When was the last time you had barbecue? Can you remember the smoky smell of roasting meat wafting out of the smoker? It’s delightful, let me tell you.
Which is why it’s so smart of Shady Oak Barbecue and Grill in Fort Worth, Texas, to channel all the customers so they have to walk right past the meat smokers on their way in the door.
Because if you get people to engage their senses, including smell, they are 4 times more likely to buy.
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Becky started Small Biz Survival in 2006 to share rural business and community building stories and ideas with other small town business people. She and her husband have a small cattle ranch and are lifelong entrepreneurs. Becky is an international speaker on small business and rural topics.
Sam Hamilton says
Ah that is a classic supermarket trick, pump the smells coming out of the bakery to the front door and get people more hungry as they shop
Becky McCray says
ooooooo! Great example, Sam! Now I’m thinking of tying scent to my liquor displays. Maybe a pumpkin pie scented candle with the display of Thanksgiving wines. Or a minty smell around the peppermint schnapps.
Ivan Widjaya says
Engaging the senses is one way to get a customer to buy. Once you get them hooked, they will buy out of their own free will. You don’t even have to encourage them.
Small Biz Survival says
Ivan, you might still have to encourage them, but engaging their senses surely helps!