Music generates emotions, makes our day happy, reassures or activates us, and emotion is the key to provide a vital client experience. Music is one of those few external incentive that release similar hormones to those that are released when we eat or drink, because it can excite or bore us and can be the instrument to establish the right environment for a day or a night.
In other words, if a restaurant has a good product, delivers quickly, correctly and offers a charming atmosphere you are giving your customers an endorphin and a dopamine pump that can make your customer fall in love; possibly producing oxytocin also the hormone related to friendship, love and trust.
Of course when you do not have any control over the music and it’s something that the client does not like, it can irritate and generate the stress hormone known as cortisone. It goes without saying that when this situation happens it is much more difficult to general the optimal level of other hormones so that the experience is positioned memorable in the mind of that person.
The ignorance of this situation is so high that there are businessmen who have told me «the guests only complain if the music is bad.»
That is why I love to quote William Shakespeare «Music is the food of love» It is also money in the bank for restaurant owners, because a satisfied and happy customer ends up spending a little more.
THE BENEFITS
A song played at the right time can improve the moment, while the wrong melody can be jarring. In other words, music can help make or destroy the restaurant experience. When the musical adjustment is not correct, we are exposed to unpleasant atmospheres, the wait seems longer, the service seems poorer and the price value ratio seems lower.
The reason I love to work with restaurants, is because you can make proposals that are communicated through all the senses with which the human being perceives the world. Yes! The restaurant proposal is seen, smelled, felt, tasted and obviously heard; so you can influence the buying probability of consumers without having to mention the price. The client is not going to buy more, in this case is going to buy more expensive, share something with another person or make a new visit not planned in the future.
Some consider this consumer manipulation, shameless and immoral, but it is a common practice in all industries and I think it can be, if the company reason is only money for more money. Having this clear you will want to consider carefully the music effects on your clients.
To produce positive results, you should take in mind the finer aspects of the music in your restaurant. While volume and time are important, it is generally the music genre that matters the most. It is necessary to «fit in» with the style of your restaurant and the age of your client.
Therefore, there is no incorrect or correct music per se, but there is correct and incorrect music for your restaurant. For example, when your staff is happy playing vallenato music all day long, but your client likes another genre or your playlist is to short and do not have variety over time.
HOW TO PUT YOUR MUSIC ON
There are many different types of music, but most restaurants these days play very limited music with little or no personalization. Fortunately, new technologies are allowing local and international companies to offer restaurants large music libraries, mobile applications for easy customization and control.
Today’s solutions must be equipped to handle multiple locations and be very easy to configure, unlike the archaic systems of the past. Whether you decide you want a streaming license service, hire a curator or have the time to manage it yourself, here are some tips for implementing background music.
Transparency is a very important value today for your clients and restaurant operators can buy licenses for playlists without fear of paying fines for a violation of music use. There are options in the market that have already solved the payment of copyright and reproduction.
Restaurants can not simply press play on an iPod. While some independent restaurants rely on their staff to develop playlists, not paying much attention to licenses and risking claims does not make much sense, because the monthly costs of these services are easily paid when a thoughtful task is done and generate better sales with the same customers.
As Tower Records says – «No Music No Life», by the way, this classic retail still exists in Japan.
Later I will tell you how to make a successful playlist, do not think that that is simply service with a third party. You are the one who knows your clients not the other way around.
If you need solutions for this write me, I will send you a list for you to contact them directly.