Sometimes They Just Want a Cheeseburger

The first In N Out Burger I ever ate was in the back of a limousine in Las Vegas.

Which makes it sound WAY fancier than it was.

Let me explain.

Years ago, when our oldest was two, we took a trip to Las Vegas.

Now, Las Vegas with a two year old is an interesting vacation choice.

There are approximately 4,732 things to do in Las Vegas.

About six of them involve a two year old.

What's Brewing

We were staying at an Indian themed resort, and the food was Indian food.

Butter chicken.

Curry.

More curry.

Listen, I like trying different food.

But after three days, I had reached my personal curry capacity.

As part of our Christmas gift, we had a limousine for two hours to drive us around Las Vegas.

Very fancy.

Except, again, we had a two year old.

So we had the limo take us to Circus Circus so she could ride some rides.

That lasted about as long as you would expect entertainment for a two year old to last.

Not long.

We got back in the limo, and our driver looked at us and said something along the lines of:

“We still have plenty of time. What would you like to do?”

Here we were.

In Las Vegas.

In a limousine.

We could go see the lights.

Drive down the Strip.

See the hotels.

Do something exciting.

And I knew exactly what I wanted.

A cheeseburger.

Not a fancy steak.

Not another cultural experience.

Not something I could photograph and tell everybody about when I got home.

I wanted beef, cheese and a bun.

So our limousine driver took us through the In N Out drive through.

And that is how my very first In N Out Burger was eaten in the back of a limousine in Las Vegas.

Of all the things I could remember about that trip all these years later...

I remember that cheeseburger.

Marketing Bite

Businesses have a tendency to overcomplicate things.

We want to give people the limousine.

The lights.

The bells and whistles.

The giant list of everything we can do.

We build packages with 17 different things in them.

We write websites that tell people our entire life story before we tell them how we can actually help.

We use words our customers would never use themselves.

We create elaborate solutions because elaborate feels valuable.

Meanwhile, our customer is sitting in the back seat thinking:

I just want a cheeseburger.

They have a problem.

They want it solved.

That's it.

Your customer might not care about your fancy process.

They care that their phone rings.

Their toilet flushes.

Their air conditioner works.

Their house passes inspection.

Their lawn looks good.

Their business gets found on Google.

Their calendar has appointments on it.

Sometimes we are so busy selling the limo that we forget to ask what they actually want to eat.

Take Home the Bacon

There was absolutely nothing remarkable about going through a drive through.

Except I was in a limousine.

In Las Vegas.

After four straight days of Indian food.

And maybe that's part of the lesson too.

Value depends on what someone needs in that moment.

That cheeseburger probably cost a few dollars.

At that particular moment, I would have considered taking out a small loan for it.

So take a look at what you're marketing right now.

Are you telling people everything you offer?

Or are you making it really easy for them to see the one thing they came looking for?

Sometimes your customer doesn't need more choices.

They don't need more features.

They don't need you to make it sound impressive.

Sometimes they just want the cheeseburger.

Give them the cheeseburger.

Until next breakfast... keep learning, keep serving, and do not forget to take home the bacon.