Hi again
This may seem like a funny question but I though Id trow it out there for does vastly more experienced than I, Which in your opinion is more important for a succesful pizza business Good marketing or great product quality, Dont get me wrong Im not saying you shouldnt have both but which i your opinion increases the bottom line.
I think they go hand in hand. Good product and good marketing can’t hurt. but bad product and good marketing will do you good until your product gets out there and people start talking.
honestly… im going to say marketing goes a lot further then quality… there is a place by me called royal pizza… they sell the worst possible product… 2 slices and a coke for 1.99!!! a 7 toppping 18 inch for only 10.99 … this is on LI!!! thats un heard of… but hey he advertises weekliy in the local pennysaver and has been in business 17 years!!.. so good for him… quality sells but clever and efficient advertising sell more
Good marketing is infinatly more important that product quality. Look ad McDonalds. Basically selling what I would consider to be dog food quality meat, but selling a whole lot of it and making $$$$$$. Doesn’t matter how great your quality is, without good marketing, you’ll be broke before word of mouth creates customers.
sure, great marketing can get you sales. but if your quality isn’t ther then its going to take more and more advertising to get people in the door. how many of us can keep dumping money into ads… we’re not mcdonalds, and don’t have their budget. so if you want to build sales and keep them, you have got to have quality.
We are also about personal relationships with our customers. If we are committed peronsally and show that we care about their children, families, how hard they work for their money they spend at our places . . . then we get a huge credibility bump and some more goodwill in case we make the occasional goof.
Our food costs are 30% . . . we gotta make it worth that other 70% or they won’t come back. They will want to see that enough iof going into their experience, and not perceived as going into some black hole. Connect with those customers personally and show them value for their dollar in food quality, exceptional personnel, service committment, cleanliness, HIGH INSPECTION SCORES, professionalism and participating actively in the community.
Advertising is all about getting customers to make comtact with your business. that really is all you are doing. Once they make contact, it is the rest of the game that keeps them coming back and telling others with FREE word of mouth.
I see marketing as everything else you do to generate andpropagate your brand, all that stuff I said. Advertising is sticking flyers on cars, door hanging, radio spots, newpaper ads. Marketing to me is a comprehensive plan of identifying the target market, developing a brand that attracts the customers and positions you effectively in the identified market . . . . then executing a plan that brings that brand to the customer, and analyzes the effectiveness of that plan.
Measure, plan, execute, and evaluate. If you aren’t doing these, you probably aren’t really marketing.
too broad a question…this can only be answered depending on your area and your target audience…
I heard at one of those seminars that you can make $$ in this biz EITHER selling alot of cheap pizzas at a cheap price or selling alot of great pizzas at a great price…you run into problems when you try to do both
The best marketing is “word of mouth” so I say your product must be good it doesnt have to be great or fantastik but it has to be good if you can package that with great service you will have a winning combonation then you can work on your marketing.
It seems to me that I never hear Little Caesers talk about quality. But they marlet like crazy. Dominoes will tell you that you will get pizza fast, not GOOD pizza. They spend their money on marketing. It works. If I had it all over to do again that is what I would do too!
I think product quality IS a big portion of your marketing. What greater marketing tool do you have besides providing your customer with great product and great service ?
But as we all know the ‘big boys’ get away with an inferior product. What they are good at is sending a clear message to customers letting them know who they are, what they offer and then executing. It’s not always good, but it’s what their customers are expecting.
Little Caesars is fullfilling a promise of Hot 'n Ready Pepporoni Pizza for $5. I think people know that the quality is poor but it’s cheap, it feeds their family and it’s quick.
Domino’s ‘niche’ is that they get the food to you quickly. They have always focused on the delivery part of their service.
Pizza Hut’s ‘niche’ is variety. A new kind of pizza every week it seems like. But when customers order from them, they know that they’ll be something new to try.
Papa Johns ‘niche’ is fresh ingredients.
Whatever your ‘niche’ is, as long as you provide the customers what you advertise they’ll be happy with you. The problems occur when customers are confused by what you’re offering or you not fullfilling your end of the bargin.
Would you rather sell 400 pizzas a night at 5.00 or 100 pizzas a night at 20.00? My idea is I can make a great pizza that people will love and infact find it so good they will tell others about it. They market it for me! I prefere to sell less for more money.
Pizzaguy, you hit the nail right in the head. I am in building phase right now.probably will open 2 months or less. love to sell less for more. actually do it in my other business but I have a uniqe for my future pizza shop. I would appriciate if you could go through my “ready to build” post and give me some advise.
Thanks!