Mastering Customer Desires: Lessons from Super Taters and More

Nationwide – December 29, 2024(USANews.com) – Business ownership/entrepreneurship is not for the faint or weak hearted. Even once you're in business your mission is to now fully understand the what, why and who you are selling to. When trying to understand what your customers want it's important to go directly to them to get an idea of what they want and more importantly how they want it. Even the most successful business owners will admit that a huge part of remaining successful is staying plugged in to constantly changing desires.

Today our focus will be on the restaurant industry yet these basic principles on identifying customers and meeting their needs can be adapted and adjusted to fit multiple situations in various industries.

The question

When we asked our customers what they desired out of their dining experiences, the most popular responses were:

1) First and foremost....good delicious food!

2) A clean establishment free of pests and unsightly visuals that may not be appealing to diners.

3) Variety/options (it helps if the menu is exciting and unique)

4) Consistency from the establishment! Make it clear what is offered, and how it will be offered and GIVE exactly that.

5) Consistency in what you offer on your menu. Make sure it's delicious and make sure it's made that exact👏🏿 same👏🏿 way 👏🏿every 👏🏿single👏🏿 time.

6) Minimum wait time. Yes people want great food but...they don't want to wait forever for it.

How long of a wait is expected will depend heavily on the product or service or (in a restaurant's case) the particular food item you offer.

7) Customers don't mind paying a little more for great food, but they just want the price they DO pay...to be fair and worth what they DO pay.

8) Apps or online ordering are convenient and great tools, but convenience will never outweigh the value of human interaction.

9) Good Customer Service! If I had to rank in order of importance....customer service would be surprisingly near the bottom of the list. Good customer service is important but it is not nearly as important as having a great product, a clean establishment and CONSISTENCY.

Perspective matters

If two establishments across the street from each other served the exact same product, for the exact same price...the establishment who offers the better customer service may win out in the favor of one over the other. On another note...if those same two places in the exact same area offered similar items BUT....one offered substantially better quality and consistency but "ok" customer service many people would go for (and probably spend more) at the establishment that consistently offered the superior quality product.

Opinions are like…..

In this social media age of well "everybody has an opinion", trust that EVERBODY will definitely have an opinion! The thing is, even though everybody has an opinion, all opinions won't be pertinent to your operation. Learn to consider everybody's opinion but be careful not to run yourself ragged trying to rework your entire menu or reconfigure your entire operation based on every single opinion, gripe or even complaint. Have a set of standards and guidelines (be sure to make them visible and crystal clear) and be sure to stick to those same standards and guidelines!

Jerry J. Bobb is an Author and Founder/Owner/Operator of Super Taters and More in Scott, Louisiana. Super Taters is a 100% independently owned/operated original concept restaurant opened in 2014 specializing in original recipes made to order stuffed baked potatoes, burgers, wraps, salads, soups, quesadillas and hot sandwiches! The restaurant is a subsidiary of J- Bobbcatt Enterprises.

Under the J-Bobbcatt umbrella is also The Biz Bobbcatt, a Business Consulting Firm started by Jerry in 2024 specializing in advising new, struggling and evolving businesses how to find (or rediscover) their footing in this post Pandemic business landscape.

Contact info:

Phone: 337-889-5993

Email - [email protected]

Tik Tok: @supertaters

Facebook: @supertaters

Instagram: @supertaters