In Mason City (Iowa) there is a century-old restaurant that has the formula for success nailed down. The restaurant? Northwestern Steak House (click here). It’s not located in a modern building … or a large building.
They break rules. You cannot make a reservation until 4:30pm of the day you want to eat, and guess what? If you make a reservation, you’ll eat late, because there is a line outside the door. On the day of our visit, the line formed at 3:45pm.
When you enter at 4:30pm, you are pointed to a table. By 4:31pm (I checked on my watch), the restaurant is full … those still in line are asked to go to the upstairs lounge where they can enjoy a beverage and wait for a 5:45pm – 6:00pm seating.
Our order was taken at 4:37pm. By 4:50pm they were taking reservations for 8:00pm.
They serve the classic tiny salad with pickle wedge and hard boiled egg … in this case with French Dressing … the same salad they served me in the late 1980s.
Why do people keep coming here? They serve a buttery Greek mixture that they pour on top of the side of pasta or rice you get with your meal (along with some parmesan cheese) – they also serve the buttery greek mixture with your steak. It’s to die for!!
By they way, that’s the petite filet pictured … the walleye had to be the size of Lake Erie.
They embrace tradition … same food they’ve served for decades, they have a hook that is different than everybody else (buttery Greek mixture), and they break rules by not taking reservations until they open … meaning they have a line out the door that forms at 3:45pm.
What is the “hook” that makes your business special?
Is there a way to ignore the omnichannel nonsense of always having inventory in stock in all channels in an effort to create urgency?
I mean, this business is 100 years old and they’re packing the place. Your business has traditions, right? Use ’em to your advantage!!
P.S.: One of the blatant errors of the omnichannel era was the concept of having products always available, in all channels, at all times. There are times when that is a valuable concept (i.e. you have a check engine light and the Ford dealership has your part in stock). But there are times when you need to sell out of something valuable … quickly … and the customer needs to know that, prompting the customer to act immediately.
