Friday, February 6, 2009

An Hour Wait and What About the Economy?


What do you do when it's been a lonnnng week at work, the wife is tired of being at home with a crying baby, and you're hungry?
The obvious answer is -- you go out for dinner.
I love steak from Texas Roadhouse and so does my wife so we decide to pack up Baby Alex and Ms. Anna and set out on a family adventure.
We're thinking -- it's a bad economy right now. Surely we can get a table quickly.
Wow! Was I surprised.
First we circled the steakhouse parking lot 3 times looking for a parking spot. Then, we played chicken with a car vying for the same spot. I was in a Ford Expedition. He was in a Chevrolet Malibu. Guess who won?
We then had to almost crawl over people just to get to the hostess station so I could beam proudly as a new dad and say "3 1/2 please."
What follows is an exchange I wasn't prepared for. The congenial hostess says to me, "The wait is an hour to an hour and 15 minutes long. Would you still like a table?"
An hour to an hour and 15 minutes ???
I thought we were in a deep recession. Soup lines were about to form. And stimulus packages were cooking for the common man in DC.
Not in Newnan, GA.
We ordered our steaks and trimmings --- total of my ticket $38. You do the math. With an hour wait and most people's average ticket at $50 or more, the restaurant made a tidy sum tonight.
What this tells me is that there are $$$ in the market being spent. You just have to make sure your message is clear and concise enough to get those with the $$$ to spend it with you.
Right now is THE time to grow your Share of Voice (SOV). And you can do it more affordably because of the current climate. Do it now and you'll not only succeed short term but empirical studies show, you'll come out ahead when the downturn is over.
Want to find out how?
Contact me: thecopee@gmail.com

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