Pizza or Pizza? What Are Your Choices?

Over the holidays, I found myself having two, long layovers in Milwaukee’s airport and in need of a good meal. As I walked past several gates, I noticed a lot of people eating and drinking at an Italian restaurant/sports bar. Great! Finally, I’ll get to rest and stop my grumbling stomach.

Then, I opened the menu and was surprised to find some very strange items – at significantly high prices. They also offered their specialty – pizza. But I just had that the night before so I ended up ordering a chicken and artichoke Panini – not the most filling meal, but I was not willing to pay $23.00 for a fish dinner in the airport terminal!

After leaving the restaurant, I noticed that there were two shops to walk up and buy snacks, pizza and yogurt. No wonder this sports bar/restaurant was busy and able to sell whatever they wanted at any price! It was the only game in town!

Unfortunately, on the way home, I had to stop at the same airport. But this time, I didn’t eat pizza knowing that would be my only choice at the airport. Well, needless to say, their “specialty” pizza was the worst I’ve ever had. It reminded me of cardboard with pieces of chewy rubber on it.

Well, this restaurant got my money, but I can tell you, MKE can do a lot more to build a better image for travelers. It’s a nice airport, but they really need another restaurant that better serves the needs of their hungry visitors. (If you have a restaurant that serves affordable, good-tasting meals for families, I suggest you approach the people at this airport and see if you can provide some competition.)

Pizza or Pizza?

Anyway, this got me thinking. What choices are you offering your customers?

If you provide several price-points for various services, you’ll be able to get new clients in the door (See Fred Gleeck’s books for more information). Then, you can upsell them additional services according to their needs.

Now, it’s o.k. to offer high-end services, but be sure your customers are getting what they pay for and are happy with the results. Otherwise, you may have a blogger like me providing negative publicity. Or worse, your customers will end their contracts, ask for refunds and go to the competition!

By Melanie Rembrandt