Visiting your café can be an experience
THERE'S NO CAFÉ LIKE A CAFÉ
Every year, or rather month, more and more cafes, roasters, bistros and overall places where you can get good (choice) coffee, not just dark roast coffee that makes your mouth bitter for hours after you drink it.
Which is good on the one hand. There are a lot more coffee drinkers and coffee shop loafers. People are becoming more appreciative of quality coffee, more interested in what its flavour profile is, what variety it is, or who grew itand where. And you don't have to travel tens of kilometres to get good coffee. You can find it on almost every corner.
On the other hand, this is much harder for coffee drinkers and baristas. There is a lot of competition and it is no longer as easy to differentiate yourself as it used to be. Having a good coffee and a great cake just isn't enough. Some coffee shops have also recently gone in the direction of combining another service, such as a florist or even a hairdresser, for example. And I believe that few people can resist taking at least a coffee to go.
THERE IS NO CUSTOMER LIKE A CUSTOMER
Well, what also goes along with the boom of coffee and coffee shops? Customers. Or rather, the demandingness of customers. Then you'll be less and less surprised by questions like: Why do you do it this way? What's on your grinder today? How many grams did you use on that V60? What recipe did you use to make this filter?
And even a small thing like answering one of these questions, or any other, is the first step to drawing the customer into the process of making their coffee. Believe me, the coffee tastes completely different. Better!
COFFEE AS AN EXPERIENCE
A coffee experience can be a coffee with an unusual flavour profile, or one that is originally prepared. But you can also try involving the customer in the preparation of the coffee. For example, you can start with filter coffee in V60. As a barista, if you prepare the right amount of coffee and water at the right temperature, a cup of coffee is almost halfway to tasting perfect. Then you just add the best instructions on how to filter. You explain to the customer that they need to slowly pour the coffee over the coffee grounds, soak it all, and slowly swirl it evenly until all the water is consumed. And in addition to great filtered coffee, the world is in for an experience it won't soon forget.
OPEN THE CAFÉ BAR TO CUSTOMERS
And if you don't want to go the previous route, the next step to be closer to the customer can be to customize the bar, for example. Hiding behind a coffee machine or standing with your back to customers is easy. But placing the coffee machine at a 90° angle to them allows us to prepare their drink right in front of them. So they can see you, the coffee machine, the preparation of their espresso or filter coffee or your great latte art skills. You can always add a shorter commentary on what you're doing.
COFFEE BY CUSTOMER
Another great tip is to leave the choice of beans for alternative coffee brewing up to the customer. This way, he or she will feel that you care about the preparation of his or her drink and will feel more invested in the process. He will also be pleased to have the choice of espresso coffee.
ASK AND ANSWER
In addition to answering customers' all sorts of inquisitive questions, it's also a good idea to ask them. First of all, how satisfied they were, how they liked it, or if they need anything else. Sometimes it's not easy, customers might be a little bit put off that they don't have time or something like that, but no one else will give you more feedback.
Maybe it happened to you that you came to the café, this time as a customer, and even though coffee is your daily bread, you couldn't decide what you really wanted. That's often the case with a lot of customers. Every café is different, and you' ll often find a lot of similar drinkson the menu, but sometimes looking at the menu isn't enough.
Try to ask the customer questions that will guide them to a happy outcome. Ask what they normally drink, whether they prefer coffee with milk or without. Try to subtly highlight their strengths. Do you have a particularly brought out batch brewtoday ? Offer it instead of one of the alternative preparations. Is today the day you create latte art like Picasso? Offer a customer a cappuccino, chances are they haven't thought about it, but your offer makes it just the right choice.
A CAFÉ IS NOT JUST ABOUT COFFEE
A great choice would be quality loose-leaf teas or flowering teas, for example. To ensure the perfect steeping time, we can serve the tea with a small timer and explain to the customer that once the timer runs out, the tea will be ready to drink.
What do I mean by that? Like, sometimes even the most avid coffee drinker just doesn't feel like coffee, probably not the fifth one. Or maybe his friend or girlfriend comes along with him, whose enthusiasm for coffee is not so great, and they choose teainstead . That's up to one in four customers. And by that I mean that you shouldn't neglect the tea offer in your café either. Because many cafes focus on having the best coffee and they kind of miss out on the tea offer.
An alternative to the classic tea can also be a blend for a Chai Latte, which usually consists of various aromatic spices like cardamom, cinnamon, ginger and cloves complemented by black tea and honey. It also tastes great with plant milks in both hot and cold versions.
SERVING COFFEE CORRECTLY IS NO SMALL FEAT
Servingis also an important factor and not only how you serve the coffee, but also in what or on what. Even small details play an important role. This can be, for example, rimmed cups or a wooden tray with an embossed logo. Serving accessories should also be in harmony with the overall design of your café.
Serving in glass instead of porcelain can be an interesting tip, especially when serving the aforementioned teas. Serving them in a glass teapot will make it a little more attractive to the customer. You can also use filter coffee servers for this.
Theloose tea will look great in a Hario or Timemoreteapot , as well as in an ordinary but popular hipster beaker.
A SATISFIED CUSTOMER IS THE WAY TO SUCCESS
After all, what we all want is a happy customer, and preferably happier than when they arrived. And that might be because they learned something new, tasted something new or even tried something. That's when you're most likely to be the customer's #1 choice next time. What's more, they'll probably only tell their friends and acquaintances about you, and that's the best advertising.
But running a café is a combination of many factors, so you can have the most beautiful mugs, the best coffee machine, your café can be in the best location, but if your baristas don't work together, you won't be any better than your competitors. You can start little by little, perhaps with some of the tips mentioned above.