Answer to Question #262562 in Management for Nik Jay

Question

You have a food business is in your mind. There are numerous challenges, however. In your city, the working population is large enough to sustain the business, disposable incomes are high, and you feel that there is a niche offering that needs to be created for your restaurant, for example a Japanese or a Korean cuisine. The problem however with a niche is whether customer would be interested. The next big challenge would be to reach out to the right set of customers. Your biggest fear is that the initial buzz that you may create at the start may not sustain after a point. Also, if you are successful, there may be copycats coming in. You are therefore considering a second alternative of ‘tiffin services’ to people around you. There may not any need for branding or the need to position yourself. It is a dilemma that you are facing. How would the service offering be different in case of a restaurant vis a vis tiffin service? (7Ps) and how would you plan to market the service offerings?

Answer 1

How would the service offering be different in case of a restaurant vis a vis tiffin service? (7Ps)

The 7 P's of marketing include product, price, promotion, place, people, process, and physical evidence. The 7Ps were added in order to help companies review issues that may affect the marketing of its product or services. This looks at how these people perform their jobs in order to deliver the highest quality or products or services possible. Below are some ways of how the service offering would be different in case of a restaurant vis a vis tiffin service;

• For a restaurant the prices of food might be a little bit high due to the more expenses restaurants incur compared to a tiffin service which provides sufficient quantity of food that is of the highest quality and is healthy and best part is its affordability since the expenses are minimal, for example; its not a must to rent a place to operate in, one can cook from the house and do delivery.
• Unlike a restaurant where they have specific foods on the menu, many packed tiffin services come up with lots of variety in their menu and make sure that they don’t repeat the recipes. They are always on their toes learning the new techniques and cooking methods so as to make each meal interesting for their customers. There are also services that provide global cuisines to cater to those who need a change from their routine food habits.
• For a restaurant, customers have to go to the restaurant to eat and this is time consuming compared to tiffin services where they make sure that the food is delivered to the customers on time, there is a fixed schedule in place when the delivery personnel deliver the food on time. This way, any hassles or confusion can be avoided as the time will be pre-fixed.
• Unlike in a restaurant where for example yesterday’s food might still be sold today since there was no enough customers to consume it, tiffin services foods are very fresh since mostly they prepare the food as per customers’ orders and their raw food materials are of the highest quality and are prepared in a natural method by avoiding the use of additives, so as to preserve the freshness of the food.

How would you plan to market the service offerings?

• Make use of Google My Business- With a Google My Business Account, one can get more than a business listing. With free Business Profile, it is easy to connect with customers across Google Search and Maps. One can post photos and offers to their profile to show what makes their business unique, and give customers reasons to choose them every time.
• Run Facebook ads- Facebook advertising is a window to a large base of people who will be interested in a new product or service. Facebook ads are particularly useful because the personalized data voluntarily provided through users’ profiles makes for unbelievably specific audience targeting. One can factor in gender, age, location, interests, marital status, profession, and more ensuring they will get the most bang for their buck.
• Post on social media- one should make sure to spread word of their deals and offerings via their social media accounts. This is an easy way to reach their audience, and their followers can easily share the post to their own profiles. Another benefit is that customers can ask questions about the services in the comments section. Their questions and the business owner’s answers can serve as an organic FAQ. The post can link to a landing page or blog post with more information.
• Share customer reviews- One of the best ways to promote a new product or service is to let the customers promote it on behalf. If a business owner takes advantage of some of the ideas previously mentioned (like offering an upgrade or free trial), they can then ask them to write an online review of the new service or provide material for a testimonial.

Reference

Jain, M. K. (2013). An analysis of marketing mix: 7Ps or more. Asian Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies, 1(4), 23-28.