We’ve got some good news, some bad news, and then some even better news for food truck vendors. The good news is that most prospective customers truly want to say yes to your pitch. The bad news is that, although people love to buy, they hate being sold to. Here’s the even better news…there are some easy ways to influence a customer to buy without explicitly selling to them.
4 Ways To Get Customers To Say Yes
- Know your customer. Before you hit the road, find out what you can about the community you are targeting your menu. Find out all you can about your market. Regardless of how great your food is, no one will know about it, if you do not target the right people.
- Don’t make a pitch; have a conversation. The reason many people have a negative connotation of selling is because they think of hard selling practices involve false promises. To get your customers to say, yes, focus on a conversation, not a pitch.
- Know your menu. It’s hard to get someone excited about what you are selling if you are not excited about it yourself. Vendors and their staff need to know your menu inside out. Anticipate questions and be ready with concrete, meaningful answers.
- Make yourself likeable. The key to being likable is to be genuinely interested in the customers. Never fake friendliness. Instead, cultivate curiosity about the customer and the customer’s life.
Two Steps To Get No From Prospective Customers
When food truck owners make a pitch to a passing prospective customer, no one wants to hear no. In the absence of a yes, you may think that maybe is preferable. But when maybe is the long way to no, it can simply be a waste of your time. It’s better to hear no sooner rather than later. Here are two steps to driving a decision.
- Be clear with your pitch. People often say maybe because they are confused about what you’re selling.
- Know when silence means no. People hate to say no as much as food truck vendors hate to hear it. When you sense that someone is going to say no, but hasn’t built up the courage to express it, provide an out. Something as simple as, “I assume it’s a pass for now?” can help the other party be definitive about its decision.
RELATED: Marketing Truths ALL Food Truck Owners Should Know
The Bottom Line
Selling is offering to exchange something of value for something else. Yet one of the biggest barriers to building a successful food truck, and getting the potential customer to say yes is the vendor who doesn’t actually consider themselves to be in sales.
If you aren’t selling, how do you expect your food truck to make money? If you don’t make a sale, you aren’t making money and if you aren’t making money, eventually, your food truck business will fail.
How do you get prospective customers to say yes? Share your thoughts on this topic in the comment section or on social media. Facebook | Twitter
