lost 2 sales tonight

[Rockstar_pizza]

First call was from The Ford dealership, called and wanted 6 pizza’s and he actually stated he will pay me 30.00 just as Little Caesars would charge. I told them I could do that if he would sell me his new explorer at the same price as the guy selling the Hyundai down the road. He was VERY taken back assured me that the Hyundai was crap and completely different as his car (no light bulb ever went off). When I wouldn’t budge he said OK well I will have to call them.

second one was a guy that want a 6.00 pizza like dominoes, I said “sure no problem, but it will be smaller” he said “how small?” I said “7inches but it has about the same amount of cheese” He said that’s not what I want very rudely then I asked him if you wanted Dominoes why didn’t you call them? then I hung up.

In both situations I could have handled it better but sometimes it just gets to ya and this was one of those times and on a side note this spring I will be looking to get a new car and its NOT going to be Ford.

 

[Daddio]

Sounds like someone needs a vacation good thing the pizza show is next week.

 

[Registered_Guest]

I hear your frustration and understand.

What are you more upset about - that you can’t sell your pie’s at a price that low, or that those guys won’t pay more for your better product?

 

[wa_dave]

Registered Guest:

I hear your frustration and understand.

What are you more upset about - that you can’t sell your pie’s at a price that low, or that those guys won’t pay more for your better product?

I guess it’s just idiots that we have to contend with sometimes

 

[pizza2007]

I experience the same frustration, as I’m sure most everyone does. The trick is, how do we spin this to our advantage? We have a buyer and a seller… Why not start a Cheap Charley register, take down the customer’s information, and reply, sure since this is your first taste of our pizza, we’ll give it to you for free. Next time though, its the listed price, not dominoes, PH, PJ, or whoever. *The problem, as (h)as been discussed before, is that they cannot tell the difference in great pizza and frozen pizza. They were raised with frozen pizza.

Just thinking aloud. There is a segment of the customer base that I don’t want to do business with. They are poor, ignorant, and have no concept of value. I’d rather they pitch their food stamps to the take-n-bake shops or CiCi’s. Just my thoughts…

 

[Freddy_Krugerrand]

Or…

You could buy a handful of .99 cent tombstone or mama celeste pizzas and sell the hell out of em to these guys. Win-Win. They don’t want a good pizza anyway right? :lol:

Even if they complain and want their money back, no problem you are out .99 cents.

 

[cmhall26]

I too have had this many times (especially lately with the new promos by the big 3)! You had the right spin on it to the car dealer!!! I use those types of situations to my advantage all the time. And most of the time the people catch on to it, but some are slower than others. And I to have just gotten so frustrated I end up doing like you did on the second call. I have even offered them my competitors phone number to get them to stop trying to get me to sell “crap” to them if they want that just call them to begin with they will gladly sell you “crap” and deliver it to you 45-50 minutes later cold!!!
I think the thing to do is hold to your standards and core values for your shop and not decrease them in the wake of the big 3 advertising bombs of 5-10 any way pizzas. And while it maybe hard we just need to take those phone calls and try and turn them into our customers from our better quality and service over the “cheap” deal! And contrary to the saying the customer is not always right so you dont have to bow to their every whim!

 

[royster13]

I have talked to a number of US clients recently who are near the end of their ropes (lines of credit) and not sure how much longer they can hang on…Like it or not many of their “loyal” clients simply do not have the money to buy their “quality” pizzas and have started shopping elsewhere…

Each of you will have to be guided by your own needs and how the market is in your area…Some areas are doing better than others and can endure…Others are not so fortunate and must go into “survival” mode like it or not…

Good luck…

 

[Bubba]

I can relate and fully understand what you are feeling, when you get those calls, we all can.
However, I have a different thought. When someone calls or stops in-we are given the ultimate compliment…their (repeat) business. They are probably going to order something 99% of the time. They have gone to the effort to get to a phone, look our no. up and call us.

So instead of repeating outloud what we are really thinking how about sell them what they want…an inexpensive pizza.
You can put whatever stipulations on it you wish…pickup only, certain hours, certain days, certain sizes or toppings. Just remember that the more restrictions, the less redemption.

Make up a low dollar pizza and sell it when they call. If they want a diff size or toppings, use the store policy for upgrading sizes and toppings.

I have a $5 med 1 top for pick up only, if you want it delivered, you gotta order at least 3. If you want more toppings, it’s gonna cost ya more money.

There are 2 sayings I try to remember:

1. You can become very wealthy if you help enough people achieve what they want.
2. You can be very prosperous if you sell someone what they want, not what you want.

 

[smeagol8]

I get those kind of calls from car dealerships, too. They figure, since people are always trying to make deals on cars, then they should be able to make deals on Pizza. I can’t help but literally laugh at them, as I tell them NO. But the thing to remember is that they don’t really expect you to make the deal, but if you are rude to them, they will resent that. Which is a bad thing.

 

[pizza_garden]

I would have agreed to the price immediately, then delivered it at the price they offered, plus “undercoating and dealer prep” charges so the total price was $174.86 per pizza. Then offered to finance their pizza after a credit check, while screaming in their faces: “WE’RE SELLING BELOW INVOICE!!! COME ON DOWN AND BUY TODAY WHILE OUR SUPPLY OF PIZZAS LASTS! HURRY!!! THIS IS BELOW COST!!”

The problem with the world today is that there are too many people. In the good old days, the 20% share of any population that was just, plain stupid was a manageable number. Now, that same 20% means there are millions and million of idiots walking around. It’s the raw numbers that are killing our sanity.

 

[stebby1]

pizza_garden:

I would have agreed to the price immediately, then delivered it at the price they offered, plus “undercoating and dealer prep” charges so the total price was $174.86 per pizza. Then offered to finance their pizza after a credit check, while screaming in their faces: “WE’RE SELLING BELOW INVOICE!!! COME ON DOWN AND BUY TODAY WHILE OUR SUPPLY OF PIZZAS LASTS! HURRY!!! THIS IS BELOW COST!!”

:lol: I love that! I’m going to have to remember that one.

 

[HannahBananasOnline]

I know a lot of you guys have no room or resources, but offering items out of the mainstream seems to be working here in the Poconos. I sell burgers, steaks, tons of chicken and even Chinese. Also, as is well known on these boards I always boast about our superior ingredients. I chose not to participate in the recession, and I refuse to be pulled into the price war. Find that extra something and exploit it, if you don’t have that extra something, find it. I am very aware of my competition, and it seems the cookie cutter pizza shops are closing or in serious trouble. I on the other hand am enjoying steady growth because we diversified so much and market our brand as fresh never frozen with superior ingredients. We also do the “we guarantee our competitions pizza” which really brings em in just out of curiosity. I believed the guys on the board that said to stick to my guns and don’t cave and use crappy ingredients and now it’s paying off.
All that being said, I also am a huge believer and practitioner of the power of positive thinking, but that’s another thread. Keep your heads up and never stop trying everything you can, and envision yourself being successful.
Willi

 

[pjcampbell]

Rockstar pizza:

First call was from The Ford dealership, called and wanted 6 pizza’s and he actually stated he will pay me 30.00 just as Little Caesars would charge. I told them I could do that if he would sell me his new explorer at the same price as the guy selling the Hyundai down the road. He was VERY taken back assured me that the Hyundai was crap and completely different as his car (no light bulb ever went off). When I wouldn’t budge he said OK well I will have to call them.

second one was a guy that want a 6.00 pizza like dominoes, I said “sure no problem, but it will be smaller” he said “how small?” I said “7inches but it has about the same amount of cheese” He said that’s not what I want very rudely then I asked him if you wanted Dominoes why didn’t you call them? then I hung up.

In both situations I could have handled it better but sometimes it just gets to ya and this was one of those times and on a side note this spring I will be looking to get a new car and its NOT going to be Ford.

HAHAHAHAH!!! very funny though…

What is your cheapest pizza ?

Why not say our personal pizza is $8 (or 9… or 10) but its bigger and has better ingredients.

 

[ADpizzaguy]

What is it about the pizza business that makes people call up and think that they can work a deal? I mean do people call steak houses or burger joints and do the same thing?

 

[mrbanks]

No worries… I think several have mentioned not to get yourself into a price war…
… You have handmade pizzas, fresh ingredients and can more flexible than the big chains. But never be afraid to say “no - can’t do it”
Also - if that happens again - work up a long-term relationship. Maybe it’s something he would commit to for the year. You get in the dealership then the service staff wants more and comes to you, all the customers in the door see your boxes and comes to check you out. All the salesmen go to all the meetings and visit other dealers and take along your name or refer you as they chit-chat “hey I had some of pizza from Rock Star - it was great” The best form of advertising and the most cost-efficient is word of mouth.