The Business of Coffee Caring    Coffee Talk : July 2006

Every business cares about their customers, but those that care about their coffee show great care for that loyal customer because today’s customer has 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 especially the Coffee!

Great coffee is not painless. It requires proper allocation of resources to train staff correctly in production techniques and significant investment in equipment that is a critical tool in this production. The bottom line is that good coffee proves you care and have understood that it is a cuisine and takes focus.
Your coffee can say all the right words and tell customers how important they are to you. But you've got to prove your dedication to customers by taking concrete steps beyond mere words and good operators know that there's a world of difference between customer care and customer attention. Many businesses lavish attention upon their customers, but only the best excel at caring and know how to make customers feel sincerely cared for.
With coffee this can be done by appealing to our sub conscious. The environment needs to strike a responsive chord in our mind assuring us that our personal coffee moment will be the deserving treat we need and want – and that you are focused on understanding what really makes us buy ;

* We buy promises made - leading to the promises we make with referrals.
* We buy your credibility or don't buy if you lack it.
* We buy solutions to our problems - so the Menu is important.
* We buy you, your employees, your service.
* We buy your guarantee, reputation and good name.
* We buy the consistency.
* We buy value, which is not the same as price.
* We buy freedom from risk - so be scrupulously clean.
* We buy convenience in buying, paying and lots more.
* We buy neatness and tidiness - so no dirty tables.
* We buy success; your success can fit with ours.
* We buy instant gratification and don't love to wait.
Above all
* We buy good taste and know it from bad taste.

It is also important to know what we do not buy - apart from the obvious we could include; fancy adjectives, exaggerated claims, bored staff, clever headlines, special effects, marketing that screams, marketing that even hints at amateurishness, the lowest price anything (though 14 percent of us do), unproven items, or gorgeous graphics that get in the way of the message.

It is very easy to say you care about your customers, but unless you take steps to show them it will not be obvious. This is why we have implemented the new Coffee Program in our business with what we are sure is a significantly improved total coffee experience. We are in the age of the never satisfied customer – and this is particularly relevant with our Coffee Business – so go on try a delicious Cappuccino, Café Crème or Single Estate Colombian and compare it to your favourite coffee bar …. You’re in for a surprise.