The five reasons why restaurant owner's back out and don't hire you...

Hey Offliners,

It's a humbling experience to feel like you've got a deal in the bag, but then for no apparent reason it just falls through.

This is especially bothersome when you and the restaurant owner got along so well and it seems like he really wanted to do something.

But then you don't hear from him for days, weeks or even a month or two.

It's discouraging.

So, what's really going on with him?

Well, when it's happened to me, there have been a few times that I've been able to pull the deal back together.

And just to be 100% transparent with you, there are times when I can't reel the deal back in.

So, when the deal does actually come back together I ask the owner what happened.

The reasons the owner gives me for the hesitancy usually come down to one of these five inner dialogues the restaurant owner was having.

Here they are:

1. What will my spouse/partner/friends think if I do this type of marketing?

See, sometimes we forget that the tactics, strategies and cutting edge tools we use, hear and read about everyday are not common to the average restaurant owner.

So, you have to address that and help them feel comfortable that the strategies you're using will make them look good and feel good from the people that matter to them.

No man is a island.

2. What will my spouse/partner/friends think if I spend this type of money?

Many times, restaurant owners have the money to hire you, but because they've already spent so much money on stuff that didn't work, they are on a short leash with other people in their lives.

You can't wish this away.

You have to setup a guarantee or something that communicates that although you're charging a lot, you will be there until they get multiples of their investment back.

3. Will it really work?

Honestly, there is always a risk that even your most bread and butter strategy will fall short. It could be because of timing, poor message to market match or any number of weird reasons.

So, once again it comes down to a good guarantee AND framing the expectations of the restaurant owner in a way that he understands that it might take a couple of tweaks and adjustments to get it right.

You need to impress upon them that it's to be expected.

4. Will it work for me personally? Is my restaurant too screwed up for this to work for me?

Sometimes a restaurant is too screwed up for you to help even if they'd hired Dan Kennedy, Jay Abraham and Alan Weiss.

So, I've found that it's best to put some type of qualifications on your best case scenario promises that you give to a business owner.

This way they know that if they have the bare minimum in place, they have a reasonable chance of success by hiring you.

5. What happens if I spend all this money and end up with nothing to show for it?

Well, this always go back to your guarantee. It's really easy to come up with a guarantee that contractually obligates you to work with the restaurant until you reach the agreed upon level of results.

Now, after sharing those five things with you, I need to say something else:

You should always keep in mind that these feelings and thoughts I shared above are normal and everyone, including you and I, experiences them at one time or another.

It's not that restaurant owners are more spooky, more scared or bigger procrastinators than us as offline marketers.

In many ways they are more like you than you want to believe.

Expect these inner questions to be going on no matter what they are saying with their mouth and address them either in your marketing or in your presentation.

Now, go close some deals,

Chris