Square Peg in a Round Hole

Something that I continually find interesting to observe is how many professionals completely miss the mark with web 2.0, and using the web in general as a marketing tool. I have seen it many times in many places where technology is completely misused or underutilized by seemingly smart people.

The latest example is at the restaurant I work at. It is located in the middle of a high density commercial area of the city, surrounded by office skyscrapers. Thus, it does a very good business lunch and cocktail hour business. This restaurant has two clients: tourists, and business people. Thats it. Management at this restaurant has decided that they want this to be a classy, high end outdoor dining option for the denizens of Midtown. Thats fine, the decor can handle it. But they don't treat the business as such. Yesterday, I found feedback cards that we are supposed to put at every table at the end of the meal. These cards include a feedback area, as well as a prompt asking if the guest would like to be notified of future offers and events. This is followed by a space for personal info and an email address.

Knowing the clientèle, and knowing the vision for the space, do you think this fits as a way to promote the restaurant? Absolutely not. Businesses often make the mistake of blindly trying to fit electronic marketing and web 2.0 into their business, even if there is no place for them because it is the hot buzz business thing to do. This restaurant hurts its brand by asking for feedback and creating a mailing list (for events and offers that don't exist, by the way). One, it puts it into the customer's mind that there might be something wrong with their service. Two it isn't what a classy place should be doing. Third, its self selecting in that only a small percentage of people who have positive experiences (and almost all that have negative experiences) will bother with the card.

The only way I can see such a strategy working is to do it in a very focused, targeted way. Only put them at the bar, in order to improve the cocktail hour product. Or only offer them at lunch, building an email list of clients who routinely visit the restaurant for business lunches. Then, use the list to send out an email blast every time the specials change, detailing the new dishes with pictures, descriptions, and maybe highlighting one regular menu item as well. Send these emails at 11:30 on whatever day you choose to send them, and as people begin to think about lunch plans, they are receiving emails from the restaurant showing what they could be having in 30 minutes' time.

The key to marketing isn't to do what everyone else is doing, its to look at your customers and figure out how to reach them the best.

The last couple of months have been eventful, to say the least. Beyond the obvious (throwing my life on its head by quitting my job), I also went to Argentina for two weeks, and pretty much ran from life for as long as possible.

Luckily, all that travel time gave me the free time for some serious soul searching. I spent time looking at what was going on in my life, where it was going, and what I wanted to do with it (this will be a recurring theme right now here, because its a recurring theme in my life.) Between being at school for almost two weeks just before graduation (which brought back a whole host of emotions I didn't really want to deal with.) and being halfway across the world, there was plenty to dwell on. Looking back, I think I could have set up this change much better, but unfortunately I don't know that I had the opportunity. If I could go back, I would change things, but as it stands, i put myself into an unchangable position in March, and I feel like I made the most of a shit situation. Regardless, quitting was the right decision, even if I had nothing to move on to. I have felt better about life more in the last 3 months than I did in the 9 previously, and that in itself is all the evidence I need. I still do question myself sometimes though. I remember the first job I worked at the restaurant, I was bartending a corporate cocktail hour, a company with a contract with my old employer, actually. About halfway through, it hit me
"Holy shit, this was my life." I was sitting behind the bar, and the bar itself almost became a bridge to me. I saw where I was now, but on the other side, I saw people my age trying to make it in the corporate culture (and to their credit, apparently doing a better job than me). It shook me though, because on the outside it looks like I took such a step backwards. I know it isn't so, but its still hard to explain to, well, anyone else.