I went to eat at the Cheese Cake Factory the other day and like always I had a great experience. Funny enough to me for like the first time, they were not full? I mean not that I wanted them to be full, but normally the place is so packed that you can barely get a seat without waiting at least and hour.
As I sat there finishing off my plate. I began to wonder how does a large place like this maintain the revenue they need to bring in for the day without more customers. I went back to one of my firm beliefs in business. Sometimes you just have to ask for more money from each client that you do have. I mean think about it, a packed house would be more money, but it may also be more customer dissatisfaction because we are rushing from order to order and the quality of the product can suffer. If we focus our sales on our current clients, we could make the same amount of money? Would there still be a gap? Maybe not.
Look at this idea just a little closer.
I was really hungry and pretty much knew what I wanted to eat. I wanted a sandwich. My plate was $13.50. When I told the waiter that I wanted water with lemon, he quickly smiled and said OK, but didn't leave the table before he showed me the mixed drink special out for a limited time for spring. In no way did he seem pushy. He just used his personal experience to tell me how doggone good one of them was and it was now his favorite! His enthusiasm me so excited and now I too wanted to try. This drink cost me $8.99.
When I finished eating, and he was cleaning off the table. He didn't ask me if I wanted dessert. He brought me the menu and had it open to his favorite dessert that just so happen to have a picture with it. Again, no hard push for sales he just "asked" me if I would be interested in dessert. Now honestly I had no intention before he presented the dessert menu in ordering any, but because it was in front of me and again he shared his personal experience with it... I was compelled yet again to indulge and ordered the desserts as well. Another $7.99. Whoa! Did you do the math here?
I went from a customer spending $13.50 to a customer who spent $30.40! This is huge!
Just like that, they increased their revenue by over %125!
I, as the customer was satisfied. Though I initially did not plan on spending that kind of dough. I did. AND was happy with the products. Both the drink and dessert were fantastic! So on my end as the customer, there were no regrets.
What about your customer base. Are you focusing your efforts on continually finding new customers? Or are you finding more things to sell your current customers? I firmly believe the fastest way to grow your bottom line will ALWAYS be to search for new sales in your already existing client base.
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