The growth in the Australian coffee market (and subsequent coffee/cafe culture that has evolved from this) is astounding. More than a billion cups of coffee are consumed in cafes, restaurants and other outlets each year, an increase of 65 per cent over the past 10 years.
As a result, an extremely sophisticated consumer profile has developed. Coffee drinkers are demanding and - at times - unforgiving. Baristas and cafe owners need to deliver an exceptional experience to their customers every time and there are several lessons to be learnt from the coffee business which can be applied to any industry:
1. You need to treat every one of your customers as though they were about to write a review of your business in the Sydney Morning Herald.
Remember when you said you'd never go back to that cafe after they f*cked up your double soy latte? That's what your customers are saying about you when:
- You didn't wow them on the first phone call
- You didn't bring your A-game to the first meeting; or
- That one e-mail went un-answered for more than 2 days
Studies have shown that on average, 5 people hear about someone's good experiences with companies and products, but 10 will hear about a bad experience. Be sure to put yourself on the winning side of the equation by treating every customer with the same enthusiasm as you would if your favourite sports star / movie star came in to buy your product or service.
2. Creating a personalized experience for each customer
This takes effort. It's not easy to remember every regular customer's name, or which type of coffee they drink, but if you do, you may just have a customer for life.
A good cafe will be like a second home, where the staff know your name and make you feel like your business is appreciated. The same applies to all businesses - the more personal you can make your relationship with the customer, the stronger the likelihood of them coming back. We have seen a brilliant example of personalization (technically 'mass customization') recently from Coca-Cola's 'Share a Coke With...' campaign. Take a leaf out of Coke's book and think about how you can create a more personalized experience for your customers.
Di Bella Coffee was Australia's fastest-growing company in the period 2006 - 2009. The company's founder, Phillip Di Bella, attributes this success in large part to finding out why people weren't buying his brand of coffee in the early days. After discovering that consumers were buying sub-par coffee brands from supermarkets due to convenience, he started offering same-day delivery on his premium coffee brand and customers responded in droves. Due to simple strategies such as this, the company is now valued at over $40M.
So what can I do about all of this?
Cafe owners have to watch a guy (who was their customer yesterday) walk by today with a take away cup from the vendor down the street who gave him the experience he was looking for. But he's stuck behind the counter, trying to make up for lost ground.
In your business, you probably have the chance to re-engage that prospective client; to bring them some new information; your latest offer; a reason to give you another chance. I would suggest the following steps:
i) Make customer service a genuine priority and train your staff to do the same - Your aim should be for people to be blown away by their experience with you.
ii) Brainstorm 20 different ways you could better personalize your customer service experience. Once you've done that, choose your Top 5 and implement them immediately.
iii) Research your market and find out the Top 3 reasons why your target market aren't buying from you. Develop a plan to win these people over to you.
I think it's time for a coffee. Hold on, it might be too late for that.
**Thanks to @skinnyylatte for the image. You should check out her blog, Skinny Latte Strikes Back. Tweet
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