Want to Increase Sales? Think Deeper About What You're Really Selling Truly successful products and services create an emotional experience for the consumer. That's what you're really selling.

By Jason Feifer

This story appears in the October 2022 issue of Entrepreneur. Subscribe »

My friend is a photographer, and she was recently hired to shoot one of the best restaurants in Los Angeles. She was working there late one night, and she was hungry. Food was everywhere — well-constructed, beautiful, delicious food that people usually spend hundreds of dollars on, just sitting around untouched. But the chef would not let her eat it.

Why? To torture her? No, he said. It's because he wants her to truly understand his restaurant, and she cannot do that by eating the food alone. Come another night, he said. Bring a friend. Dinner on the house. But tonight, the food is just a prop.

Here's my question to you: Is this guy just cruel, or does he understand something that others don't?

Before you answer that, consider one other story.

Related: Top 3 Strategies to Sell Without 'Selling'

Entrepreneur hosted a conference in 2017, and Jon Taffer, host of the TV show Bar Rescue, was our closing keynote speaker. Taffer has spent his career in hospitality, and he understands how customer psychology can drive success. So when he got on stage, he asked the crowd an intriguing question:

What product is a restaurant really selling?

The answer might seem simple — the restaurant sells food! But then he walked us through a scenario. Imagine that meals arrive for a tableful of customers. What do these people do as the food lands in front of them? "Either [they] sit up and look at it and react to it, or nothing happens," Taffer said. "If nothing happens, that business is stuck in mediocrity forever."

So, he asked, what product is the restaurant really selling? Is it the plate of food, or is it the reaction that people have to the food? His answer: "The reaction is the product, isn't it?"

The way Taffer sees it, restaurants are not in the food business. They're in the experience business. The food is simply the medium through which restaurateurs create that experience. "I'll redesign that plate 30 times until you sit up," he told the crowd. Because if a customer doesn't react to the food, then the food hasn't done its job, no matter how good it tastes.

This, I suspect, is what my photographer friend's client thinks, too. He didn't want her to eat the food by itself, because that's not the thing he's really selling. He needed her to have the experience — the service, the atmosphere, the meals arriving with pomp.

As I thought about it more, I realized how powerful this mode of thinking is — for everyone. Nobody just sells a product or service, after all. We must sell something bigger. Something more fundamental. So what is it? And what happens when we identify it?

Related: Listen Closely to What People Ask You. That's Where to Find Your Hidden Power.

I challenge you to consider this for your own business. For example, the team here at Entrepreneur makes a magazine — but what if we're not really in the media business? Instead, what if we're in the trust business? After all, everything we publish is meaningless if it cannot be trusted, and our readers do not buy magazines because they know what's inside. They buy because they trust what's inside…before they read it.

When we recognize these fundamentals in our businesses, we can use them as our guide. We can do more than just sell things to people; we can mean something to them, too. And we then know how to conduct every interaction, small and big.

So, let's go back to my earlier question about the restaurateur who did not feed the photographer: Is this guy just cruel, or does he understand something that others don't?

I say: He understands something that others don't. He is uncompromising about that. And although this creates some blind spots for him, his unwavering commitment to his vision has likely driven a lot of his success. I respect it. I hope he continues it. Although, let's be real — he could have at least made my friend a sandwich.

Jason Feifer

Entrepreneur Staff

Editor in Chief

Jason Feifer is the editor in chief of Entrepreneur magazine and host of the podcast Problem Solvers. Outside of Entrepreneur, he is the author of the book Build For Tomorrow, which helps readers find new opportunities in times of change, and co-hosts the podcast Help Wanted, where he helps solve listeners' work problems. He also writes a newsletter called One Thing Better, which each week gives you one better way to build a career or company you love.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Leadership

7 Telltale Signs of a Weak Leader

Whether a bully or a people pleaser who can't tell hard truths, poor leadership takes many forms.

Business Ideas

70 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2025

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2025.

Business News

Elon Musk's DOGE Is Hiring People Eager to 'Work Long Hours' to Eliminate 'Waste, Fraud and Abuse' in the Government. Here's How to Apply.

The Department of Government Efficiency is hiring U.S. citizens to help cut spending and headcounts in the federal government.

Business News

'Everyone Can Profit From It': What Is DeepSeek? China's 'Cheap' to Make AI Chatbot Climbs to the Top of Apple, Google U.S. App Stores

DeepSeek researchers claim it was developed for less than $6 million, a contrast to the $100 million it takes U.S. tech startups to create AI.

Business News

'I Love Doing Product Reviews': Bill Gates Stepped Down from Microsoft in 2020, But Admits He Still Spends 15% of His Time Working at the Company

In a new interview with the Wall Street Journal, Gates also said he is still close with Microsoft's CEO Satya Nadella.

Business News

Uber's CEO Says Drivers Have About 10 Years Left Before They Will Be Replaced

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi says the jobs of human drivers are safe for the next decade, but after that, another type of driver will take over.