I get the most inquiries, namely, "What should I do if business is not good recently" and "What should I do if it drops badly".

When it comes to bad business, there are usually three ways for people to help themselves:

First, find a set of vigorous marketing plans. I think that my marketing is not good enough, so my customers didn't come and my business declined. I especially want to find a marketing plan to save it.

second, change items or add items. I feel that my project is not good, and I doubt my original choice. I either change the project or add the project, such as changing the hot pot into cooking, or adding cooking.

third, be innovative and want to be unique.

I'll take a screenshot of the communication with my peers. The meaning of sending it is to let everyone feel more in their own shoes.

last night, I had dinner with a catering colleague. He has been engaged in catering for more than 21 years.

I threw the question at him.

I asked him: If business declines, where will you start?

He said:

I think the product factor accounts for 81%, 11% is service, and 11% is environment and marketing.

the decline in business must be that customers are uncomfortable, or the taste and quality of the products are out of order, or they feel worthless, or the overall experience is poor.

in the case of unstable and declining operation, I ask us to conduct internal self-inspection. First, we should look for problems from the products, inspect one dish after another, find problems, upgrade and optimize.

Then look for problems from the inside, including internal management, internal service and customer experience. If business is not good, there must be internal problems.

if competitors take away your customers, you must have failed to keep up with the market changes.

We have a saying: Practice hard to cope with changes.

You see, the opening of all our stores is "slow-heating", and we never pursue the opening of the store, so that the customers who stay are the most stable and loyal.

I don't like group buying the most, and I have never done such marketing.

The payback period of my stores is less than 1 years. What do you ask for? I think it's the product.

But products are not static. Old dishes can be cooked new and presented in new forms and new faces.

business is bad, is it a marketing problem?

Personally, I think:

Marketing is always icing on the cake, not giving timely help.

business is good, and the products and services you provide must match your price and not fall below the customer's expectation, which is the victory of the products.

When your business is good, marketing will show its function: it will help you to open up sources and drain,

But whether you can keep customers still depends not on marketing, but on the products (including dishes, services and environment) you provide.

when the business declines,

if the internal problems cannot be found, the better the marketing is done, the greater the intensity and the more drainage, the greater the damage to the business.

as we all know, a few years ago, many catering people were pursuing the opening of the business, and

they were even proud of the police maintaining order on the opening day.

However, if we look at the mature and steady catering brands around us, their practices are just the opposite:

Haidilao, Xibei and Xijiade are all opened from one-third to one-half, then to two-thirds, partially and partially.

They will not fully open until the products are stable and the team is mature, and especially control the rhythm of customers entering the market.

He knows best to keep customers.

The more I get in touch with these enterprises, the more I understand.

The bosses of these big enterprises and brands seem to talk about brands every day.

In fact, they are the real productists.

A catering colleague in Guiyang sent me a WeChat:

She has been operating in the local area for 11 years, and her business has been very stable. Most of her customers are repeat customers. Recently, a folk restaurant opened next to her, and the trial operation had a great impact on her, fearing that the consequences would be more serious after the official opening.

she asked me: how should I do marketing?

I said, it's not a marketing problem, it's that customers want new experiences.

I analyzed with her that

customers have been supporting you for more than p>11 years, and they agree with you, but when faced with new dining forms and new dining experiences, customers' inner need for new experiences is aroused, so they choose others.

this is brand aging.

I think, what you need to do is not to reinvent the wheel and change the project, nor to do a vigorous discount marketing to pull customers back,

but how to upgrade yourself.

For example, products-

can't be static. No matter how many years you have sold products, you can't sell them all the same. You must constantly upgrade and iterate, including taste upgrading, visual presentation and experience.

in terms of product upgrading, I don't advocate changing products or adding products, but I support optimizing products and iterating products

such as sales forms-

For example, there is a single-item snack bar that has been selling Chinese buns for 78 years like you, and its business has been good. It was not until a new Chinese hamburger shop opened across the street that his stable life was broken.

The newly-opened store is characterized by the open file of Chinese hamburger.

Customers can see the scene of stew,

You can see the process of the chef kneading dough and boiling steamed buns on the spot,

You can see how much meat is put into the steamed buns you bought,

And you can tell customers in the most conspicuous places: what brand of flour, what brand of meat and what oil he uses at home ... <

with the comparison, the new demands of customers have also been discovered.

For example, the dining environment-

Do you pay attention to being cleaner and more comfortable?

Every version of Xibei's decorated storefront has been praised and imitated by peers.

However, they are still upgrading from version to version.

In fact, they are actively creating new experiences for customers.

So,

I never think there is a problem with your project, and I don't think your marketing is not enough.

It's that you don't create enough experience for customers, and you don't keep up with or even lead their needs.

In addition, this kind of upgrading iteration,

we must take the initiative to start from the inside, innovate ourselves and revolutionize ourselves.

If we wait for our competitors to upgrade ourselves, it will be too late.

If business is not good, it is not advisable to change projects or add projects.

I don't think so.

Unless you set up a Japanese food in a county-level city,

or a Thai food in a city in Sichuan,

-you can make a small project in a small place where the flow of people is too limited, so you can change it.

however, if you choose a popular category, I don't agree to change the project if business is not good.

The first reason,

Any project has market space, and business is not good. You must have failed to do it well, or failed to do it as well as your competitors.

For example, if your noodle restaurant business is not good, you want to change it to dumplings or mala Tang.

I think even if you change it, it is unlikely to be done well.

because there is nothing wrong with the noodle restaurant itself, it's your management and management ability, and it's the latter that you want to improve.

the second reason,

changing projects requires restarting you and your team,

starting from scratch again,

the cost and expense will be higher.

in addition,

adding items is even more undesirable.

For example, the one who cooks steamed seafood above adds stir-fry and Chaoshan beef hotpot.

In the eyes of customers,

you can't do anything, but

on the contrary, you will think that what you do is unprofessional.

With regard to innovation, the barbecued colleague above

wants to "innovate" the barbecued meat sold by the plate to be sold by "two or grams".

This kind of innovation has not added value to customers, and has not added a better sense of experience.

On the contrary, it has increased the difficulty of its own sales and management, and

the innovation has gone astray.

innovation,

whether it can increase the customer experience value,

and whether it can increase the added value of products.

For example, this barbecue is the same.

You set up a fresh-cut stall, let the chef cut the meat in front of the customers and put up a "fresh-cut meat" sign to emphasize your freshness, which increases the added value of the product;

You found a better source of barbecue ingredients, introduced the dining table in words, and served it with a better container when serving, which increased the customer's experience value.

innovation, if the direction is wrong, it will be futile to make any more efforts.

finally-

business is good, and the reasons are the same,

but business is not good, and each has its own reasons.

On the road of starting a business, managing and developing, there are many setbacks, and we face different problems every day.

Many of today's articles are the experiences and lessons I have interviewed my catering colleagues for many years.

Plus my own knowledge and understanding,

It may not be all right,

but I really want everyone to go a little smoother.