Wake up & smell the Coffee Salesmen    Coffee Talk : 21

... its You ... Oh yes that’s YOU.
Is our resident Coffee Guru trying to sell us something?

All of us out there selling coffee are effectively Coffee Salesmen of sorts. I know that most reading this will think about the good, bad or indifferent person that sells them their coffee and that’s a good starting point to model how you can increase your coffee profits because the principles of how you sell - and indeed don’t sell - coffee to your customers are exactly the same as the way he or she sells coffee to you ……

Lets make it absolutely crystal clear - The fantastic Coffee Seller sells a solution to satisfy you and your customers needs. End of Story (and it is a story). Its not about what brand of coffee you use unless you can give somebody exactly the same thing every time which is impossible with coffee so the brand becomes the solution and experience.

This applies every bit as much to you solving your customers requirements for a good experience. (the basis of a well known “3rd place” strategy). Don’t forget your customer has customers too – perhaps their guest or kids and your business has been referred by them because they chose to come.

Salesmen in general tend to get a bad rap – actually persuading and selling ideas is very important – The great leaders in the world today are only those that can sell their ideas and the ability to sell an idea is a great thing – The business of selling is a hell of a good business and a useful business to be in.

Coffee selling is no different from any other kind of selling and lends itself particularly to on going profits because of coffee’s ability to hook and addict people to a great tasting drink. And what are the age old rules of selling ?

A new way of thinking about two old ideas
There is no need to reinvent the wheel on your journey to good coffee profits, however perhaps there is a need to change the way you think about the basics and the questions you are asking both your coffee salesperson and yourself.

1. Know your product – Assuming that everybody today knows the difference between Instant & Real Coffee (although I worry sometimes when I see what is happening out there), how many of the coffee sales people that you meet know where their coffee comes from …. and I’m not talking about the country (many unbelievably do not even know this). The ideal is that we can trace the farm where the coffee is grown which in turn will determine its quality – and there is a massive difference between commercial grade coffee and speciality traceable quality coffee. Don’t forget Vietnamese robusta is the UK’s biggest imported coffee.

Your Coffee Sales persons wake up question : Where did you buy my coffee?

Your wake up Question : Have you tasted it against something else ? (don’t forget you are wasting your time doing this if you are not meticulously controlling brewing factors which paradoxically needs a good sales person to help you with in the first place!)

2. Know your customer – How many coffee sales people understand your particular needs & wants and go beyond the convenience features & benefits of their coffee system and its cheaper price. Bottom line is where are they adding value to you and helping you with something that you didn’t expect.

Your Coffee Sales persons wake up question : How are you helping me control the brewing factors that allow me to produce good quality coffee and how many cups of coffee will I sell here next week ?

Your wake up Question : How are you measuring the highest margin product that you sell because you cannot manage what you don’t measure and making money at coffee means that you do have to work and focus on it – If you do that you will be amazed why it has taken you so long to do something about it. Again a good coffee salesperson will have been helping you with this process but you can never substitute the benefits of a real coffee focus in your business.

An old way of thinking about a new idea.
At the core of selling success today is the quality of your relationships. Every success you have achieved, or will achieve in the future, is tied to a relationship. With this focus in mind, one of the most powerful abilities that you can develop is the 4 habits of "referability". They are self explanatory.

1. Turn up on time
2. Do what you say
3. Finish what you start
4. Say Please & Thank You

Your Coffee Sales persons wake up question : Do you refer them ?
Your wake up Question : Do your customers refer you ?

Consumers have changed dramatically. They are wiser, smarter, faster, more cynical, have more savvy than ever before and there is no place to hide for products and services that cannot match expectations.

Its the age of the never satisfied customer – the best salesperson for your business is YOU because every one of us at every level is in the sales business after all nothing happens until you sell something – and funnily enough you already knew that - didn’t you!