Q: What do actors Billy Bob Thornton and Sam Elliott have in common with me?
A: We have all dined at Mary’s Café in Strawn, Texas.
Q: Why do people line up to eat at Mary’s, a restaurant located 84 miles west of Ft. Worth, TX in a small town with a population of 589 people?
Billy Bob Thornton, taking a call, filmed in front of Mary’s Cafe, during this Landman episode.
A: Mary’s Café promises the best chicken fried steak in Texas, according to Mary. Texas Monthly Magazine and Taylor Sheridan, producer of the hit series Yellowstone and Landman, agree!
On Mary’s Menu ➡
We have our own little saying around here:
Our customers are the most important people in our business.
On one side of Mary’s menu. The other side has all the fried stuff options!
You are not dependent on us. We are dependent on you!
You are not an interruption of our work. You are the purpose of it!
Our service is not a favor, you favor us by letting us serve you!
We try to please our customers, and are so glad that you are our customer, no matter who you are, or what you order!
Sometimes there might be a day when we cannot please everyone. Therefore, if there is a problem with your food, service etc. please let us know.
Please tell us, not a friend, so that we can get the problem corrected.
We seat nearly 200 people and it is hard to get your food out first.
Our food is cooked to order. Some items take longer to prepare than others.
Therefore, someone who comes in after you may get their food first.
If you are in a hurry, call in your order, we will have your table reserved for you when you get here.
Thank you for being our customer!
And that’s how Mary’s Café got free advertising when Billy Bob and Sam Elliott ate there during a Landman episode.
FYI – Taylor Sheridan has a ranch about an hour away from Mary’s Café.
OK… Mary is better at customer service than punctuation!
Bottom Line For You
It’s not about the chicken fried steak (fill in the blank with your product/service) no matter how good it is.
It’s about communicating a customer-service centric culture.
If you run your business like Mary runs hers, you’ll be just as successful.
My handsome cowboy husband, Jim, and I ate at Mary’s Cafe last week. 🤠
Meet Peter, the Best Concierge Ever at my high rise apartment building.
But it all begins with the elevators. Let me explain.
I live in a lovely high rise building on the top floor in the heart of Dallas. Not that long ago both of our elevators in the lobby were not operating for 3+ weeks causing havoc for all. I don’t even want to tell you all the many crazy ways you had to work it to receive guests, door dash food, and your mail.
Everyone was upset. In fact some of my fellow residents shared their aggravation with our high rise professionals manning the front lobby desk. Read that as YELLING at Peter, our fabulous concierge. Maybe that made them feel better, but Peter cannot fix elevators nor does he have the ability to manufacture elevator parts. As frustrating as the circumstances were, these residents showed an alarming lack of character.
Last week…
My business gained the attraction of a wonderful prospect. She resonated with my website, value proposition, AND my mailing address! It turns out that she lives in my high rise and we have shared the elevator (when it’s working 🙄). Neither one of us have ever yelled at Peter… and I look forward to working with her.
What do these non-working elevators have to do with you?
Everything. Your hidden secret sauce to win business is acting with common sense, good natured humor, and courteous manners … 24/7.
THINK COLDPLAY.
Character is what you’re doing when no one is looking. Or you think no one is looking.
Why do you stand in line to spend more money to buy a product you already own?
Double line at Apple Store
Retail craziness
Over the weekend my husband and I walked around NorthPark Mall in Dallas and witnessed this long line, really two lines (!), of Apple customers waiting, ONE BY ONE, to enter the store.
Not every store in this mall has lines forming out the door.
The secrets of Apple’s magnetic spell
Selling Rule #1: Communicate Value
You buy products that excel in the marketplace. You buy what works – professionally and personally (preferably both), what’s dependable, and what makes your life easier. And you’ll keep buying what continues to propel these attributes.
Selling Rule #2: Communicate Customer Service
You provide excellent after care for your products/services. “Apple Care” costs extra (another genius upsell!) and it’s worth it. Why? Because it works, it’s dependable and it makes your life easier.
Selling Rule #3: Communicate Loyalty
See Selling Rules #1 and #2! IF you provide value and excellent customer service you will achieve Customer Loyalty.
My clients are successful because they have achieved loyalty in their various industries.
How can you cash in on this type of momentum?
Know your Value Proposition. Keep it simple and memorable. Share it widely. Ex: Walmart – ‘Save Money. Live Better’. You see this on their trucks, on the front of their stores, and on their shopping sacks.
Take care of your customers… and they’ll take care of you.
Appreciate your buyers. Let them know how much you value their loyalty.
To sell well you must communicate well.
Author: Karen Cortell Reisman is Founder of Speak For Yourself®, a communication consulting firm, and the author of 2 books on how to communicate. She lives in Dallas, Texas and … full disclosure: Karen is typing this blog on a MacBook Air, while multi-tasking on her Apple iPhone mini 13, and looking forward to a book she’s reading on her Apple iPad.
Client travels from New Orleans to work with me for one day. He says at 2pm, “Stop! This is great. I need to schedule a second day with you. Let’s put it on the books now.” I said, “Of course.”
What I really wanted to say was, “You never sell just one bra.”
Context: My dad sold Bestform® bras and girdles (think Spanx) to stores across Texas. My mom traveled with him at times and became the original sales consultant. She told the lingerie department store sales people how to sell and often said, “You never sell just one bra.”
After booking that second day of consulting with my New Orleans client I’ve tried to never sell just one bra again.
Anne Cortell selling Bestform® bras
Secrets to the multiple sale
Value
I call myself “value driven”. I spend money when I see the value of what the item or service will do for me and my business. Otherwise I’m very good at NOT buying products, services or gizmos.
Look at what you are selling and be able to define your Value Proposition. It is not what you sell, it is what continual value you bring to your customer that makes the first, second and third sale happen.
Transaction size
Think Coca-Cola. You have lots of options! 6-pack, 24-pack, large & small bottles, and various (maybe even too many) types of coke.
How do you bundle your products/services? Is there a way to make a larger sale by bundling or creating tiers of service? You get a menu at a restaurant… and you probably order more than just one item. Can you do the same with your business model?
Belief
Belief in self
Recently I received this random email – “You may not remember me but you spoke to our dental study club 15 years ago. You gave us this bumper sticker and I’ve had it on the wall in our lab all this time. I’ve sold the practice and can’t get it off the wall but I want my son to have it”.
Bumper sticker: “The most important speeches you give are the ones you give to yourself.”
You can’t sell anything, let alone a multiple sale, if you don’t believe in yourself.
Belief in your product/service
Enough said.
Bonus Strategy
Employ “The golden rule of selling”
“Sell with the same honesty, integrity, understanding, empathy and thoughtfulness that you would like someone else to use in selling to you.”
Author: Karen Cortell Reisman is Founder of Speak For Yourself®, a communication consulting firm, and the author of 2 books on how to communicate. She lives in Dallas, Texas and doesn’t know the difference between Coke Zero and Diet Coke. Do you?
This word causes problems for you and your business.
You have heard me write and say, “Our most favorite word is ‘trust’ and our least favorite word is ‘assume’”.
Never assume your audience remembers all that you say. Never assume your pitch resonates with everyone. Never even assume everyone receives your emails.
But making assumptions now goes deeper.
According to Dr. Shirley Davis, CSP, SHRM-SCP, assumptions lead to blind spots, and blind spots lead to unconscious bias… which has impact on the way you lead, communicate and make decisions.
Dr. Davis asks, “Which biases are yours?” She suggests these categories: Height, Name, Race, Personality, Appearance, Accent, Education, Skin Tone, Weight, Hand Dominance, Religion, Class, Sexual Orientation, or Age.
In all these categories you might have an unconscious opinion (negative or positive) developed early in life and strengthened over time.
Dr. Davis’ Strategies for Minimizing Implicit Bias
Acknowledge that we all have implicit biases.
Practice intellectual humility – “recognize you may be wrong, and be willing to turn some of your exclamation points into question marks.”
Become more culturally aware.
Expand your network and expose yourself to “others”.
As a leader in your business you make decisions that affect your team and company strategy. Watch for your assumptions – blind spots – unconscious biases. Communicate with mindfulness.
“You can make your team and region feel uplifted and motivated by praising more,” I said to one of my clients last week. In our discussion on how to have powerful 1:1s and meetings we brainstormed on these “do’s and don’ts” on praising.
Presence: Be in the moment and be sincere. Don’t say, “You’re doing a great job”. Rather, say, “Your sales numbers for last month hit way above the target. Tell me more.”
Proportionate: Be effusive with care. Hit the mark on what you’re trying to praise. Don’t go overboard or you’ll be discounted.
Power: Go up and down the totem pole of influence. It’s OK to compliment your Board of Directors or the night cleanup crew… and everyone in between.
Public: Praise someone in front of others – it has even more weight. If you compliment your Admin Assistant when other SVPs are standing by, your words provide an even greater positive morale experience.
Punctual… or not: Give compliments in a timely manner. However have you ever gotten this type of feedback, “You did something 10 years ago that really made a difference in my life”? You probably don’t know what the complimentor is talking about but you’re intrigued, you ask, and you are well pleased. Don’t hesitate to share praise even if you’ve exceeded the statute of limitations.
Polite – NO!: Don’t boomerang the praise if you’re the recipient. Do not say, “That’s so sweet… you’re also ….” Do say, “Thank you.” Accept the praise.
Professional & Personal: Praise in all your various worlds – sometimes we forget to praise those that we are closest to. (Reisi – thanks for always reading my blogs & providing feedback!) Compliment others in your business and personal settings.
Praise provides a positive experience that increases morale, motivation and engagement.
Your homework: Use the 7 “P”s of praising and do this today and always.
Karen Cortell Reisman, M.S., author of 2 books and President of Speak For Yourself®, works with decision makers on how to speak with gravitas. It’s all in how you speak for yourself. Karen also speaks about her cousin, #AlbertEinstein, in a message about hope, resilience and brassieres.
On one side of Mary’s menu. The other side has all the fried stuff options!
“You can make your team and region feel uplifted and motivated by praising more,” I said to one of my clients last week. In our discussion on how to have powerful 1:1s and meetings we brainstormed on these “do’s and don’ts” on praising.
