I must admit, I’ve never had a (belated) Christmas present quite like it!
Last Saturday evening, 12 of us were treated to an unforgettable experience by Number One son, Adrian
Imagine sitting down to a 9-course meal, served by your very own Executive Chef! (Yeah, that’s not a typo. 9 courses, across 3.5 luverly hours)
Unable to visit us at Christmas, Adrian took time out from overseeing 5 Cambridgeshire restaurants… travelled down to West Sussex with wife, Barbora (restaurant manager) and smiling friend… and served the meal to end all meals.
(And it all took place at ‘The Soul Millionaire Mansion’. The house which served as the setting for my novel ‘The Soul Millionaire’.)
Why am I sharing this belly-busting experience with you?
That’ll be clear in just a moment.
You see, it wasn’t the extraordinary Purely-British menu that blew our minds… scallops, salmon, squid ink, farm bacon, roasted beetroot, parsnip chips, roasted goat, squirrel suet pudding, roasted hazelnuts, crab, rabbit terrine, mint puree, roasted pumpkin, capers and herbs, pheasant on vegetable stack, raspberry sorbet, waldorf salad, gooseberry and elderflower ice cream, special poached eggs, cambridge burnt cream, shortbread, sticky toffee pudding, clotted cream, mushroom sauces, spinach sauces…
… No it wasn’t that at all!
It was the fact that we were all taken in by the seemingly small(ish) portions.
And the fact that – no matter what you did or didn’t like – there was something there that captured your attention and surprised your pallet.
Which meant that – by the end of the evening – every corner of you had been gastronomically satisfied (and filled)
It was an exercise in captivation of your audience.
And it came to mind when we held our Client Q&A Teleconference this week.
Paul Woods (ImagineFP.com) was sharing his marketing activity with members of the team…
“We’ve discovered that there’s no silver bullet in our marketing strategy.” He pointed out. “It’s a combination of coherent activities both offline and online. But done consistently, constantly.”
He then went on to describe his networking, public speaking, leaflets, mini brochures, website, email system… all communicating and supporting their upgraded fee-based service.
Each of us is captivated and wooed by different media and approaches.
Each of us is satisfied by different items on the Service and Communications Menu.
What Adrian knows, and what Paul discovered… is that the talented chef and smart marketer both know how to captivate their audience.
A drip, drip, drip of tantalising – and relevant – components from your Menu.
Each drip and drop designed to approach the consumer from a different angle. But along a consistent theme.
At the end of the evening, Adrian left ‘his’ kitchen, and entered the dining room to a round of applause (followed by a flurry of hugs and kisses).
He was calm, unruffled, unphased by all the praise (he’s learned not to ‘breathe it in’, as Danby Bloch would say)…
…and completely unsurprised when we started to ask him about creating a Mid-Summer Olde-English Charity Banquet for 100 people!
It’s what happens when you study your audience, are brilliant at your craft… and recognise that it takes at least ’7 touches’ to bring people to you – on your terms.
Wisdom, from the mouths of babes!
