The Takeaway: How Guests Decide Where to Eat

Josh Kopel (0:02)

Welcome to FULL COMP, a show offering insight into the hospitality industry, featuring restaurateurs, thought leaders, and innovators. Served up on the house.

Welcome to The Takeaway, I'm Josh Kopel. The Takeaway is a tool, one idea, one tactic, one strategy you can implement in your restaurant this week. There's no guest, no interview, just actionable information that will help you make money without costing you a penny, all in less than a time that it would take you to count out a cash drawer. Here is this week's takeaway.

I just wrapped up one of my marketing masterclasses, and we dedicated an entire day to tearing down the attendees' websites. And all these websites had gorgeous photos and five different calls to action on the homepage, but zero reason as to why they needed to exist.

Most restaurant websites are built like brochures, like if we list enough things, or we explain enough things to them logically, they'll come to a logical conclusion. But that's not how decisions get made. If someone's on your website, they're looking to make a buying decision. They're not browsing your restaurant's website to be entertained. They're shopping, which means the business is right there for the taking, and we can win it, but only if we understand what your restaurant website actually has to accomplish. So your restaurant's website really has two jobs.

The first job is to answer the critical questions so that the reader can make an informed buying decision. And number two, it's got to make them feel something, because feeling is actually what triggers the decision. And so I'll start by talking about feelings, because if you miss this part, then nothing really matters. So there was a university study that was done on people that had a very specific kind of traumatic brain injury. These people were completely normal in every way except for one thing. They couldn't feel emotion. They didn't feel happy or sad or anxious, not pensive. They felt nothing. And these people could think logically. They could weigh out pros and cons. They could do the math. They could talk through the decision. But they had one massive issue. They couldn't make the decision. And what the study found is that in a split second before you decide, there's a triggering emotion. And that without that triggering emotion, people can't decide. So even if a guest thinks they're making a logical decision, they still need to feel something in order to commit. And that's why I want you to look at your website and ask a brutal question. Does it make me feel anything? Or are these just commodities and products? Or are we selling experience and transformation? Are we selling effort? Are we selling food and beverage? Because if your website is just, here's what we sell, you're asking a person to decide without giving them the trigger that helps them decide. I think it's also important to understand who's on your website.

By and large, most people that go to your restaurant's website have never been to your restaurant. And so I want you to think about your own behavior. How often do you go to a restaurant's website after you've already been there? Not much, right? So if your website's not for regulars, then it's for first timers. The people who are on the edge of a decision, the people who are trying to get an answer to a few questions quickly so that they can either choose you or choose someone else.

Which brings us to the other half, the critical questions that you have to answer in order for these people to make a buying decision. And there are three of them. The first one is this.

Does this restaurant even need to exist? Does the world need another Mexican Cantina?

Does it need another Red Sauce Italian joint? There are so many out there. And so you have to tell me, out the gate, what makes you a category of one in your market? What do you do that I can't get anywhere else? Not that you have great food or that your food is the best. Those are all really subjective things.

I mean, a point of view. The thing that makes this place inevitable. It should be one clear statement at the top of your website. Because if you can't answer why you exist in one breath, the guest is going to assume you're the same as everyone else and just keep moving on.

The second question is this.

Is it for me? You have to call out the buyer. If you're talking to everyone, you're talking to no one. And my biggest criticism is that restaurant marketing doesn't go far enough. And so who's this for? Is it for young people looking to have a great time? Is it for young families looking to entertain their kids? Is it for young professionals looking to network? Is this the place where my wife is going to fall in love with me again? Your website should help the right people self-select instantly and also help get the wrong people self-selected out. And I know that that sounds scary until you realize that that clarity is what creates confidence. And confidence is what converts. And the third question is, how does this fit into my life? Every business on the planet has to serve a role in my life, or I'm not going to engage with it. And so we don't want to make this aspirational. We don't want to build a website around what you wish people did when they came to your restaurant. We want to build it around the most common use cases. Is this about a great place to celebrate a win after work? Is this where we go for happy hour? Is this the place that I go to get hammered with the bros? Is this a great place for connection? Should I host my birthday party here? We need to make it obvious. We need to know what the gateway drug is to your brand. Is it breakfast? Is it lunch? Is it dinner? Is it brunch? Because if we can eliminate all of that confusion around how people should use us, conversion skyrockets. And here's the real key. We can't put five calls to action on the homepage and think we're being helpful. Reservations, order online, private events, catering, gift cards, happy hour, brunch, delivery. Like that's what creates decision fatigue. When you give someone too many options, they don't choose the one that's right for them. They choose none and move on. And so the takeaway is this. Your website isn't a brochure.