(Read To The End for a Special $295 Free Bonus)
Marnie here,
The other night I was flicking through the TV channels and found yet another re-run of Gordon Ramsay’s “Hell’s Kitchen.”
Whenever I watch Gordon Ramsay tearing the throat out of a hapless head chef or muddle-headed restaurant owner, I wish I was in the food business.
Every restaurateur with even half a brain must surely be spending at least part of every working day down on bended knee, giving heartfelt thanks for the f***ing marketing opportunity this foul-mouthed and charismatic Brit has provided.
What Ramsay has done is focus the attention of millions of restaurant-goers on the stuff most restaurants would hate them to know – what goes on in the kitchen!
And for the smart ones, that spells opportunity.
Now, what has this got to do with a salon business? Think outside the square for a moment.
Here’s how I would use the ‘Ramsay Factor’ in my restaurant business.
First, I would identify what it is about restaurants that – thanks to Ramsay’s TV show – makes people lie awake at 3am, staring at the ceiling….and thanks to Ramsay, that’s pretty easy.
Has the food been prepared days earlier? Is the kitchen crawling with cockroaches? Do the chefs wash their hands every time they go to the bathroom? Are the ingredients fresh? Is there mold growing over the food?
THEN…I would create a new marketing message, based on those fears and anxieties.
The DUMB thing would be to attempt to bury your head in the sand and ignore the Ramsay factor. In fact, I would HIGHLIGHT the negatives, and turn them into positives. For example, a promotion like this:
Can you see how that statement would set my restaurant apart from any of my competitors? This technique is called
It does TWO clearly distinct things.
a) By capitalizing on highly-public information (people are already talking about Gordon Ramsay) it enters the conversation that’s already going on in your customers’ heads.
(…so you don’t have to interrupt what they’re thinking…you’re just joining in the conversation, and ‘leveraging’ off what’s currently water-cooler talk.)
b) It highlights the process. Most businesses assume their customers are only interested in the result, the final product.
But there is magic in the detail….there is MONEY in the story of how you deliver what your customers are buying.
Now, if you haven’t done so already, replace restaurant with salon. What can YOU do to tell the story of your process? – a story that addresses what your customers are fearful and anxious about when making a decision about whether to do business with you?
Are your products sourced using a suddenly rediscovered formula developed by primitive tribes in the steamy jungles of Burma?
Does one of your treatments originate from the desert rituals of Bedouin tribes in ancient Mesopotamia? (I’m exaggerating for effect, but you get the picture.)
There are tons of ways you can be telling your “behind the scenes” stories.
* Instagram is a great platform for that. Photos and videos showing you and your team doing things like (for example) preparing color, or getting a treatment room ready, even such seemingly bland tasks as cleaning, give a sense of “making the invisible visible”.
* Same can be said for Facebook…so much of what I see on these social media platforms is so “me-too”, just copying everything everyone else is doing.
* On your YouTube Channel – quirky short videos that you can also use on social media.
* On your own website (hint: just ‘re-purpose’ content you’ve used on the other platforms.)
Speaking of your website, is it producing a CONSTANT, steady stream of new inquiries, bookings and leads for you?
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Be my guest, but please be quick!
My team can only do FIVE of these free diagnostic checks for my subscribers – each analysis takes at least two hours – so it’s first in, best dressed:-)
I hope you can use some of the tips above…
Take care.
xxoo
