Selling Reactions

Q & A with Bar Rescue's Jon Taffer: "Everything is to Make Money" - Los Angeles - Restaurants and Dining - Squid Ink

See, the fact of the matter is, it's not the plate of food, it's the reaction. The plate of food is just the vehicle. I will design that plate 500 times until you sit up.

He or she who creates the best reactions wins. That's the business. We don't play music, we play reactions. We achieve it through music, don't we? I don't sell beer, I create reactions. I achieve it through selling beer. And there are manipulative ways--behavioral sciences--that we employ to get you to come to my bar, spend more money, stay longer, dance more than you usually would, smile more than you usually would, meet more people than you usually would and have a better time than you usually would. That's the science.

And the way we do it is by understanding that we are in a business of reactions. Everything we do is never the product or the purchase. The reaction always is. It's always a vehicle.

So that being said, I own the term 'reaction management.' It's a trademarked term that I own. And then to create reaction management principles we have something called GROW. Guest Reaction Opportunity Windows. Moments of time when I mesh with you.