I don't know if this is something they're doing at all the Subways or just the one I go to, but I've noticed some really counterintuitive marketing at the one I go to.
When you go to a fast food type place, obviously the guy selling the stuff is trying to suggest other stuff you can buy too. Now Subway has a $5 for any footlong that's not Premium. They usually suggest that if you're getting the 6 inch sub, but most people get the footlong anyway since it's a no brainer to get a $5 for footlong if the 6 inch stuff is $4. So this part rarely has to be suggested.
Now what can you add to your sandwich that generates extra revenue? If you look at the menu it's:
1. Bacon.
2. Double meat.
3. Extra Cheese.
4. Avocado.
Every time I go to a Subway, the guy selling this stuff will dutifully ask all 4 question to every single person. I'd say from my observation, 99% of the time the first 3 results in a 'no'. Let's think about what's going on. The guy probably already bought a footlong (since they're $5). Chances are you don't need extra meat on top of footlong, because that's a lot of food. Subway is usually perceived as a 'healthy' fast food, so you don't really want to get extra cheese and especially bacon. I'd say that it is highly unlikely anybody is ever persuaded into buying items #1-#3 just because it was suggested. Avocadoes may or may not work, but at least I've seen people who says they want avocadoes compared to the first 3.
And when you're done with your sandwich, they generally only ask you once on 'do you want to make this a combo', even though everyone knows fast food places make most of the money on the soft drink. If they apply the same vigor to the sandwich, it should be something like:
1. Do you want a cookie?
2. Do you want chips?
3. Coke?
4. Sprite?
5. Bottled Water?
6. Something else?
7. Are you really sure?
I mean, if I was trying to generate revenue, it seems to me trying to sell another soft drink for $1 is going to be far better than selling double meat for $1. Certainly I cannot recall a time seeing someone actually got extra bacon/cheese/meat in a Subway, so it must not work very often.
I know some people will say it's good as long as they make you think about it, but I don't think the 'any publicity is better than no publicity' is a good thing. If sufficiently annoyed I might go to a different Subway, or just a different fast food altogether. In fact whenever I go there I dread having to answer 'no' 4 times in a row. Most normal fast food only suggest one item plus the reasonable stuff (e.g. you get a combo, they ask you if you want to super size it), and I'm fine with that.
When you go to a fast food type place, obviously the guy selling the stuff is trying to suggest other stuff you can buy too. Now Subway has a $5 for any footlong that's not Premium. They usually suggest that if you're getting the 6 inch sub, but most people get the footlong anyway since it's a no brainer to get a $5 for footlong if the 6 inch stuff is $4. So this part rarely has to be suggested.
Now what can you add to your sandwich that generates extra revenue? If you look at the menu it's:
1. Bacon.
2. Double meat.
3. Extra Cheese.
4. Avocado.
Every time I go to a Subway, the guy selling this stuff will dutifully ask all 4 question to every single person. I'd say from my observation, 99% of the time the first 3 results in a 'no'. Let's think about what's going on. The guy probably already bought a footlong (since they're $5). Chances are you don't need extra meat on top of footlong, because that's a lot of food. Subway is usually perceived as a 'healthy' fast food, so you don't really want to get extra cheese and especially bacon. I'd say that it is highly unlikely anybody is ever persuaded into buying items #1-#3 just because it was suggested. Avocadoes may or may not work, but at least I've seen people who says they want avocadoes compared to the first 3.
And when you're done with your sandwich, they generally only ask you once on 'do you want to make this a combo', even though everyone knows fast food places make most of the money on the soft drink. If they apply the same vigor to the sandwich, it should be something like:
1. Do you want a cookie?
2. Do you want chips?
3. Coke?
4. Sprite?
5. Bottled Water?
6. Something else?
7. Are you really sure?
I mean, if I was trying to generate revenue, it seems to me trying to sell another soft drink for $1 is going to be far better than selling double meat for $1. Certainly I cannot recall a time seeing someone actually got extra bacon/cheese/meat in a Subway, so it must not work very often.
I know some people will say it's good as long as they make you think about it, but I don't think the 'any publicity is better than no publicity' is a good thing. If sufficiently annoyed I might go to a different Subway, or just a different fast food altogether. In fact whenever I go there I dread having to answer 'no' 4 times in a row. Most normal fast food only suggest one item plus the reasonable stuff (e.g. you get a combo, they ask you if you want to super size it), and I'm fine with that.
