Deviled Eggs

My colleague John Dick, Founder and CEO of Civic Science wrote last week in his must-read newsletter about how consumers loathe packaging shrinkage as a method of companies raising prices. By this I mean keeping prices the same but for less product: Think half the M&M’s for the same price and more air in the package! When I read that, I thought about why we hate it, and I realized that it’s not about paying more, it’s about feeling like we’re being duped. Do brands really think consumers are too stupid to notice? This came home to roost a few days later when we returned to a restaurant we loved after not being there in nearly two years.

We were excited to go, but no sooner did we sit down than we realized what a “you-know-what-show” it is in services businesses these days because no-one can get the help they need. The restaurant was at less than full capacity because they don’t have a full staff. After two years, the folks who worked there were all gone, and these were folks who had been long-timers. Our server was 19 years old and told us her last job was at Carl’s Jr. You have to start somewhere, and working up the career ladder is worthy, but she wasn’t trained. This restaurant used to operate with complete precision: They were known for rotating servers and it was like experiencing a choreographed dance every time we ate there. Oh, how far away that memory is now.

Our drinks were served wrong (shaken not stirred, please). And my gosh, they shrunk the deviled eggs: Priced the same, we were given three halves instead of five. That is quite a price increase, and when we asked, we were told things are more expensive. Ahh, it’s everywhere.

Toward the end of the meal, our corkage fee — which this restaurant never had but then posted on the menu at $15 (a real bargain) — showed up on our bill for $25. Whoops. We flagged the difference and back came the response: “Well, our menus are being reprinted, and the change hasn’t shown up yet.” I’m like, are you kidding me? We told her in no uncertain terms that this wasn’t acceptable, and she needed to charge us for what was reflected on the menu. Period. We remarked that this would be like charging us $50 for a rib-eye even though the menu says $35 because it’s being reprinted. Who does that?

They fixed it, but I couldn’t help but think about how hard it is to run service businesses these days. Recruiting is hard. Retention is hard. And that means consistency is hard — if not impossible. When we then shoot ourselves by shrinking the eggs, it’s all over.

Most leaders I’m speaking with are holding price increases to normal, giving clients ample time to budget, and certainly not taking things out and charging more as if no one will notice. In our industry, we are dealing with intangibles, and we are delivering experiences, so we cannot reduce page count and call it even. If we deliver a better product, great — sometimes less is more. But it can’t be about shrinking the eggs. The devil is in the details, and clients notice.

If we can do better, please let me know. I am an email or phone call away or a LinkedIn hello. Be in touch.