Sad (but true) story:
I was hanging out with my ex-copywriting apprentice in The Burgle (where she lives) a few weeks ago and we hit up a restaurant downtown for a few drinks. I won’t name the joint because I have nothing against it. But, they made a dumbo sales blunder that I had seen them make many times (too many to count) even back when I lived there.
A mistake that costs them lots of revenue.
Maybe even tens of thousands over the years, depending on how long they been doing it.
Here’s what happened:
We sit down ready to stay for an hour or so (we were killing time), ordered a couple bloody marys (they make ‘em nice and spicy there), sat back, and enjoyed there being no crowds (I hate crowds).
Everything was jim dandy:
The birds were singing.
The sun was shining.
The pigeons were crowing.
And all was good.
Until they brought the bloody marys.
They tasted great.
But, the problem was they brought the check with them.
Dumb.
You see, for the most part (unless someone is the designated driver, I suppose) a lot of people don’t order just ONE bloody mary. Most people I know usually have at least 2, especially since most restaurants don’t make them very strong anyway. Now, my ex-copywriting apprentice and I don’t allow the wait staff to dictate our appetites or schedules, so we stuck around and had a couple more before leaving. But imagine all the other people they do that to on a daily basis: People order something (they do this with food there, too, not just drinks, we noticed). They get the check immediately. They leave. Yet, they leave because they feel rushed or not wanted (or are just letting the wait staff giving them the check without asking dictate their life). Had they not been served the check with the drink and/or meal, they very well may have stuck around for another drink. Or dessert. Or coffee. Or… or… anything.
It’s nutzo.
Especially since hardly anyone was even in there.
(If it was super busy maybe I could see doing such a thing to keep people moving and coming.)
All that lost revenue can’t even be counted…
But, whatya gonna do?
I know what we did.
We went and spent our money at the Irish restaurant down the street. We were thinking about eating at the blood mary blunder place but they made the choice very easy to go elsewhere instead and give that other place all the money for food we would have spent with them.
The lesson?
If someone wants to give you their money, take it.
(Unless you simply don’t want them as a customer.)
If they don’t buy from you, they’re going to buy from someone else.
Might as well be you…
So simple.
So obvious.
Yet, so common…
Okay on to bid’niz:
The May “Email Players” issue goes to the printer tomorrow. In addition to showing you *exactly* how to write a secret kind of subject line that can potentially blow your opens and sales wide open, it also shows you how to build a relationship with your list that is so strong, people look forward to hearing from you, reading you, and, yes, buying from you.
Some of the stuff is like the lesson above:
Obvious yet rare.
Especially online.
Here’s where to subscribe in time:
Ben Settle
