Restaurant Truisms & Our Selling

Giles Coren of north London, gloriously irreverent restaurant critic of The Times.

Here's a trio of his recent observations about those who ply in his playground. With, I think, strangely apt pointers for how we solution sell.

From Peking duck (served three ways) and dim sum extravaganza of Min Jiang, 'positively sexual meatball spaghetti' of Italian-American The Dover, and "Barnet’s Oldest Cafe - est. circa 1935" the 'best greasy spoon I’ve been to in ages' Hole in the Wall.

Rarefied Views, Run-of-the-Mill Ruse

"Generally speaking the quality of food served in a restaurant on the top of a hotel is inversely proportional to the quality of the view you get to look at while eating it."

So true. Think too on all those alluring tourist spots you've chosen, in Position A, that seem bereft of any locals. The food (and service) reveal why. The slippery slope of not having to try too hard because they snared the to-die-for location being descended at speed.

The spot in question here is said to happily buck that trend.

This brings to mind the economic concept of signalling, with perhaps a side of proxy metrics.

They both suggest certain attributes reveal the real nature of the offering.

There are undeniably traits, particularly promoted ones, which actually do not portray relevance to eventual delivery.

Our competition may well have a raft of these. Yet they can mislead.

Likewise, when we know what represents our values, we can match these to prospect appeal. Pushing our bona fide, often more down to earth, desirable characteristics.

Start With A Bang, End With A Whimper

"[it] made for one of those very rare meals that improves as it goes along, rather than blowing your mind with the starters and then boring you into stupefaction with increasingly dull mouthfuls until you eventually accept defeat and go home."

Rare indeed. I once went to a place to feast on what the NYT fawned over as one of 10 Things to Eat before you die. Later thinking everything on its list seemed to have been a starter.

The calibre of our sellingship must start out at a decent, high level. Yet I often need to gently rein in the enthusiastic go-getter. They fire all their best bullets up-front. Early fireworks they're unable to keep up with. Prospects feel this. Momentum fades. Competition rises.

Gauge the mood of the buyer, seek to match it as excitement builds and sense how it must be distinct from a meal out where by the end, the taste that lingers is the iffy wholesaler-bought dessert, not the great handcrafted hors d'oeuvre.

Singular Focus

"... an establishment that entirely fulfils my main requirement of any restaurant: that it knows what it is setting out to achieve, commits 100 per cent to doing it and succeeds."

No messing about. You can remix this by simply swapping out the word restaurant for another in your Sales related world.

It'll even work as evoking a plan in the style of Commander's Intent.

What are we - and our prospects - setting out to achieve? What does 100 per cent commitment shape up? And what will success look like?