Have you ever heard the saying, “keep it simple”? Well, my family and I were vacationing recently in Southern California and on our vacation to do list was to eat at the famous In-N-Out Burger. There are many fans and followers of this burger experience. I have passed many In-N-Out Burger restaurants along the travel route of my career but never took the plunge and tried it. Our daughter wanted to experience it and we were game too.

We went to the In-N-Out Burger in Huntington Beach, California. It’s right off of Beach Ave which is a busy strip. We pulled in, easy parking and it was a super clean welcoming experience to the restaurant. We looked at the menu board and were surprised to see limited options. We were underwhelmed. Is this all they have to offer? A lady came up and picked up her order and there were some awesome looking fries. I asked what they were and she replied the animal fries. Well, we didn’t see animal fries listed on the menu board but thank goodness I asked. They are delicious! We loved them. In addition, everything is fresh and not frozen. We ate outside. As we were leaving, I counted the number of cars going through drive thru. It was really busy (and it was past lunch hour). There were twenty plus cars winding their way through drive thru. This is definitely a “thing” that people love!

I googled In-N-Out Burger. There are more than 300 restaurants primarily out west. It was started in 1948; so, they have been around for a long time!

Here is our experience that they got right with us:

While it is fast food, it is fresh ingredients. (You do not feel bad eating it because it is not processed food).
It is a simple menu without tons of options. (They concentrate on what they do well).
It is super clean and no frills. (The price is right).

They are obviously grounded in faith but they do not throw it in your face. (It’s a nice surprise to find a biblical verse on the bottom of the french fry container)

We bought all of the signature items animal french fries, cheeseburger and a vanilla shake. All of them were good!

There are countless examples (in my life) where I have made very simple marketing options complicated. When I experienced In-N-Out Burger it reminded me to keep it simple and your customers will come.

Sonya Ruff Jarvis, is the Managing Member of Jarvis Consultants and the Founder of the eRetailer Summit and JC Event Group. Sonya has spent most of her career visiting headquarters across global industries. An expert in the field, Sonya has been published in numerous retail industry b-to-b publications. Sonya shares her experiences in her book series: Mindful Minutes, A Marketer’s Journey through Business which is now available to purchase on AMAZON.

Sonya has a M.B.A. in Marketing. She is married and has a daughter and they live in Fairfield County Connecticut. Follow Sonya on twitter at @jarvisconsult or @eretailersummit.