Mark has just opened up a new coffee shop in a local town center. He is devoted to his new business, and wants to do anything he can to see to become successful. However, there are many chain coffee shops located relatively close, and the local community seems to prefer them so they are strong competition. Mark believes though that through hard work and strategic promotions and great customer service he can win over the hearts of the local community and get his business booming.
Every business has to start somewhere. Mark’s case is no new one. The question is whether or not Mark will be able to keep his head high above water and appear strong in the face of adversity or if his business will sick under the pressure of the competition. Here we will learn how to bring people through your doors and create buzz in the local community to let your business thrive!
Here are some of the things Mark can do to get his business thriving:
Step 1: Everyone has to Start Somewhere
Mark’s business is fairly new, so in order to stir up the initial buzz about his coffee shop Mark should hold a grand opening! Grand openings are a great way to create initial buzz about your company but in order to make sure that your first-time customers come back, it is also important to have some way to collect their information – that way you can notify them of any future promotional events.
Step 2: Do Your Background Research on…
So Mark has done his grand opening for his coffee shop and it was a great success! Now Mark has to think about what he will do in order to keep his customers. There are many things that can be done to create repeat customers but the one most important thing is to create customer satisfaction. You can take your grand opening as a day to talk to customers, get to know them, and understand what causes them to come back for more. Also, do a little research online to find how customers generally respond to certain service addons your business can offer.
Step 3: Analyze and Repeat
Try some of the different tactics that you come across during your research and see how your customers respond. Depending on your business model, some of the tactics you come across will work extremely well, while others may not. This is a trial and error period, and once you find a methodology that works, stick with it!
Other tactics that may come in handy for creating repeat customers could be holding multiple sales or also depending on your business you can do things like hold certain seminars or workshops to inform the customer as to how they can take your product and make it even more useful.
Step 4: Surprise and Delight
In the end, customers are looking for an experience that is different than one that they would get at another competitor. Once you find certain customer service tactics that work strongly with your business every returning customer will look for the same experience and every first-time customer will walk away wanting more!
Written by Aaron Mattos on behalf of Roberta Pellant Consulting (RPC)