I have six blogs planned out, partially written, and ready to be published after some minor editing. This one is include among those six. Just now realized that none of them edited and set to be published when I meant for them for them to be and I have been occupied working on another writing project for my friend's YouTube project for the past few weeks when I have not been playing Marvel's Avengers (which is something for another blog all together).
This is an edit and update of a blog that was written several years ago. There's not much to be edited and updated on this one though a few things have been added and clarified. The original draft was written in 2013 not long after I wrote the original draft of the Sunday Morning Playlist blog. There was a bit of venting about things that happened that weekend that can be left by the way side. There was also a few notes to myself about trying to implement some video blog content into this blog at some point. I still intend to do that, just not today.
Anyways... spring time is officially here.
We're getting into that season where I will enjoy some ice cream and frozen yogurt when possible. And while I don't eat a lot of it (in part for reasons I will elaborate on in a bit), I still manage to enjoy some about once a week (or will go throw a pin during the course of a weekend depending on the circumstances.) Except one problem: I didn't realize how rare "Key Lime Pie" frozen yogurt apparently is. And I would love to say that maybe it is just the area where I am living but I've not been able to find Key Lime Ice Cream or Yogurt much of anywhere. However, this still seems to be case after moving from the area where my dad use to live back to the area where my mom and step-dad live due to the health issues getting worse.
It is bad enough that the grocery stores don't carry it. The closest I've found is a Key Lime Pie 'premium gelato' that was twice the price of the same size of container of ice cream, frozen yogurt and even sorbet. And for a while, there were a lot of "self-serve frozen yogurt" places popping up and I had hopes that they would have 'Key Lime Frozen Yogurt' in their rotation of flavors. The employees at the places I went to either didn't know or said they were pretty sure they didn't have it.
Spoiler Alert: Key Lime Pie is my favorite flavor of Frozen Yogurt and one of my favorite ice cream flavors. Especially if I can put graham cracker crumbs on top of the frozen yogurt. It has been one of my favorites since back in the days when I was working at a Frozen Yogurt and Ice Cream place. I also loved the Sugar Free Irish Cream yogurt, the Coffee Yogurt, and of course the Lemon Yogurt and Lemon sorbet.
But my point here is not simply about my love of Key Lime Pie frozen yogurt, it is about the employees at those shops not knowing if they carry a product or even it in rotation. Though it is not simply that, it is about knowing your product in general. And even to some extent, knowing your audience.
As I mentioned, I use to work at a yogurt and ice cream shop. I worked periodically there for eleven years and I knew every flavor we had in rotation. In short, I knew the product I was selling. To me, knowing the product you are selling is basic 'week one or two' of any job. I might be being a bit harsh there but the general idea is there. You learn what products your business sells and if it is seasonal then when it will be available to customers.
In our case, Key Lime was a seasonal flavor. The employees there knew this and could tell customers this if we were asked. Some of us at the store (not including the owner/manager) were even able to state that we get it in from May to September and usually had it available till the the first week of October just due to the rotation schedule of flavors. (From the beginning of September to around the end of January, we had Pumpkin Pie in rotation if anyone is curious.) If we wound up with Key Lime outside of that then it was because had left over or we got the occasional early batch in stock. (Usually the latter but sometimes the former.) And even if you are not selling ice cream and yogurt, if you work in a place that has seasonal stuff, it is important to know. Most restaurants will even do employee meetings to highlight seasonal menu items and special promotions items. And employees should at least make an effort to be familiar with the menu.
For example, there were a lot of Hispanic families who came in on Sunday afternoons at that yogurt shop that I worked at years ago. Most of them got one of three items: a Yogurt Parfait (with strawberries and peaches usually), a banana split, or a waffle ice cream cone with either strawberry or butter pecan ice cream or yogurt. We also made a bunch of smoothies but those were scattered amongst all the customers. It was noted though that we sold a LOT of those three items to that group of customers and so we had it ready for them on Sundays.
And while that yogurt and ice cream shop that I worked at is no longer there, and I've long since moved on from working there too, many of the general lessons that I learned there still apply. Especially in food service and retail but in other areas too. (Side note: that whole section of the mall is no longer there actually. They tore down that whole section of the mall where the theater, food court, arcade and other shops were located and replaced it with a sporting goods store.) If you learn about the business you are working for and then become familiar with the market, you will be able to increase your chance of success with just about any field. Generally, you will at least find some degree of success at the very least. In terms of food service, you will be able to recommend menu items when the customer is either not sure or doesn't see what they are looking for at the moment. If by some chance you are out of the product they would usually want then you can suggest an alternative. You've a 50/50, maybe even a 60/40 of getting the sale. The use in retail is a bit different but the same basic rules apply. While it is harder to know your customers, unless you have a small business or some sort of mom and pop store, it is entirely possible to let regular customers know about new products and other things of that nature.
And furthermore, I will dare say that knowing the market can also help you with knowing your audience in terms of "content creation". It is a bit harder perhaps to get a handle on in a lot of cases but not impossible. And while it is a bit different when dealing with "content creation" than working in a restaurant, some basics still apply. Though this is something to delve into another time.
All this talk about ice cream and frozen yogurt, plus it being almost 80 degrees out...
I am now wanting some ice cream or frozen yogurt.
Cheers.
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