The following is a guest post by Tim Van Dusen of Get Grilled Foods…
You’re selling hot dogs, and there are a lot to sell.
Hummel Brothers, Old Neighborhood, Thurmann’s, Farmland Angus Beef, Sugardale, Hebrew National, Saberrat, Brightleaf, Koegels NC Coney Dog, Chicago Red Hots, Nathan’s, Pearl & Keyam, National Deli, Gutheinz, Schiff’s Grillers, Eisenburgs, Kent Quality Angus Beef, the local Meat Packers private label, and a thousand more.
But are you selling you?
I live in the Chicago region and I sell a private label and Sugardale All Beef. The one question I hear all day is “do you have a Chicago Dog?” I don’t sell the iconic Chicago brand nor the poppy seed bun, so I better not give them an outright yes.
But I can tell them that my all beef dog is just as good (better), and I have the toppings that will make it a chicago dog. I never had anyone walk away from it. But I have had them come back for more. However, first I need them to come to the cart before I can engage them into the great taste us doggers provide.
And that is all about Flash.
Lots of color, signs, and of course the eye appeal and smell that makes people want to stop. Depending on the event or location I have used several set ups. And one thing my new customers never do, is walk away without a reminder of who we are. I always give a flyer to my newbies. Just in case they want me to show up at a birthday or block party event.
Sell yourself not just your hot dogs.
I have included a couple of pics so you can get an idea of the different set ups I have used. I hope they help you with your own ideas and Keep Doggin’!
-Tim
Click the picture for a larger version
There are all kinds of people. Some are always happy and positive and some are always negative and unhappy. No matter which type person you are serving, your friendly personality always turns the customer experience in a positive direction and they will tend to enjoy their experience with you more than “just geting a hot dog.”
Being near Chicago I’m always asked for the Chicago style dog. I’m one of the few that still serve “that brand”. I do not use seeded buns and have steamed tomatoes (health dept). I call mine the “Chicago Almost”. When asked why, I say, “Because we’re almost in Chicago!” Mr. Tiki
Tim, yes Bling is King. I’m doing Disturbia Haunted House (pictures coming soon). Sales are very low, but the crowd is small right now. I’ve decorated the cart with my usual Tikis and have added halloween decor with lights and music. I interact with the actors and the crowd. Hope the crowd gets bigger. Meanwhile, the kettle corn guy sets up and sits behind his pop up. He says he is going to drop out for the lack of sales and that he has better locations to be at. I’d go nuttier than I am if I just sat and waited and not have some fun with the people. As I say to the actors in a deep voice, “BRING ME MORE MEAT FOR THE CART!” “THERE! SHE LOOKS TASTY!” Or he depending on the victim. How much for a fog machine? Mr. Tiki
I sell some of the above mentioned Brands but I do not advertise what brand I use. They are Pocono Hot Dogs. My customers as for them by the name Pocono. It is important to sell the experience of your cart. You have to stand out from the others.
Tim,
Branding is such a key aspect of a business that could fall into the commodity trap, like hot-dogging. You’ve got to give those customers a reason to come back and only want to see YOU.
One of the best ways is through a Unique Selling Proposition (USP), which is the biggest promise that you can make your customers and tells them why you are the only hot dog cart that they will ever want to do business with.
Try it out. It can change the way you do business for good.
-Joshua Black
I have to chime in on something that bugs me in reference to this branding discussion. I see so many vendors in here that use products supplied by the hotdog companies, sinage, umbrellas, etc. I realize that all these products are costly when they come out of your pocket. My feeling is, there is a reason the suppliers give away all that “free stuff”. YOU are advertising for them! Personally, I don’t want to promote their product for them, they have more budget than I’ll see in a loooong time. I want to promote our business, which uses their product exclusively. Our customers know that, and that is what keeps them coming back. So my feeling is if you must opt for the free promotional’s, use them only until you can get your own sinage! Promote YOUR business, be consistently excellent in what you do out there, and last but not least HAVE FUN doing so.
Most people know that I set up my cart in front of the local bank, on both sides of me at the end of the block I have restaurants, three more restaurants are within a block or so of my cart, three of the five restaurants sell hotdogs, plus a convenient store about two blocks away. My sales have increase again this year. I have had to turn down a few events because of being booked up. In saying all of this I feel that my customers come to my cart for a lot of reasons, and I have heard them all, my cart is clean, colorful, eye catching, they have heard that I have the best hotdogs in town, they had a hotdog on the street when they were a kid, they always wanted to have a hotdog cart, they are just hungry and in a hurry and the list goes on. They come back because I have a great product, great service, clean environment and all for a good price. It does not matter what you sell you must sell yourself first.
Duggs Doggs
Good!! Good!!
I just opened my cart about 3 months ago. My wife and I feel that we need to sell a quality dog and have a clean cart but the reason we have repeat customers is “they come back to see us. Our customers know, we “make their day” They can feel down in the dumps or have things on their mind, but when the leave Pap’s they will have a better out look on life. It isn’t the dog. It’s the people that bring back customers.
Happy dog’n, Pap
I love it Pap!
Right on Ike’s!
Duggs – It doesn’t hurt to be the “Best Looking Hot Dod Man in Georgia”. Now THAT is branding!
Mr. Tiki, Or anyone, us more about your steamed tomatos. They sound fantastic!
I like Ike! Right now I’m advertising a name brand (Steve, I didn’t type in the name this time) on my cart in order to get the customers, but all my repeats are due to the good time they have at my cart. This is my first summer and I’m using the name brand to help out. I’m hoping to use my own umbrella next year. I had two migrant workers from Kentucky try out my various style dogs because they read about the cart, food, and Tiki’s on line somewhere. Now that’s word of mouth. I still haven’t found that sweet spot, but I’m lookin’. Mr. Tiki