Selling your unique flavor experience
Flavor is the secret weapon of the 21st century: use it to keep ahead of the competition.

by Bill Main

Today's restaurant guest has more dining options to choose from than ever before. The healthy economy has given consumers greater discretionary spending, resulting in increased foodservice opportunities, and competition. Moreover, the current economic surge is expected to continue over the next five to ten years, which suggests that the competition will continue to intensify.

Brand identity and equity, highbrow marketing terms, have finally come of age in foodservice. Historically the purview of the McDonald's, Burger King and Wendy's, or Coke and Pepsi, today's concept of brand loyalty is a direct result of true differentiation among competitors in all segments, from independents to massive chains.

Picture an Olive Garden, the largest full-service chain in the United States, located directly across the street from a 30-year old, second-generation, family-owned-and-operated Italian restaurant. Identical in building size, number of seats, price point and general menu offerings, each generates revenues of $2.5 million annually.

But how will the independent differentiate itself to counter the tremendous media-driven brand awareness of the Olive Garden? This is the essence of the struggle for the ever-more-sophisticated diner of the 21st century.

Each day your customers are bombarded with 40,000 visual impressions. Billboards, television, newspapers, magazines and computer screens assault their eyes and compete for attention in both the subconscious and conscious minds. And this is where true brand equity lies: in the mind. How are these impressions defined, shaped, and manipulated to create a clear, distinct point of difference in the mind of the customer trying to decide whether to eat at the Olive Garden or at the independent across the street?

The friendliness of staff, promptness of service, and cleanliness of bathrooms all play a part. Obviously, the menu offerings are also important. However, there is a hidden asset, a powerful driving force that is often left untapped in the effort to create a true point of differentiation.

It's called Flavor.

Often abstract and difficult to define and project, flavor is the secret weapon of the 21st century. The issue is simple: What is the guest's perception of the flavor of the food at the moment they make that crucial restaurant selection? Is it top of mind? More than likely. Typically, with all things being equal, the winner will be the restaurant whose food tastes better — period.

Create a value perception
Your ultimate goal is to create a value perception in the mind of the guest. Value can be a tricky thing to create or even define. It has become a concept that is often overstated and under-appreciated.

In foodservice, you have successfully created value if your guests leave believing they got more than they paid for.

Highlighting the flavor associated with a menu item becomes key in creating the perception that your guest is purchasing an item in which the ingredients, portion size, preparation method and presentation combine to give a value that surpasses the price perception.

Indeed, flavor should be the connective tissue that ties the entire dining experience together — from the initial guest greeting to the final thank you and invitation to return.

Promote flavor with menu descriptions
Historically, restaurant operators have struggled to "turn a phrase" to describe the flavor of their menu items in a way that encourages guests to select their highest-profit items.

Menu-item descriptions should be "grabbers," instantly attracting the eye as it peruses the menu, offering the promise of a "unique flavor experience" and taste sensation.

A little psychology comes into play when creating effective menu-item descriptions that promote flavor. People shy away from reading large amounts of text. In fact, most guests don't really read menus. They tend to scan or peruse them, searching for an item that looks or sounds different, interesting, or intriguing.

Once the eye rests on a particular item, the description on the menu must "close the sale" and convince the customer to select that item. Wording should be kept brief, simple and understandable, but even a few carefully chosen words describing the flavor experience can deliver a powerful message. These selective words should boldly introduce your unique flavor experience.

Highlight the flavors of ingredients
Promote the best features of your core menu ingredients. For example, phrases such as "famous Idaho potatoes" and "Wisconsin cheddar cheese" can instantly deliver the perception of higher quality and value to a side dish of scalloped potatoes.

Product descriptions that are written creatively around flavor become particularly powerful when they highlight the place of origin. For example, blueberries from Oregon, lettuce from California and grapefruit from Florida are assumed to be top quality.

The trick here is to leverage the guest's existing belief that the flavor of these branded products is better. Everyone knows that Oregon blueberries,Wisconsin cheese, Idaho potatoes, Alaska salmon, and Louisiana crawfish taste better — right?

Unique menu-item descriptions should be used whenever possible, even if only for a garnish, sauce or other accouterment. Your foodservice distributor can help you analyze each ingredient in a recipe and collect collateral materials that provide descriptions of a product's superior taste and special flavor attributes.

Showcase cooking or preparation methods
Over the last ten years, the growth in the number of culinary schools and trained chefs has been dramatic. Publications, websites and television shows with celebrity chefs have raised public awareness of and interest in cooking and preparation styles. As a result, customers respond favorably to menu descriptions featuring preparation methods such as poached, oven-roasted, pan-seared, marinated, or hand-sliced. But remember: Flavor is the driving force behind them all.

The trick is in the words

There are hundreds of wonderful words you can choose from when basing your menu-item descriptions on flavor. The trick is selecting words that create powerful and evocative images and put your guests in the proper mind-set for the flavor experience that follows. Here are some favorites: Fresh Signature Delicious Home-baked Oven-roasted Hand-selected Pan-seared Lightly smoked Aromatic Traditional Spicy Crunchy Tangy Crisp Delectable Silky Think about each of these words. Does it evoke one of the senses — sight, smell or taste? Does it offer a promise of a great food experience? "Word-smithing," the process of arranging words into a compelling marketing communication, is both an art and a science. The description must be aligned with the concept or theme of your food flavors and reflect their personality in every way to impact guests' selection behaviors.

Create a word picture
Customers taste with more than their mouths. They taste with their eyes, nose and ears as well. Your challenge when creating powerful and effective menu-item descriptions is to present a word picture that instantly appeals to the full range of your guest's senses — sight, smell, and taste. How well your description appeals to each of these senses will influence your guest's selection behaviors. At least 50% of the overall perception of quality, texture, and flavor are defined before the first bite is taken.

To help you write your menu descriptions, imagine sitting down with the fully prepared and plated menu item before you. First, how does it look? Is your club sandwich served open-faced and stacked with thinly sliced turkey and smoky bacon? Are your Alaska king crab legs piled high on the platter? Is your specialty hot coffee drink served in a tall lattŽ glass and sprinkled with cinnamon and chocolate shavings?

Now take a deep breath. You can just smell the "fresh-baked" brownies in your brownie sundae, or the spicy grilled meat from the sizzling fajita platter. And there's nothing quite like the aroma of your house-blend coffee, which is "freshly ground."

Finally, imagine the taste and texture of the menu item. Are the fresh peaches on your shortcake sweet and juicy? Is the barbecue sauce on the slow-cooked ribs thick and tangy and just a bit fiery? Are your home-made potato chips hot and crisp? Help your guests envision and anticipate the spectacular meal that will be set before them.

Train waitstaff to sell flavor
The flavor theme should be built into a series of food merchandising support systems. Point-of-purchase materials, such as table tents, server buttons and posters, are effective in reinforcing the flavors of your menu items. Descriptive wording and enticing color photographs about a showcased menu item also contribute to your unique flavor experience.

But the most effective way to influence your guest's selection behavior is to train your servers to become suggestive sellers and reinforce flavor at every point during the sequence of service. From the moment your guests enter your restaurant until the end of their meal, you have dozens of chances to use flavor to differentiate yourself. Think of your staff as "internal marketers." With some training guidelines and suggestive selling tools, you can create a successful team of marketing professionals.

The first requirement for successful suggestive selling is to know your product. Does your staff know what is special about your menu items? Can they make menu recommendations that are sure to result in a sale? Remember that many of your guests don't know what they want to order when they arrive at your restaurant. Here's your opportunity to guide them to dishes that showcase your talents and provide the highest gross profit.

Schedule some time during your pre-shift briefing to review the specials of the day and their ingredients and descriptions to create an effective suggestive-selling script. Take a few minutes to role-play one or more scripts until everyone feels comfortable introducing each item. Encourage servers to share their successful selling scripts or delivery techniques with each other.

Once you've developed and rehearsed selling scripts and menu descriptions, teach the staff to interact effectively with customers. This begins with greeting the guests. Instead of a generic greeting like "Welcome to the Red Rock Grill," a hostess might say, "Welcome. Have you tried our smoky red-bean chili?" Or how about, "Don't miss our homemade vinegar potato chips," or "Be sure to share a platter of our spicy fried calamari."

When a server takes a guest's order, train them to respond to a guest s election with a response like, "Great choice. The flavor of that rib-eye is fantastic," or "The barbecue taste of these chicken wings is unbelievable. We sell a ton of them." Or "The thick-sliced, hickory-smoked bacon in that BLT is a true taste experience." The possibilities are endless.

When a server checks back with the table to ensure that everything is satisfactory, have him or her ask questions specific to the menu items ordered, instead of issuing the standard "Is everything okay?" — a boring and non-specific remark that shows no interest. An example might be, "How does the salmon taste? As good as I promised?" Or, with dessert: "Isn't the flavor of that cheesecake amazing?"

Train yourself and your staff to take advantage of every opportunity to highlight your "unique flavor experience."

Flavor should be the theme for the guest's entire dining experience, because, ultimately, flavor is what dining out is all about.