How many C's in fantastic coffee?    Coffee Talk : January 2004

Absolutely everything you do influences your credibility. The influence will be positive or negative, depending upon your intelligence, sensitivity, and awareness of this fact.

Great Coffee is about a number of C's - and very little of it has to do with the NYC Market price! A good coffee business is certainly about consistency, but is also about credibility and commitment. The most important word in coffee marketing - commitment - is something that also fuels your credibility. When people see that you are maintaining consistency in your coffee, they'll assume you're just as committed to quality and service.

CONSISTENCY
I know it seems pretty obvious, and I know you all already realise that consistency is a critical factor in any cuisine, but it is worth remembering that you can always improve consistency and the more you think about it the more you will improve it. Don't relax on your insistence on detail. Constant awareness of standards is the secret to highly successful businesses. Quality coffee is the price of entry and consistent coffee is the key to profit.

CREDIBILITY
Absolutely everything you do influences your credibility. The influence will be positive or negative, depending upon your intelligence, sensitivity, and awareness of this fact. Be aware of it the moment you start operating your business, and if not then, right now. Begin with the name of your bar, your logo, your strap line, location, stationery, business card, package, brochure, menus, interior decor, website, even the attire worn by you and your people. Communicate even more credibility with the building you're in, the people you employ, the technology you use, the follow-up in which you engage, the attention you pay to customers, the way your phones are answered and indeed, your voicemail messages.

COMMITMENT
Like anything in life you need commitment to get results. This can be perfectly illustrated when you decide to advertise your coffee business. Most people fail to get the real benefit from advertising because of lack of commitment to telling the story - they tend to give up after five or six attempts because there is no immediate benefit. Consider, for example, how clearly you understand what your potential customers are thinking each time they see your new coffee bar in a busy location.

1. The first time a man looks at your new coffee bar he does not see it.
2. The second time, he does not notice it.
3. The third time, he is conscious of its existence.
4. The fourth time, he faintly remembers having seen it before.
5. The fifth time, he looks at it.
6. The sixth time, he turns up his nose at it.
7. The seventh time, he looks closely and considers it.
8. The eighth time, he says: "Here's that confounded thing again!"
9. The ninth time, he wonders what it tastes like.
10. The tenth time, he asks his friend if he has tried it.
11. The eleventh time, he wonders how you make it pay.
12. The twelfth time, he thinks it must be a good thing.
13. The thirteenth time, he thinks perhaps it might be worth trying.
14. The fourteenth time, he remembers wanting a cup of coffee.
15. The fifteenth time, he is tantalised.
16. The sixteenth time, he thinks he will buy one some day.
17. The seventeenth time, he makes a memorandum to buy one.
18. The eighteenth time, he swears at his poverty.
19. The nineteenth time, he counts his money carefully.
20. The twentieth time he sees you, he becomes your customer.

The list you've just read was adapted from the writing of Thomas Smith of London in l885 - and it is no different in today's turbulent times. The single most important element of superb marketing is commitment to a focused plan. This story has to be clear before you start, must not change and should be aligned to all other parts of your business.

CONCLUSION
So with consistent coffee and a credible message delivered with commitment, you will be well on the way to 6 more C's - Contented Coffee Consuming Customers Clearly making your business their Coffee of Choice.