With more and more new cafes opening, the challenge for a lot of cafes is how to hold on to and attract customers in the door. While there is no single panacea; it’s an accumulation of doing a lot right that keeps people coming back and talking about your coffee business. When all is said and done, the personal recommendation is key whether by word of mouth or on-line in getting customers coming through the door. While this is not a definitive list of suggestions, hopefully it might get you thinking about some of the solutions that might work for your situation.
Quality is key
Having amazing coffee and coffee equipment will unfortunately not guarantee amazing coffee. Coffee grinder calibration, coffee machine cleaning and barista skill all play a pivotal role and these need to be monitored closely. The best way I find is to taste the coffee every day to check that it is tasting the way I need it to. I find that that this requires a little more that taking a coffee ‘on the run’ but more a ‘sit down’ and concentrate on what flavours are coming through.
Try and personalise your business.
Your business is very likely very personal to you as mine is to me. Given the volume of customers that come through your door every day, It can be difficult to give all your customers a personalised experience that feels genuine but if you can start with one customer at a time, it builds up fast. Rather than talking at your customers, try and get them to talk to you. Sometimes this is as simple as asking them – ‘How are you?’ Whatever approach you think works for you, give it a go and see the reaction!
Be easily found
Claim your business on Google, Yelp and Trip Advisor. Listing your coffee shop’s ‘Business Profile’ correctly in Google is a great way to ensure people searching for a café or restaurant p in your area can quickly find out all they want to know, via Google Search or Google Maps. Claiming your business is free. Make sure that you complete every section of your profile, including opening hours, your address, phone number and a link to your website if you have one.
Asking for feedback and reviews
Increasing the number of reviews on google, trip advisor and yelp is a really great way of increasing your relevance on Google. Getting people to leave a review can be difficult as people are busy. Just remember most people want to say something positive. Try and respond to all reviews even the ones you’re not happy with.
Have something interesting to engage your customers with.
Over the past year, many of our Woodland Coffee customers have been telling their customers how many trees have been planted and the expected CO2 that is expected to be sequestered from the coffee sales at their café. Usually this is as simple as putting it on a chalk board. This is a really great way of getting a message across that is specific to the café and their customers.
If you would like to find out more about Woodland Coffee or how we can help, please drop us email oninfo@watermark.ieor call us on 01 4666304.