SMS objection.

raydp · 28th May 2012, 10:13 AM

I've been speaking to restaurant owners about text marketing and have come across an objection that I don't recall seeing discussed here. Basically it's:

"I get customers from Groupon and local advertising using an extra special offer. If I were to get them, and regular customers, onto a list and follow up with deals, I'd be sending special offer messages to my regular customers who'd come anyway and pay full price."

Has anyone else encountered this?

My response in each case was to point out that regulars would also see his newspaper ads and he could hardly refuse them the deal!

I'd appreciate thoughts on this.

Ray

Steve1776 · 28th May 2012, 10:42 AM

You could point out that with text marketing no one gets a cut of the deal. He makes higher profits with the same special. Plus with Groupon and local ads he has to plan in advance. He can't send out a 4 hour special on a slow day (Next 4 hours only, until 9PM 6-24-12, get a free round of Margaritas with a family taco plate.). Or he could send out reminders of special events (Remember tomorrow, 6-20-12, the local sports team is having a car wash at our place. Free tea with wash.) to get customers to come in. I would remind him that a current customer is worth more than a one time bargain hunter. That the best way to use Groupon would be to get people into the biz and sign them up for text messaging so you can advertise to them more often at a much lower cost.

xlfutur1 · 28th May 2012, 10:50 AM

So his regular customers never get his extra special offers? Why couldn't a Groupon be bought by a regular customer? His rationale is that his regular customers never use a coupon, only non-regulars?

With an SMS list, he can control the offers, make them time-sensitive for slower times of the week, etc. Seems like a pretty weak objection, but then again, perception is reality.

AlaskaBorg · 28th May 2012, 11:28 AM

My question is why wouldn't he want his regular customers to get the deal as well? That gives the regulars a break sometimes unless he has a VIP type program where his regulars get a volume discount because they are regular purchasers.

mjbmedia · 28th May 2012, 12:20 PM

Tell them if they want them to remain regular repeat customers then theyd damn well better start taking better care of them and NOT taking them for granted, as they wont last long if they do as when you start working with one of his competitors, theyll become their new regular customers.

Seriously though, suggest some valuable but inexpensive VIP tiered program where the regulars recieve 'extras' via SMS ie special starters/ desserts, premier seating etc

WillR · 29th May 2012, 11:38 PM

Originally Posted by raydp

"I get customers from Groupon and local advertising using an extra special offer. If I were to get them, and regular customers, onto a list and follow up with deals, I'd be sending special offer messages to my regular customers who'd come anyway and pay full price."

You have to laugh at some of the objections business owners come up with. Its exactly the same as saying..

"I have lots of regular customers so why should I waste money advertising."

It's just a really ridiculous and small-minded way of looking at things. Obviously the deals and specials you send to your list of customers would be different to the deals you are offering people on Groupon just to get them into your store to try it out.

mjbmedia · 30th May 2012, 02:13 AM

SMS doesnt have to be used for special discounts , they can have VIP SMS lists , for me thats the way to push things, higher spend per visit, not profit sapping discounting that 'everyones' offering and clients are getting too conditioned to only dining when theres a discount, who wants a restaurant full of pikeys drinking tap water , having no starters,sides or desserts and just taking the 2 for 1 cheap main dish offer once a month and leaving no tip so they dont have to break the only £5 note they have in their wallet.

Robert X · 30th May 2012, 11:47 PM

Maybe you can use the "power of suggestion" response. I know sometimes my girl and I can't decide on where to eat and if someone were to text her or myself, we'd probably lean toward going to that restaraunt do to the fact that they sent me the text suggestion.

Or, just recieving a text with that "suggestion" or "offer" may entice people to go even when they weren't even considering going out to eat at all. The Power of Suggestion can be very powerful yet so simple. Read about NLP,, neuro linguistic programing.... simple mind control.

Robert X

NewParadigm · 31st May 2012, 02:04 PM

You can tell them its a great way to get his current customers to buy and come more often. Tell him about increasing covers, and increasing average check. That is his language. If he doesn't get it, go to a competitor.

beeswarn · 31st May 2012, 08:08 PM

WillR is right. This was not a valid objection. Trying to think of ways to rebut it is a complete waste of time. Just call on someone else.

I know this isn't the answer you wanted, but it's the one that will help you. Go make more presentations and let us know when you get stuck again.

freeburd · 31st May 2012, 08:59 PM

Originally Posted by raydp

I've been speaking to restaurant owners about text marketing and have come across an objection that I don't recall seeing discussed here. Basically it's:

"I get customers from Groupon and local advertising using an extra special offer. If I were to get them, and regular customers, onto a list and follow up with deals, I'd be sending special offer messages to my regular customers who'd come anyway and pay full price."

Has anyone else encountered this?

My response in each case was to point out that regulars would also see his newspaper ads and he could hardly refuse them the deal!

I'd appreciate thoughts on this.

Ray

He does not need to send the same offers to all customers. Lists can be segmented. Offers can be sent to a segment not to the entire list.

james4078 · 31st May 2012, 10:14 PM

I like that quote so don't feel bad when you see it somewhere else.....

Sue Bruce · 5th Jun 2012, 08:08 PM

My reply would be, "Text marketing is only one part of a marketing drive to increase your business by 20-40%. You can coupon and groupon your way to a low profit margin if you don't retain those customers. Do you have a few minutes to discuss how to get and keep new customers and increase profits?"

How about this one?

"We get our customers to "like us" on Facebook so we can text them daily specials and weekly promotions."

28th May 2012, 10:13 AM	#1
raydp Ethical Marketer. War Room Member Join Date: 2005 Location: United Kingdom. Posts: 592 Thanks: 93 Thanked 208 Times in 104 Posts	SMS objection. Share on: I've been speaking to restaurant owners about text marketing and have come across an objection that I don't recall seeing discussed here. Basically it's: "I get customers from Groupon and local advertising using an extra special offer. If I were to get them, and regular customers, onto a list and follow up with deals, I'd be sending special offer messages to my regular customers who'd come anyway and pay full price." Has anyone else encountered this? My response in each case was to point out that regulars would also see his newspaper ads and he could hardly refuse them the deal! I'd appreciate thoughts on this. Ray

28th May 2012, 10:42 AM	#2
Steve1776 HyperActive Warrior War Room Member Join Date: 2009 Posts: 101 Thanks: 79 Thanked 28 Times in 24 Posts	Re: SMS objection. Share on: You could point out that with text marketing no one gets a cut of the deal. He makes higher profits with the same special. Plus with Groupon and local ads he has to plan in advance. He can't send out a 4 hour special on a slow day (Next 4 hours only, until 9PM 6-24-12, get a free round of Margaritas with a family taco plate.). Or he could send out reminders of special events (Remember tomorrow, 6-20-12, the local sports team is having a car wash at our place. Free tea with wash.) to get customers to come in. I would remind him that a current customer is worth more than a one time bargain hunter. That the best way to use Groupon would be to get people into the biz and sign them up for text messaging so you can advertise to them more often at a much lower cost.
	You can get anything you want if you help enough other people get what they want. Losers fail and quit. Winners fail until they succeed. Indecision is worse than the wrong decision. You can fix a wrong decision, you can't fix indecision.

28th May 2012, 10:50 AM	#3
xlfutur1 Senior Warrior Member War Room Member Join Date: 2005 Location: Michigan Posts: 1,112 Thanks: 13 Thanked 249 Times in 154 Posts	Re: SMS objection. Share on: So his regular customers never get his extra special offers? Why couldn't a Groupon be bought by a regular customer? His rationale is that his regular customers never use a coupon, only non-regulars? With an SMS list, he can control the offers, make them time-sensitive for slower times of the week, etc. Seems like a pretty weak objection, but then again, perception is reality.

28th May 2012, 11:28 AM	#4
AlaskaBorg Alaskan Coder War Room Member Join Date: 2010 Location: Anchorage, Alaska Posts: 66 Thanks: 103 Thanked 14 Times in 11 Posts	Re: SMS objection. Share on: My question is why wouldn't he want his regular customers to get the deal as well? That gives the regulars a break sometimes unless he has a VIP type program where his regulars get a volume discount because they are regular purchasers.
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28th May 2012, 12:20 PM	#5
mjbmedia The Prince of Profit War Room Member Join Date: 2008 Location: UK Posts: 1,294 Thanks: 189 Thanked 283 Times in 225 Posts	Re: SMS objection. Share on: Tell them if they want them to remain regular repeat customers then theyd damn well better start taking better care of them and NOT taking them for granted, as they wont last long if they do as when you start working with one of his competitors, theyll become their new regular customers. Seriously though, suggest some valuable but inexpensive VIP tiered program where the regulars recieve 'extras' via SMS ie special starters/ desserts, premier seating etc
	Mike

30th May 2012, 02:13 AM	#7
mjbmedia The Prince of Profit War Room Member Join Date: 2008 Location: UK Posts: 1,294 Thanks: 189 Thanked 283 Times in 225 Posts	Re: SMS objection. Share on: SMS doesnt have to be used for special discounts , they can have VIP SMS lists , for me thats the way to push things, higher spend per visit, not profit sapping discounting that 'everyones' offering and clients are getting too conditioned to only dining when theres a discount, who wants a restaurant full of pikeys drinking tap water , having no starters,sides or desserts and just taking the 2 for 1 cheap main dish offer once a month and leaving no tip so they dont have to break the only £5 note they have in their wallet.
	Mike

30th May 2012, 11:47 PM	#8
Robert X The Warrior Syndicate War Room Member Join Date: 2011 Location: San Diego Posts: 566 Thanks: 377 Thanked 191 Times in 102 Posts Blog Entries: 1	Re: SMS objection. Share on: Maybe you can use the "power of suggestion" response. I know sometimes my girl and I can't decide on where to eat and if someone were to text her or myself, we'd probably lean toward going to that restaraunt do to the fact that they sent me the text suggestion. Or, just recieving a text with that "suggestion" or "offer" may entice people to go even when they weren't even considering going out to eat at all. The Power of Suggestion can be very powerful yet so simple. Read about NLP,, neuro linguistic programing.... simple mind control. Robert X
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31st May 2012, 02:04 PM	#9
NewParadigm Senior Warrior Member Join Date: 2011 Posts: 1,141 Thanks: 628 Thanked 286 Times in 222 Posts	Re: SMS objection. Share on: You can tell them its a great way to get his current customers to buy and come more often. Tell him about increasing covers, and increasing average check. That is his language. If he doesn't get it, go to a competitor.

31st May 2012, 08:08 PM	#10
beeswarn Advanced Warrior Join Date: 2011 Location: USA Posts: 550 Thanks: 228 Thanked 166 Times in 108 Posts	Re: SMS objection. Share on: WillR is right. This was not a valid objection. Trying to think of ways to rebut it is a complete waste of time. Just call on someone else. I know this isn't the answer you wanted, but it's the one that will help you. Go make more presentations and let us know when you get stuck again.

31st May 2012, 10:14 PM	#12
james4078 Warrior Member War Room Member Join Date: 2011 Location: Sarasota, Florida Posts: 9 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post Blog Entries: 11	Re: SMS objection. Share on: I like that quote so don't feel bad when you see it somewhere else.....

5th Jun 2012, 08:08 PM	#13
Sue Bruce HyperActive Warrior Join Date: 2011 Posts: 211 Thanks: 96 Thanked 90 Times in 65 Posts	Re: SMS objection. Share on: My reply would be, "Text marketing is only one part of a marketing drive to increase your business by 20-40%. You can coupon and groupon your way to a low profit margin if you don't retain those customers. Do you have a few minutes to discuss how to get and keep new customers and increase profits?" How about this one? "We get our customers to "like us" on Facebook so we can text them daily specials and weekly promotions."