?"

What a stupid insincere opening. When will they learn?

The automatic response might be, "Fine, How are you?" The whole exchange would be insincere and a waste of time.

I've heard and been annoyed by "Hi, how are you?" so many times that I have trained myself to pause and respond differently.

I said, "What do you want?" That should tell the caller that I don't want to waste time and I'm open to a direct explanation.

There was a pause and a mumbled response that I didn't understand.

My response was, "What are you selling?"

There was a long pause and then the phone went dead. She must have hung up on me.

If you are selling then you must know the answer to those two critical questions:

What do you want?

What are you selling?

If you are cold calling then you are most likely selling.

Be prepared for those questions. Don't be surprised and don't be annoyed. You interupped someone with your call.

And stop asking, "How are you?"

It annoys the people you call because they know you don't care. You might think that question is polite. One caller said, "I'm just trying to be polite." It's rude because you are pretending to know them and and care about them. If your first statement is based on a false premise - why would anyone trust you?


George Torok