This is my first post for BrandingWire. Today, is the official launch of this new blog that focuses on marketing and branding challenges. Each of the 12 professional marketers will analyze a case study and offer solutions from a particular point of view. You can see all the posts by clicking the link above.
We begin with a fictional coffee company. The case study sits below and then I offer solutions to create great customer experiences. Enjoy!
A small coffee company in America's heartland has been in business for eight years and is now ready for rapid
growth. To date, they are moderately successful, profitable, and they carry no debt. They roast their own beans on-site and their retail stores feature a relaxed and country-funky atmosphere. The locals love them but no one outside the region knows they exist. This is a family business and the owner is committed to doing whatever it takes to create a thriving business. Before they do, however, they have a few challenges.
Their brand name is inadequate to go national, their tagline, "Great coffee at great prices!" sends the wrong message, and they have no marketing/branding pieces that can carry their growth. Finally, their logo looks like a five-year old drew it.
On the upside, they have lots of roasting capability and their coffee sources can deliver all the beans they need. They also have money to invest in growth, without placing any burden on their operations.
As one of their consultants, my job is to focus on customer experience. We begin with the basic questions requiring answers to create great experiences.
- Who are their best customers?
- What do they look like?
- Where do they live?
- Why do they buy coffee from them?
- How does this business fill their wants and needs?
To grow a business everything begins on the inside. And to create great customer experiences, we first must ensure that every employee understands what that experience looks and feels like. To do that requires lots of communications and training. And that training begins with the words, "just say yes." If a customer wants or needs something to make their experience better, and it is within our power to provide it, we do. And if that need arises out of something we did wrong, we provide service with a smile, an apology and no charge to fix the problem.
We train employees to be proactive, to anticipate every customer's wants and needs, and to prevent a bad customer experience before having to react to one. But customers can become unhappy, no matter how much we prepare, so when that happens we do everything we can to solve the problem. No employee needs to ask a manager's permission to solve that problem. If the employee can solve a customer's problem, they do. (Guidelines are established to identify the maximum cost to the company allowed to solve a problem without a managers approval.) All customer decisions are made locally, not at the corporate level.
As for employee uniforms, we recommend brown logo tee-shirts and blue jeans. The brown carries the coffee colors, while the tee-shirts and blue jeans maintain a funky and laid back atmosphere. The logo reinforces the name and image of the business.
After studying the current store decor, which is made up of mix and match overstuffed furniture and wooden chairs and tables, we survey customers about what they like about the store's atmosphere. We then decide that to create a great customer experience, the stores maintain their country-funky look. Within those parameters, we advise that the stores always be kept impeccably clean, and that all of the furniture be in the best shape possible: no wiggles, no wobbles, no stains and no rips or tears.
We also advise that the smell of fresh-brewed coffee be present in all the stores, and that in addition to retail items such as espresso machines, brewing machines, coffee grinders, French presses, coffee cups and bulk coffee, the stores offer fresh pastries baked locally and labeled with the local bakery's name and logo.
To increase the customer experience, we recommend that every Friday night is open mike, featuring local musicians playing the style of music most popular in that region. Again, the focus is on local. We also recommend that every store contribute to their community, first by providing a safe, happy and clean family environment, and second by volunteering to assist a local organization or association.
Finally, we make it clear that people always come first. It is about customers' wants and needs, not about sales. We recommend that the company provide fair wages and good benefits and reward their best employees by promoting from within. By catering to our employee's happiness, wants and needs, we ensure that we create attitudes that will carry over into customer service and that employees will be motivated to providing great customer experiences.
I have offered solutions that begin a process to create great customer experiences. There is much more the stores need to do. What would you do? How would you take this company out of the woods onto Main Street USA using great experiences as your branding and marketing strategy?
P.S. Get more high-voltage ideas at BrandingWire.com.
PPSS Checks out Seth's blog about seizing the moment.
