Pizza Today - April 2020 - 66

Mike's Monthly Tip
MIKE BAUSCH

make for a restaurant. So that begs the
question, is everything that we are doing
entertaining? Is it pleasing to the eye?
Does it make people feel good? Does it
bring joy? If everything just exists and the
M.O. of the pizzeria operator is, "What
do you want from me? I just make pizza,"
they might as well just make pizza and
serve it in a cafeteria and have the same
level of customer service and sales that a
cafeteria does, i.e., not much.

On with the Show

You are an entertainer, not just a restaurateur

F

acts are indisputable. They don't
care what you think about them,
because they're facts. It doesn't
matter if you agree or not. Here's an indisputable fact: You and I are both in the
entertainment industry. We are entertainers. Yes, we're in the food industry and
have to worry about cleanliness, food cost,
labor and a bunch of things differently
than an actor would. But we're both in
the same industry, and that's entertainment. My accounting, probably the same
as yours, codes the general ledger entry for
meal & entertainment on the same line.
Even the IRS believes what we do is for
show more than necessity.
Restaurants are not necessary. Food is

6 6 / P I Z Z AT O D AY. C O M / A P R I L 2 0 2 0

100-percent necessary, but a restaurant
is something superfluous - fun with
entertainment value. Customers want to
spend their disposable income on meals
that delight their senses and are not
limited to taste, but also the visual appeal
of beautiful food. They want to be waited
on by someone that is genuinely warm
and kind, i.e., excellent service. All these
things, along with well-executed marketing, create purchase pride, the feeling you
want the customer to WANT to pay for.
Everything needs to be entertaining and
appealing for that purchase pride to occur.
If we were in the sustenance business,
then we'd serve things assembly-line style
like a cafeteria. Sustenance alone does not

Everything must entertain, have a
wow factor and be impressive. If it's your
end goal to "Just make pizza," then you
can do that alone and let your fate be up
to chance. To be successful, especially
in the world of competition that exists
today, you must be more than a basic
pizza maker. You must put on a show with
yourself center stage, making pizza with
everything else supporting that narrative
in tandem. The entertainment industry,
just like the restaurant industry, is not
glamorous. It looks like it's glamorous, just
like the stage lights look exciting, but if
you've ever gone backstage, you see it's a
small dingy place predicated on making
what's seen to the end customer glitzy and
fun, just like a restaurant.
Again, our job is not necessary for
survival. Sustenance can be achieved via
protein bars and water. For someone to
spend their disposable income with us,
the call to action needs to be more than
convenience and nourishment. We need
to be showmen. I stop and analyze every
aspect of Andolini's every day and ask:
what about this is fun? What about this
makes someone feel good? And if it just
exists, then it's not good enough. If a pizza
box doesn't have a joke on it, if the menu
isn't visually pleasing, if the chairs don't
feel right or look bland, then I'm messing
up, because I'm not providing an entertaining experience.
How can you do you more to entertain
as well? ■
MIKE BAUSCH is the owner of Andolini's
Pizzeria in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
http://www.PIZZATODAY.COM
Pizza Today - April 2020

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