How to Know What People Really Want at Your Food Truck
As a food truck owner, your ingredients are your artistic medium. You are a master of the culinary arts, and as such, you should express yourself in a way that is true to who you are. At the same time, you are a business owner, which means that your profits are dependent on the opinions of others. Here are three ways to know what people really want at your food truck.
Read Your Online Reviews
No one enjoys negative feedback, but if you can thicken your skin enough to read your reviews, you will learn a lot. Your positive reviews are like a pat on the back, letting you know what you’re doing right. When you do get a negative review, it can either deflate you or inspire you to become even better. The choice is yours. However, choosing to learn from your worst critics might be exactly what you need in order to perfect your art.
Ask for Feedback
Customer feedback can be a powerful tool to keep your business current. As you collect and analyze customer feedback, you can learn a lot about what you are doing right, what you could improve on, and what your customers really want. There are several ways to get customer feedback. The standard approach is the customer feedback survey. Short pop-up surveys on your website tend to get more traffic than long surveys. Another way to get more feedback is to ask one short, randomized question in person as customers check out. Finally, leave the kitchen and try simply asking your customers how they are enjoying their food.
Watch and Listen
You can learn a lot just by watching your customers. Are they digging in like it’s their last meal, or are they picking at it like little birds? Are they throwing away empty plates, or are they leaving significant amounts of uneaten food? Also, pay attention to what you’re hearing. You know things are going well if there are a lot of “mmmm’s” and “this is so good’s!”
You may believe that your fare is utter perfection, and culinarily it might very well be. However, if your customers don’t see it that way, you might not sell very much of it. As intimidating as it can be, learn to really read, ask, and watch for your customer’s reactions. All it can do is make you even better!
Your customers mean everything to you, and the success of your business depends on how well you keep them happy. Click here to read more about how to increase customer loyalty at your food truck!
