The other night I walked by a handful of down town restaurants, all of which were empty and all of which are probably considered our town’s higher end establishments. Without naming names, you can probably accurately guess a few of the restaurants I’m referring to. (I’m not talking about Joe’s, I simply included this photo because I thought it was cool). While these places may have great food and service – an empty seat is an empty seat.
Over the past 11 years I’ve tried my hardest to get these restaurants to be part of Axxess. Of course by now I know most of the owners and I call them every year. The funny thing is, they hear my name or the word Axxess and they literally run out the back door. I don’t think it’s anything against me personally – I shower, I wear deodorant and I’m always polite – I think the bottom line for them is that in no way would they be associated with the word “discount”.
Some of these owners think that offering a discount damages their image. Some owners are chefs and many chefs consider themselves artists – and an artist would never discount their work right? I think they’re missing the mark. They are business owners and no matter how you look at it, at the end of the day they need to make sales. Just like I do, just like every business does.
For a restaurant, the most expensive seat is an empty seat. It’s a fact. Another fact, since the beginning of commerce, is that if you lower your prices you will increase your sales.
When Nordstroms runs their half yearly sale I have a strong feeling that their sales go up. It may be temporary, but the sale increases customer traffic, increases revenues, and moves product that otherwise would hit the books negatively. What about Blue Bee? A high end store that seems to be doing pretty well overall, but when they have their sales – the line goes all the way down State Street. And that’s at like 5 am!
When you go to these sales do you as a customer think any less of Nordstrom or Blue Bee? I doubt it.
I wish some of these owners would come around to the fact that Axxess brings in good, local customers. And in the end, it’s a good thing because they now have an opportunity to put more money in the till and convert a new customer to a loyal patron. That’s what Axxess does, we put butts in seats!
Additionally, I’m not going to judge a place or a product because of a discount. I’m going to try the place and form an opinion based upon the food, the atmosphere, the service, etc. And I’m not going to think any less of a business or think they’re struggling because they’re offering a discount. Mercedes has sales all the time. So does Lexus. I still think they’re nice, luxurious cars – and I’m pretty sure neither auto maker is any worse off financially than GM! You get my drift?
Here’s a real life example about the local clothing store Bryan Lee. Bryan Lee is a fairly high end clothing store on State right next to Starbucks at De la Guerra. Cool stuff. The previous owner was very hesitant to do Axxess and it took me five years to convince him to give it a try. Guess what? It worked, and the store has been a part of Axxess ever since. The store changed hands several years ago and Jen, the new owner (who’s a total sweetheart by the way) gets new customers weekly from Axxess and enjoys that spike in sales. The Axxess people that convert into her customers still understand the stores image and certainly don’t think any less of a store in which they now shop, just because a discount introduced them.
