If you’ve ever driven your car to a beach in Southern California, you know the most stressful part of the trip is finding a place to park. If you’re lucky enough to find a spot, most likely you’ll have to deal with a parking meter. Some of the meters have been updated to take credit cards, but the majority still require you to feed coins into the slot to avoid getting a ticket.
Such is the case near one popular South Bay beach, where parking meters line the street closest to the shore, which is also populated by several businesses. One fast food restaurant, specializing in the unlikely pairing of tacos and hamburgers, displays this “No Change Given” sign prominently in their front window. One can only imagine how much time the owners and employees have wasted on unappreciative drivers who have forgotten to bring change to the beach. The owner is showing those they consider to be "lowlifes" that they are not welcome in his or her establishment. Bravo!
Wait. We shouldn’t be praising the owner! We should flip their example, so we can turn lemons into lemonade.
Imagine you’re the owner. You’re selling fast food by the beach. When people spend a hot day on the sand, guess what? They get hungry and thirsty! Your restaurant is perfectly positioned to take advantage of their desire for sustenance.
So why would you waste the chance to make a good impression on a potential customer? All it takes is getting a few extra rolls of quarters from the bank and the desire to engage the desperate car parker in conversation.
When someone comes in asking for change, it’s a golden opportunity to try to sell them something, now or in the future. Tell them you have world famous tacos! Invite them to determine what secret ingredient sets your hamburgers apart from everywhere else! Tell them you give a special "bonus extra" to first time guests. The responses are endless.
At the worst, they won’t buy anything but you’ll build up goodwill, so hopefully they will purchase something in the future. They will be appreciative of the help you gave them and will be eager to reciprocate, if you don’t force them to buy something to get the change.
That restaurant should alter their sign to bring in new customers. It should read, “Change for Parking Meters Happily Given!"
Lanny Zechar, speaker and consultant to some of the most happily successful people on the planet. Cold calling, sales and customer happiness consulting.
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