Missed opportunities can cost your business megabucks!
This article was first published in 2004 and in our present post Covid situation, it’s worth revisiting so that you don’t let any opportunity slide by.
I am always on the lookout for simple little things which can make or break a business. And you don’t have to look far to see that there are many missed opportunities for additional
revenue all around you:
1. Restaurants who don’t offer you garlic or some other kind of bread as soon as you
sit down at the table. Probably 80% of the restaurants I visit could increase their
revenue by simply offering the customer some kind of sustenance as soon as they
enter the restaurant instead of waiting for their order.
2. At the other end of the meal, simply by placing the dessert menu in front of your
customer is a far more effective way of eliciting orders than asking if anybody
wants to see the dessert menu. I have often browsed an uninvited menu and ordered
because I liked the look of one of the courses.
3. The fish and chip shop at a popular beach resort which shut its doors at 6.30pm on
the day before Christmas when hundreds of people were arriving from Auckland. If
your business is in a holiday destination, I hope you stayed open for Queens Birthday
weekend.
4. The hot bread shop at the same resort which did not open on Boxing Day. This has
to be one of the biggest days of the year at any beach resort and I believe that if you
have a food business of any sort which is seasonal in popularity then you have to take
advantage of every long weekend regardless of the inconvenience to your personal
life.
5. Ice cream shops where the serving staff suggest that the customer wants one scoop.
There was an ice-cream parlour in Queensland which increased its turnover 75% by
changing the habit of its serving staff so that they said “Is that two scoops?”
6. Service stations who allow customers to serve themselves. In the good old days when
the pump jockey went out and filled the car for you they were able to chat and perhaps
mention a new product or service which was available. There is a new post Covid
trend for customers to continue serving themselves and pay at the pump. That
means less cutomer contact so make the effort and go out and talk to the customer.
Make them feel important because they are – and they might even buy something
extra.
7. Businesses of any kind where the telephonist takes details of the enquiry but there is
no follow up. Not a great advertisement for any company in the best of
circumstances, but right now if that is your norm, you need to fix it.
These are just a few examples and I’m sure that you’ve come across many more. Take a look at your own situation because whilst these examples are specific, the principles outlined apply to every business including your own. So make sure that your staff are trained to make the best of every opportunity on offer.