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FEAR OF FLYING
I know you don’t think you have the nerve to go out and sell
wholesale. And yes, I’m sure your twenty year old menu is “just
fine.” Birthday clubs? Who needs the aggravation! Advertise in new
mediums? Not for you, you say? Come on, get over your fear of flying
and let’s try some new ideas!
It’s winter. There’s two inches of
goopy slush on the ground and the only customer to walk in all day
is your 102 year old grandmother. And you have the nerve to tell me
you’re too busy to go out and drum up some wholesale business? We
both know it’s your fear of selling. “Oh, I couldn’t walk in there
and sell to an executive chef. He’ll throw me out!” The good news is
you don’t have to sell to the chef – let your product do the
selling. Walk in between 9:30am to 11:30 while the chef is ordering
his/hers supplies and drop off a tub of your best mango sorbet or
signature vanilla ice cream and say “here chef, this is for you.”
Take a moment to explain to the chef how, unlike the big ice cream
companies you can deliver a minimum of two tubs every other day. The
big companies offer the chef a minimum of 10 tubs and a delivery
schedule of once every two weeks. Now you are providing the
chef with greater flavor flexibility and far less inventory to
store. And don’t forget “the hook.” The hook or how to really
convince the chef consists of saying “oh, by the way chef, if you
have any ideas on how I could improve on my mango sorbet just for
you, please tell me and I’ll make it happen.” Hey, he’s an Executive
Chef! Of course he knows more than you – or at least he thinks he
does! And, you’ve just given him carte blanche to make his
changes to your products. Wow! whada concept!
Have you ever wished you had
Italian Ice on your menu but were afraid to try for lack of a good
formula? Well, here’s Steve Thompson’s “Secret Lemon Ice Formula.”
6-1/2 – 8 pounds of sugar
14 quarts water
2 quarts fresh lemon juice or 4oz. of a good lemon extract
6 – California Lemons – the zest only
And that’s it! Freeze it for 18 minutes and
you’ve got two tubs of fresh lemon Sorbet or whatever you want to
call it. With this basic formula you can expand into other flavors.
Take Orange for example. Lower the sugar down to 2 lbs., use frozen
concentrated orange juice (diluted) instead of the 14 qts. of water
and leave out the zest. Now you have orange ice! Add a quart of ice
cream mix to this formula and it’s a cream ice.
Gelato? You want Gelato? Forget the
hype. Gelato is merely a 10% ice cream mix (the Italians use 6-8%)
which you can buy from your dairy. Add a good Gelato flavor and a
good Gelato name like Pistacchio Granulato (that’s pistachio with
pieces) or Amarena (cherry ice cream) and you’ve got Gelato!! Now,
wasn’t that easy?
Can’t be bothered with a birthday
club? Come on! This is the easiest thing you can do. Everybody has a
birthday. So, you go out and buy an inexpensive laminating machine
from Staples, make up a nice card with your logo and you’re in the
Birthday Business. Your mail fliers only stay around for a few days,
but your birthday club card gets put up on the refrigerator and
stays there for 365 days of free advertising. On the recipients
birthday, they bring the card to your store (along with all their
sisters, brothers, nephews, aunts, uncles, etc, etc, to get one
free cone! Do the math – it’s a win win for your store!
While Hannity, Howard and Rush are
talking up a storm, they're getting pretty hungry. Why not just drop
in on your favorite local radio station and bring them some
free ice cream. They’ll talk about you all day and night! One of my
customers from the Ukraine did just that and now she’s famous!
I hope you see my point. Just a
little good old American initiative and you can dramatically change
the way you do business. Do I take my own “Fear of Flying” advice?
You bet I do! Emery Thompson opened up a brand new manufacturing
facility near Tampa, Florida on September 20, 2005. When it gets
cold and snowy up your way, come on down and tour our new factory
just adjacent to a corporate jetport. Happy Landings!
Steve Thompson
Chairman, Emery Thompson Machinery |
