Are You Good Enough to Wait For, Talk About, and be the “Must Do” Option?

Question: Are You a “Cattleman”?

No, I am not asking if you are a cowboy. Not really. And I suppose I am being a bit deceptive; the real question is “are you a ‘Cattlemen’s’?” not ” are you a ‘Cattleman’?” The answer could be very helpful in having your business achieve greater success.

Cattlemen’s is a steakhouse in Oklahoma City. I recently presented for a group there, on the night after my presentation a few of my hosts were planning on taking me there for dinner. I knew I was in for a treat because a) I was going to have steak in Oklahoma and b) every time I told anyone during the day that we were going to go to Cattlemen’s their eyes got a little bigger and they said, “oooo, Cattlemen’s…” When all the locals respond that way, you know you are in for a good meal. I tried not to drool as I went through my presentation (I will plead the fifth as to whether I was successful or not…)

I was told we had to go early, as on a Saturday night the place fills up and they don’t take reservations. We pull up to Cattlemen’s at around 5PM (certainly an early dinner, Denny’s early bird specials notwithstanding) and there are people everywhere. Everywhere as in all over the sidewalk in front of the place. This was not a good sign. All I could think was, “They’re gonna need a bigger boat.” (bonus points for getting the Jaws reference. If you didn’t get it stop reading and go watch Jaws now)

One of our group runs in to check on the wait. She comes back and says, “it’ll be about two hours.” Two hours! I feel I could go find a cow, kill it with my bear hands, and make myself a fresh steak in that time. Ok, maybe not really, but still, two hours is a long wait for dinner.

Sadly, my Cattlemen’s dinner was not to be. None of us were willing to wait two hours for a meal, so we went somewhere else (to another amazing place, by the way, where I had one of the best steaks I can ever remember having. It basically melted in my mouth it was so good. I am trying not to drool as I think about it and write this blog post. I will plead the fifth as to whether I was successful or not…).

Though I didn’t get to try Cattlemen’s food, three things struck me about that experience that any business can take learn from:

The Wait

As I mentioned, two hours is a long time to wait for a meal. We were too hungry to wait, but judging by the crowd, many, many people were willing to wait that long. That must be some amazing food if people are willing to wait that long.

Of course, “amazing food” is a subjective thing. Say what you will about chain restaurants, but if you try to go to an Olive Garden or Cheesecake Factory on a Saturday night, you may very well face a longer than one hour wait. Heck, even in downtown Philly with its large number and variety of restaurants, a weekend Olive Garden trip will require a long wait. (Don’t ask me how I know this. Just. Don’t. Ask.)

You don’t need to be the best in the world, you just need to be soooo good to your target market that people will wait just for you.

Question: Are people willing to wait two hours (or two days, two weeks, two months, or even two years) to get your product or use your service? If no, why not? What can you do to be so good they will wait for you?

The “Must”

When I arrived in Oklahoma and my host told me where we would be going for dinner, he said in the most matter of fact way. The hidden subtext was, “You’re in Oklahoma for a short time, of course we’re going to take you to Cattlemen’s.” Cattlemen’s evidently was one of those places you must visit when in OKC.

Most businesses aren’t “musts”; they are simply one option amongst many. Sure, your business may be a good option, or even the first option, but that’s very different from being the “must” option. Being the obvious first (and ideally only) option has huge benefits.

Question: Are you a “Must”? If someone is looking for something you offer, are you the “Must Have” option or the “One of Many” option?

The Talk

The name “Cattlemen’s” was very well known in the area. Whenever I told anyone I was going there for dinner everyone gave me a very solid stamp of approval.

The next day one of my hosts and I were having lunch at another restaurant and we were making some small talk with our waiter. My host told him I was from out of town, and we talked about the great steaks in Oklahoma. When I said I had an amazing steak the night before he said, “Oh? Did you go to Cattlemen’s?” Amazing.

I said I had an amazing steak, and the first thing this random person thinks is “Cattlemen’s.” That’s the kind of reputation based marketing that you just can not but; you have to earn it.

This is also the strongest kind of marketing you can get. Sure, if one person says a product or service is great, you should be skeptical. but if everyone, everywhere talks about how great something is, you would be pretty foolish not to give it a try.

Question: When your industry/area/category comes up, do people unrelated to you talk about you?

I don’t know anything about the history of Cattlemen’s. I don’t know how they built their business up, or what kind of secret recipe they use, or if they made some kind of a deal with the devil to achieve their success. All I know is I didn’t even make it there and I am still thinking about having a Cattlemen’s steak.

So let me ask you again: Are you a Cattleman?