Getting more people in the door and buying. An age old discussion and I need some ideas!
Hey all,
I work in a fairly well known shop, and I need ideas.
I'm trying to get the door swinging more. It's essential that I not only increase foot traffic, but also cross/upselling.
I want to hear about what works or doesn't work in an indie shop in a large city.
Things we've done so far to minimize expenses:
*lowered COGS in all catagories
*raised all prices to compete with local shops
*decreased vendor costs in all areas
*decreased labor to bare bones coverage
The recession is hitting us hard all of a sudden, and it's a matter of folks coming in. We have a VERY limited marketing budget, so I'm looking for cheap, fun, guerilla marketing ideas.
How do you get your shop's name out? Do you utilize coupons or give aways? What brings people in?
Thank you for reading and contributing! I'm looking forward to hearing everyone's ideas!!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Lisa Kettyle on
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Hey there Jonathan,
Thanks for writing! We've just begun sponsoring events in the neighborhood, and we're going to plan some neighborhood events as well.
Also, just sent the entire staff through training w/ Cuvee. I agree that training is key.
Our demographic used to be all kinds of folks, mostly music loving artist folks. Now the neighborhood is changing up a bit and we're changing also
Jonathan Aldrich said:I just looked at your profile and figured out the shop you are running ;) I think in the market you are in, knowing the competition you are up against, it is IMPERATIVE to offer the highest quality experience you can. There is a lot of bad, mediocre and great coffee in the market you are in, and putting yourself into that top level is going to be the best thing for you to keep yourself relevant as the market becomes educated.
Compared with the other high caliber shops in your city, are you putting out the highest quality drinks possible? If not, it might be a good idea to look to your roaster for training. I am positive that they would be a great resource for training and source of educational ideas for your customers.
Does your customer demographic lean more toward students or professionals? If it leans toward students, making your shop a great place to study would be one way to get people to start coming in, though it is a double edged sword because increased busyness in this regard(people taking up space over a period of time) may sway some customers from coming in to meet with friends, etc. to go other places. If it leans toward professionals, do what you can to accommodate those that might be trying to get out of this office.
I know many shops in your area offer a cash discount. While that would never personally sway my coffee buying decision, it puts money directly in your pocket that would have otherwise gone to a credit card processor and may offer an incentive to some to choose your shop over another.
There are a lot of events in your community; do what you can to get your name out there and sponsor or show up at as many as possible to get your name around and get more people to come check you out or bring in customers you may have lost at some point in the past.
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Quality is the thing we're spending the most money on right now.
We're doing this in two ways:
1) better product. We left a not-so-high-quality coffee roaster and moved to both Owl Tree and Cuvee. We communicate with our roasters weekly about available beans, trends, etc..
2) excellent training. We've put our entire staff through training w/ Cuvee and Owl Tree, and we've promoted a staff member to Espresso Trainer/Coffee Buyer. He is working with the staff to improve quality.
To me, the best money spent is in training and shop upkeep. If our product is excellent, but the people serving it aren't, then it doesn't matter what beans we serve. Working with the staff on cleanliness, quality drinks and great technique is my most of my focus right now.
Brady said:Oh, yeah... and to build on what Mike and Jonathan said, make your biggest focus be on the quality of experience. Marketing money is wasted if you don't capture the majority of your first-time visitors.
You never mentioned quality in your initial post, which makes me wonder if you are improving that as well. Seeing COGS dropping, prices going up, and bare-bones staffing are red flags. Are your drinks still the best they can be and getting better? How is staff morale? How about customer service?
If you do nothing else, try your best to make every customer a return customer - 100% retention.
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Further, how do we get people in the door that might not think our place is for them? How do I reach folks who are new to the area?
Mike Sabol said:Ok. So here are some random ideas. Sometimes coffee shops or bars/clubs in cool cities like Austin, NYC, Memphis, San Fran, etc will get a certain kind of clientele or "scenes" associated with them. Think "CBGB" or "Max's Kansas City" in NYC. This can be great for a movement or collective art/music kind of thing. But if you are the general manager of one of these kinds of places then you are faced with a dilema. Your regulars, the people who are a part of the scene who have come to see your establishment as a part of themselves, are actually driving any new customers/business away. Because someone who just wants a cup of coffee and a muffin might not want to be a part of the "scene" that happens in said establishment.
Sometimes really "known" or "hip" places become all about themselves. As though the people who own them, manage them, and work in them are really the special people, the stars of the show, as it were. Why in the world would anybody want to go there if they had to worship at the alter of how cool the place was in order to buy a coffee? That is one reason why Starbucks is so successful. You don't have to worship Starbucks to go there. You can go there, get a cup of coffee, make some pleasant small talk, and be on your way. Starbucks does not get in the way of the customers experience. (At least the demographic of customer that makes Starbucks one of the most successful companies in modern history.) I think it's OK to have a "cool" shop but you have to ask yourself, "Are there enough 'cool' people to support my business' financial needs?" If your shop is REALLY "cool" then there is no way your possible customer base is big enough to support you in the long run. People who are THAT cool don't have any money. They might be creative, wise, funny, amazing, deep, talented, and really, really, a great person, but they don't have any money. And they scare normal people away.
Now I don't know that you, Lisa, have the kind of shop like I was describing. I was just throwing out some general ideas about what kinds of issues a shop like that might encounter. Austin, I imagine, might have some of those kinds of places, since Austin is one of the premire cities in the USA for music and culture. Again, just some ideas.
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This is a great perspective that I need to spend more time using. We don't sell equipment, nor do we currently use french press or Chemex. We've provided standard drip for awhile, and it's probably time to take the leap.
Also, we only recently started focusing on bulk bean sales, but not heavily enough. After reading your post, I realized we don't have signage or bags anywhere in the shop. How can customers buy what they don't know we have?
Thanks for bringing this up. I think it's a huge opportunity that we've been missing out on.
I love BX : )
Jonathan Aldrich said:Probably the best advice I've heard on the subject was "you can't expect one customer to buy everything, but you can expect every customer to buy one thing".
Customer education can definitely have a great effect when you consider someone you have the chance to talk to at length buying beans or a brewing device to take home and brew there. Those kind of relationships can be some of the most profitable both monetarily AND personally. I have had many customers that I had a chance to brew a press or a chemex for decide to buy one, and beans, and come back again and again for more beans and more education.
It is possible to expand both the depth of your relationships with customers AND the breadth of your customer base; I think the marketing options outlined above are all great (besides what Brady has already pointed out as the fallacy of selling more beverage but actually receiving a smaller percentage of profit from the sale) for getting customers in the door. But once you get them there, the best way to keep them there is to serve and educate and get to know them on a personal level rather than forcing additional items down their throat. There's nothing I hate more than being "sold" to, especially when it's something that I didn't have any interest in in the first place.
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I love FB for this reason. Most of our promos go out through FB, as we have over 2k members and it's the site most customers mention when they come in. : )
Cody Kirkland said:Having a Facebook page is pretty helpful. At the shop I manage, I post updates every few days about new coffees we have, daily drink specials, or events.
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Great questions. I can answer most, but not all, of them. Thanks for helping me think. ; )
Mike Sabol said:I my opinion marketing is mostly a waste of time and money. Everything is based on the relationship you build with your staff and your customers. If your customers have a fantastic experience everytime they go to your shop then they will continue to return and tell their friends to check it out. If the experience in the shop is poor then no amount of give aways will make people want to return. Some questions to ask yourself: Are my baristas friendly, all day every day? Do they say thank you when the customer picks up their drink? Is the service fast and accurate? Is my cafe clean? Do you know where your customers come from? Where they work? Do your baristas remember your customers names? Their drinks? Is your turn over so high that customers never have a chance to get to know anyone behind the counter? Have you decreased the cost of goods so much that you have poor quality items? Just some questions.
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Permalink Reply by Bryan Wray on
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Oh I don't know about all that...
There are some shops that I can think of that are WAAAAY too cool for me to be a regular at; they are still wildly successful.
And yes I am talking about those two heavy hitters, lol. More than likely the first two that came to your mind.
-bry
Mike Sabol said:Ok. So here are some random ideas. Sometimes coffee shops or bars/clubs in cool cities like Austin, NYC, Memphis, San Fran, etc will get a certain kind of clientele or "scenes" associated with them. Think "CBGB" or "Max's Kansas City" in NYC. This can be great for a movement or collective art/music kind of thing. But if you are the general manager of one of these kinds of places then you are faced with a dilema. Your regulars, the people who are a part of the scene who have come to see your establishment as a part of themselves, are actually driving any new customers/business away. Because someone who just wants a cup of coffee and a muffin might not want to be a part of the "scene" that happens in said establishment.
Sometimes really "known" or "hip" places become all about themselves. As though the people who own them, manage them, and work in them are really the special people, the stars of the show, as it were. Why in the world would anybody want to go there if they had to worship at the alter of how cool the place was in order to buy a coffee? That is one reason why Starbucks is so successful. You don't have to worship Starbucks to go there. You can go there, get a cup of coffee, make some pleasant small talk, and be on your way. Starbucks does not get in the way of the customers experience. (At least the demographic of customer that makes Starbucks one of the most successful companies in modern history.) I think it's OK to have a "cool" shop but you have to ask yourself, "Are there enough 'cool' people to support my business' financial needs?" If your shop is REALLY "cool" then there is no way your possible customer base is big enough to support you in the long run. People who are THAT cool don't have any money. They might be creative, wise, funny, amazing, deep, talented, and really, really, a great person, but they don't have any money. And they scare normal people away.
Now I don't know that you, Lisa, have the kind of shop like I was describing. I was just throwing out some general ideas about what kinds of issues a shop like that might encounter. Austin, I imagine, might have some of those kinds of places, since Austin is one of the premire cities in the USA for music and culture. Again, just some ideas.
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Good advice. We've been finding that we need to hit up the changing neighborhood more. We need to acclimate to a changing customer base, and that included coffee delivery, etc...
Raising prices was a must. Former management had us extremely under priced (think 60-70% COGS) and in order to survive we had to increase. We made sure to not exceed similar shops in the area, as far as pricing is considered.
Dr. Joseph John said:This is such a general issue that it is hard to figure out where to start without knowing your particular situation. Since you have already focused on cutting costs, perhaps you should now look at increasing revenue. Here are some thoughts:
1. Do people who live within 5 miles or work within 1 mile of your shop know you exist? If not, make sure they do. In residential areas, see if you can drop a leaflet by every household. In commercial area, see if you can visit every office/business and talk to the management. Spend at least one hour every day doing just that.
2. If people know you exist and choose not to come in, find out why. Look within your organization for clues. Are your customers' experience in your shop a pleasant one? Ask a couple of people who left you, not your current customers. You say, "raised all prices to compete with local shops." I am not sure what that really means. Is raising prices in the middle of a recession the right move?
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I hear what your saying, Bryan.
We've been a lot of things to a lot of people, and I think that's helped us stay open for 18 years.
The problem is that our neighborhood has sold a lot of houses for a high dollar amount, which means a different income margin now lives in our neighborhood. Lots of these folks only have experience with Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf or *bucks. Also, a local competitor (literally across the street) has now matched our extensive hours and is installing a drive thru location only a few blocks away.
The point is this: our door isn't swinging, despite comfortable seating areas, great coffee, trained baristas, and live music. We need to get it swinging or we're through. We need to match the neighborhood and market like crazy with no budget.
I'm going to utilize some suggestions I've read here about flyers, etc... I think it's a good strategy, as we have been new folks saying they'd never been in before.
I think letting Austin know that we're even here could be a huge help.
Bryan Wray said:Oh I don't know about all that...
There are some shops that I can think of that are WAAAAY too cool for me to be a regular at; they are still wildly successful.
And yes I am talking about those two heavy hitters, lol. More than likely the first two that came to your mind.
-bry
Mike Sabol said:Ok. So here are some random ideas. Sometimes coffee shops or bars/clubs in cool cities like Austin, NYC, Memphis, San Fran, etc will get a certain kind of clientele or "scenes" associated with them. Think "CBGB" or "Max's Kansas City" in NYC. This can be great for a movement or collective art/music kind of thing. But if you are the general manager of one of these kinds of places then you are faced with a dilema. Your regulars, the people who are a part of the scene who have come to see your establishment as a part of themselves, are actually driving any new customers/business away. Because someone who just wants a cup of coffee and a muffin might not want to be a part of the "scene" that happens in said establishment.
Sometimes really "known" or "hip" places become all about themselves. As though the people who own them, manage them, and work in them are really the special people, the stars of the show, as it were. Why in the world would anybody want to go there if they had to worship at the alter of how cool the place was in order to buy a coffee? That is one reason why Starbucks is so successful. You don't have to worship Starbucks to go there. You can go there, get a cup of coffee, make some pleasant small talk, and be on your way. Starbucks does not get in the way of the customers experience. (At least the demographic of customer that makes Starbucks one of the most successful companies in modern history.) I think it's OK to have a "cool" shop but you have to ask yourself, "Are there enough 'cool' people to support my business' financial needs?" If your shop is REALLY "cool" then there is no way your possible customer base is big enough to support you in the long run. People who are THAT cool don't have any money. They might be creative, wise, funny, amazing, deep, talented, and really, really, a great person, but they don't have any money. And they scare normal people away.
Now I don't know that you, Lisa, have the kind of shop like I was describing. I was just throwing out some general ideas about what kinds of issues a shop like that might encounter. Austin, I imagine, might have some of those kinds of places, since Austin is one of the premire cities in the USA for music and culture. Again, just some ideas.
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Brady, this is really great. Thank you.
This is exactly the kind of advice I was hoping for. We've recently started donating to events and things, and we're seeing more walk ins.
Also, I gave away 3 free drinks to correct trivia answers during a live show. It became the strongest sales night of the week.
Flyers are something we haven't done in a really long time. Also, we've decided to offer coffee delivery to a few of our neighbors and their businesses.
Brady said:Agreed with much of what's been said so far, with some things to add and disagree with.
Be smart with your marketing budget. As far as marketing, we've found good bang-for-the-buck with flyering in areas where people didn't know we were there. We've also done seasonal banners promoting different items. Donate gift cards for charity auctions and events that your existing customers are involved with - it builds customer loyalty and gets your name out. First time "customer" wanders in looking for a donation? Save your money and give more generously to your existing customers' causes.
In terms of getting out into the community, we've done booths at community outdoor events - Christmas tree lighting, Earth Day celebration, etc. Priced to generate enough revenue to cover costs, but mostly seen as a marketing endeavor. We worked hard to make sure the look, feel, experience, and product matched the store experience.
Be very, very careful with upselling. As a customer, I personally hate attempts to upsell me... if I wanted a muffin I'd have asked for a muffin. People are smart and no matter how artfully you do it your customer will recognize what's going on. They are already choosing to spend limited discretionary income at your place, isn't that enough? ALSO be sure that your margins are just as good on the larger or additional item. If that drink is 50% more for only 50 more cents, your profitability took a big hit on that transaction. You sold more but made less money! Review your COGS and make sure they make sense, use that info to figure out combos, and promote those. Creating "value combos" of popular items communicates that you understand that times are tight and are here to help... you get the benefit of increasing sales without the perceived (or real) pushiness.
Hope that helps.
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If you do live music every night and you don't have a street team you need to get one. Free admission and one free drink if you distribute 20 fliers (or something like that).
When we started really pushing flier-ing at the last place I was at we saw our show numbers go from 40-50 attendees to 250-300. Granted it was a huge venue, so numbers like that weren't really as impressive as they might look, but regardless: the fliers were definitely an obvious help.
And it was amazing to me how many regulars that came in had no idea about what happened at our place at night. Just a heads up, make sure you are really advertising internally as well. One thing that worked for us was, "Bring back your receipt for the show later tonight and get free admission." If they are already buying drinks at your place in the morning/afternoon then they will buy when they come back for an event in the evening.
If your budget allows, hiring a media person/event organizer might be a really smart move.
-bry
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Permalink Reply by Dr. Joseph John on
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You have received a lot of suggestions. Make a list of items you think you can do and makes sense for your situation and start doing. As I said before, plan on spending one hour on it every day.
I don't have a lot of faith in print advertising and we do not spend a lot of money on it. But I do believe in "Guerrilla Marketing." This is a set of ideas that cost very little in real dollars and a great deal of time and effort. But they can be done a little at a time, and produces results if you persist. See: http://www.gmarketing.com/
Good Luck.
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