April, 2010 Newsletter

By Don Eckles, President

In general terms, there are two ways to increase your daily sales.  One is to serve more customers each day, the second is to sell more to the ones you already have…either more offerings, or more up-selling.

Many store owners tend to gravitate to the “more offerings” proposition, because, for some reason, up-selling

is not something that many people are comfortable doing…at least, not regularly.  But, new product offerings can be risky and expensive.  And, unless you really look into your new product options, you could just be trading dollars, while at the same time, expanding your inventory, and inventory costs.

Before we get into a discussion about up-selling, let’s talk a bit about adding new products…the benefits and the risks.

There are certainly some good reasons to expand your menu.  They would include attracting new customers, or even a completely different customer base than the one you’re now serving.  And, new offerings can sometimes be a great way to sell more to your existing customers.  If you make good additions to your menu, you could also add some new spark to your business.

At the same time, there are risks…big ones.  One of the most obvious risks would be creating confusion about what you really do.  “Are you a coffee house, or a restaurant?”   If you’re in a smaller community, it might be OK, even necessary, to have more than one specialty.  But, if you’re in a city, there are lots of great coffee houses, and, lots of great restaurants.  There probably aren’t many great coffeehouse/restaurants. 

Secondly, you stand a very real chance of trading dollars.  Instead of a customer buying a cup of coffee and a muffin…they buy a cup of coffee and a coffee cake.  In that scenario, you’ve added another item that you have to stock (and pay for) while not growing your sales at all.

Adding new products can be a real plus, if you add items that are truly add-ons, not trade-offs.  Maybe a small bag of trail mix at the register, or some healthy snack bars, or some juices for later.  I love the idea of adding specialty tea to your specialty coffee line.  It’s the same type of customer, but it’s a different customer.  You can use the same equipment, and the same cups and lids.  Hours of operation would be the same.  It’s a natural fit.  Check our website for some truly wonderful specialty tea options.

Having said all that…I’d like to have you seriously consider the advantages of up-selling.  The financial benefits are obvious, but there are other benefits as well.  One of the biggest is the fact that you and your staff are actively and regularly engaged in promoting the success of your business.

Your cost of goods sold (GOGS) is higher, but all up-selling is purely add-on sales.  So…if you sell a cup of coffee for $1.50, and your COGS is 22%, your profit is $1.17.  If you add a muffin for $1.95 with a COGS of 50%, your overall COGS is 31.3% (up 30%), but your profit is now $2.37(up 100%).

Right about now, I can hear you saying “I know that”.  “I know that I make more money by selling more stuff”.  “Tell me something I don’t know”

OK, how about this.  Up-selling is easy…REALLY easy.  You just have to do it regularly.  That means, every time.  And, the best way to be successful at up-selling is to up-sell twice on every order.

“HOLY COW!” you’re saying.  “I don’t like up-selling at all, let alone up-selling twice on every customer”.  “Besides, what am I supposed to say…would you like another muffin with your coffee and muffin?”  “Or, how about this”… (Me)”would you like a blueberry muffin with your latte”?   (The customer) “No thanks”.  (Me)”Well then, how about a banana nut muffin?”. J    No, that’s not it…although that is funny.

The best I’ve ever heard, up-sells two times on each order.  It goes something like this:

“Would you like an extra shot of espresso in your latte?” The customer either says yes or no.  Whatever the customer says, the barista says “how about a blueberry muffin this morning…I can warm it up for you?” 

I can tell you that, in that store, we sell an extra shot of espresso in 22% of ALL espresso drinks.  That’s amazing, and, it’s very profitable.  If you’re paying $6.25 a pound for espresso, it costs you less than .17 cents for that shot.  If you’re selling the extra shot for .50 cents, that is .33 cents of extra profit on that drink.

Customers not only don’t mind your attempts to up-sell them…most actually expect it. 

When was the last time you were in a restaurant or a drive-thru, and weren’t told of the specials of the day…or asked if you want fries and a drink with that?   They always ask if you’d like to start off with drinks…and, how about some chips and artichoke dip, while you’re deciding.  And, when was the last time they didn’t bring the desert tray around, at the end of the meal?

You were up-sold 4 times during that meal, and I’ll bet you didn’t leave mad.  In fact, I’ll bet you actually bought one or more of those items.  Your customers will, too.

The interesting thing is that, sometimes, customers didn’t even know you had this item or that item.  They may say no every day for a month…then, one day, they’re hungry, and that warm blueberry muffin sounds pretty good.

Here’s one of the real benefits of up-selling extra shots of espresso.  Once your customers get used to the taste of the drinks with the extra espresso, they have a hard time drinking it the “old” way.  They will up-sell themselves, after a while.

I guess what I’m saying here is that up-selling is important to your business success.  You are more than an order taker to your customers, you are a consultant (yeah, consultant…that’s the ticket).  The interaction is good, and the extra money will be noticeable.

Be friendly, and non-threatening.  This is not the way…(Customer) “No thanks”.  (You) “Why not?”.  Hee Hee!

Think of ways to up-sell, that you’re comfortable with.  Practice it…and, keep at it. 

This business is about pennies.  How do we bring more of them in the door, and how do we spend fewer of them?  Every “little” change you make that improves your bottom line, matters.  Sell more stuff to more customers, and spend less doing it.  That sounds like an over-simplification, but it’s not.  It simply means you should take a look at every single piece of your business.  Find your opportunity areas, and make some adjustments.  Lots of little tweaks will add up to some real profit falling to the bottom line.

Now…here’s a practical way to improve your sales, over time.  Try a “free extra shot Monday”, every Monday for some period of time…maybe for a year.  Every Monday, you offer an extra shot of espresso to all your customers, at no charge.

What will happen is that some of your customers will begin ordering it that way every day (if you ask).  As time goes on, more and more customers will get used to the taste of that extra shot, and will have to have it that way.  But, you need to ask for the up-sell, on all those other days.  If you give them a chance to find out how good that extra shot makes their drink taste, and, if you ask them if they’d like an extra shot of espresso in their drink today, you’ll see sales inch up.

Remember, this is “extra shots” only.  It doesn’t mean that someone who orders a shot of espresso, get’s it at no charge.  It means if they order an extra shot, in whatever they’re drinking, they get that extra shot at no charge.

I hope you are able to find ways to improve your bottom line.  If you think about your business regularly, and how you can make a difference, you’ll find ways.  You need to be a CEO too, not just a barista.

Finally…you may have noticed that coffee prices have gone up, quite a bit, in the past several months.  They haven’t gone up at Harvest Roasting.  You’ll find most of our beans in the $6.00 - $6.75 range.  And, if you order 75 lbs. of beans, we’ll ship your entire product order, freight free…no charge.  Everything…coffee beans, Monin syrups & chocolate sauces, Mont Blac caramel and white chocolate sauces, Maui smoothie mixes, Pixie Mate’, Pacific Soy Blenders…everything.

We still use the highest quality beans in the world.  We will never switch to a lower quality bean to save money, and then, hope our customers don’t notice the difference.  That is happening out there.  But, it’s not happening here. 

If we can send some samples your way, let us know.  Contact Barb Miller; toll free at 877-494-7004, ext. 4.

Thanks for reading this.  As always, if we can help you with anything…let us know.

Sincerely,

Don Eckles

Harvest Roasting

February, 2010 Newsletter

By Don Eckles, President

Hiring the right employees may be one of the most important things you can do for your business.  And yet, it’s often one of the things we spend the least amount of time on.  Making the “wrong” hire is not only a terrible waste of your time and money, it can set your business back temporarily, or even permanently.

I don’t want to over simplify by saying that it’s all about the people and nothing else.  I do believe that the quality and taste of your product is as critical as any other part of your business.  But, I also believe that, all things being equal, customer service, and the people providing that customer service are the difference makers.

First, let me get a couple of things out of the way…

Your products must be exceptional, if you are to thrive in business.  Too many people believe that an Arabica coffee bean is the same as any other Arabica coffee bean.  Or that one flavoring syrup is as good as another.  It’s simply not the case.  Here a smoothie, there a smoothie, everywhere a smoothie smoothieJ.

In this business, there is one GIANT, and then, there’s us…you, me, and 10,000 other coffee houses.  Why do customers come to us?  Starbucks has thousands of stores through-out the country.  Why doesn’t everyone just go there?  Convenience?  Maybe, but they’re pretty convenient in most places.  Customer service?  Could be, but again…they’re pretty good in most stores.  Anti-Giant sentiment?  Don’t fool yourselves…most of the biggest players in any segment are giants.  Ever heard of Wal-Mart or McDonalds?  There aren’t enough anti-giant customers out there to build a business on…unless you’re better.

It’s the quality of the product and, the quality of the customer experience.  That’s where you have to distinguish yourself from the big guys.  Start by taking a look at your products, and the way you make them.  Very few roasters in the country are using only specialty grade beans.  No flavoring syrup that I’ve tried comes close to Monin in quality or taste.  And Maui all natural real fruit smoothies are not only great tasting, they are cost effective, too.

Here’s my only plug for Harvest Roasting.  We roast only the highest grade beans available.  The best of the best.  We sell Monin flavoring syrups and sauces, and Maui smoothie mixes.  We also sell Mont Blanc caramel and white chocolate sauces.  And, because of our volume, we sell things for less than practically anyone else, anywhere.  And, if you order 75 lbs. of our world class coffee beans, we ship your entire order freight free.  Lastly, we sell our coffee beans for around $6.25 per pound (give or take, depending on the bean).  With free shipping on qualified orders, no one can match our price, quality for quality.  No one!  Please call us for samples.  We’d love to work with you.

Now…back to hiring.  Again, assuming your products taste as good as or better than the competition, it will come down to customer service.  In our stores, great employees make all the difference.  When we have a great staff, sales go up.  When our staff needs some attention, sales suffer.  How do we improve our staff?  Two ways, training existing staff, and making better hiring decisions on new hires.

When we advertise for a new hire, we don’t sugar-coat it.  Our application process is a time consuming deal for future hires.  We make them prove to us that they really want to work at one of our stores.  So, as part of the application process, we lay it all out.  We tell prospective employees what we’re looking for, and, if they don’t think that’s them, we tell them they should not apply.   Here is the first page of our on-line application process:

“Boundless Enterprises is seeking freakishly happy people to become awesome Baristas’ for our coffee houses. Those who are “laid back”, “chill” and “too cool for the room” need not apply. And, don’t mistake this for “Fake”. We are looking for truly seriously upbeat, happy people (who can move like their backsides are on fire all the time) aiming to deliver a positive attitude to our customers. Really outgoing individuals whose only mission is to please our fellow human beings, who come to us for great coffee” In a nutshell…We are looking for the best of the best! You bring the personality…we’ll teach you the coffee.”

“Think you can hang with us?  Then click here…”

Then, they click on to a page that gives them many reasons to turn back.  They must read through all the things that a good employee is expected to do if they want to work for us.  “Still Interested?  Click here, and apply”.

Once they do all that, we weed out 70% of the applicants, based on their work history, their

availability, their ability to match our needs, etc.    From that, we interview and, hopefully, hire a great employee.

Here’s what we look for when we interview (taken from our newsletter of February, 2009):

A very clean, well kept person

Appearance is so important.  If they aren’t neat and clean when they come in for the interview, it won’t get better…I can promise you that.  You and your employees are handling things that your customers are going to put in their mouths.   Believe me…they are looking at cleanliness.

Bright, friendly eyes that are full of life

Some people just have a love for life.  Find those people.  They are pleasant to be around, and your customers will feel the same way.

A warm genuine smile

You can’t fake nice for very long.  Nice people attract other people.  Hire genuinely nice people.

Someone who looks you in the eyes when they are talking to you

It’s the best way to tell whoever is speaking to you, that you care about what they’re saying.

Good speaking skills, someone who uses proper grammar

Poor grammar is a real turn-off.  They don’t need to be an English professor, but they do need to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time.

Good listening skills, someone who doesn’t monopolize the conversation

Good listeners know that it’s always about someone else…it’s not about them.

Someone who is not afraid to up-sell (in fact…have them sell something to you during the interview)

This is a great way to find out whether or not you have a winner.  If they are too embarrassed to do this…how are they going to up-sell your customers?  It doesn’t matter how good they are at it (at least when they are practicing on you), it’s the fact that they were willing to try.  If they are willing to try to sell something to you, they will probably be willing to try new things, as your employee.

Once you make a hire, train them well.  Training is not a 1 or 2 day deal.  In a way…it never ends.  Employees must learn to be fast and efficient, clean and friendly.  And they must absolutely understand how important the customer is to the success of them as an employee, and, your business.

Break training down into sections.  Work on teaching 1 area at a time.  Maybe it’s the cash register and greeting the customers.  Then, its drink making.  Then, cleaning procedures.  Then, putting it all together, and learning to do it fast.  An employee needs to get good at one area before they move on to the next one.  And, if at any point, it becomes clear that they are not going to “get it”, we have to say goodbye.  We can’t waste time and money on an employee who is maybe going to harm your business.   That’s a hard decision to make, but, that also why it’s important to make a good hire in the first place.

That’s all for now.    Next time, we’ll talk about up-selling.  Happy selling.

Sincerely,

Don Eckles

Harvest Roasting

December, 2009 Newsletter

By Don Eckles, President

I always like having a specific topic to address in these newsletters.  But that only matters if there are some basics that we don’t need to keep discussing.  Today, I’d like to talk about how important visibility and accessibility are to the success of your business.  But, they are just one piece (actually, two) of the puzzle.

Last week, I was reminded just how important visibility and access are.  I was in Denver working with a store owner who is doing SO MUCH right, but is still not where he needs to be.  He’s frustrated, to say the least.  I mentioned in one of my previous newsletters that he told me he had tried everything I’ve suggested, and it’s still not enough.  Now what?

I went to Denver with an open mind, but suspecting that there MUST be some things that he’s not doing…or at least not doing as well as he could.  I stand corrected.  He has a beautiful store (clean and well lit), an incredible staff, friendly service, tons of traffic going by, but still…sales are sluggish. 

As soon as I drove up, the problem seemed fairly obvious.  Customers don’t see his building.  He sits between a McDonald’s and a Taco Bell, well back from the street.  His building is the same color as the Taco Bell, so it blends right in.  There are lots of trees and shrubs between his store and the passing traffic.  And, because traffic is so heavy, people are not looking around while they drive (they shouldn’t do that anyway), they are looking straight ahead.

I noticed that the people coming in loved the place…and, the baristas new everyone.  They even knew the customer’s dogs names.  They just needed more people to come in.  Here is what I suggested…

His building needs to grab people, and pull them in.  If the customer can’t see his building, he needs to MAKE them see it.  He has a drive thru kiosk, double sided.  His signage is prominent on the street side, with nothing on either end of the building.  The fact is though, the two ends are the only parts of the building that passing cars will easily see.  And, he has a business name that is not obvious to passersby.  In other words, if they could read his sign, they wouldn’t be sure what he sold.

So…we advised him to get two vinyl banners, one for each end of the building.  They will be large (the building is 15 feet wide) and the colors will match his logo.  All they will say is “ESPRESSO”.  That’s all it needs to say.  Anyone who is a potential customer knows that that sign means “it’s a coffee place”.  Once they come in…they can see the name of the business.

The banners need to be attached to the building by screws, not by ropes flapping in the wind.  They need to look like they are actual signs.  And they need to be lit up at night, so potential customers can’t miss seeing them.  I suggested that he go to the hardware store to buy a couple of landscape lights that can be plugged in, and put on a timer.  Cheap and effective.

I also suggested that he replace the acrylic name plate in his monument sign with the word “ESPRESSO”, and move his name plate to below the sign that says drive-thru. 

So instead of the sign saying                             Business Name     it will say,              ESPRESSO

                                                      Drive thru                                         Drive Thru

                                                                                                            Business Name

Same logic as the banners…build your business, and then worry about building your brand. 

Finally, he needs to actively, effectively, market his store.  That’s a tough one for most business owners, whose business is not doing all that well.  Whether it’s that they don’t want to throw good money after bad, or whether they just don’t think they can afford to advertise, this is a scary proposition.

There are two times to market your store.  When it’s new, or, when you have something new that you want customers to try. 

If your store is less than a year old…no matter what people are telling you, and no matter what you’ve done (as far as marketing goes), there are far more people in your trade area who have either not tried your store, or don’t even know that you’re there, than there are people who have tried you.

If your store has been around for awhile, you may need to fix some things before you spend any money on marketing.  Make sure you’re serving a great product, with a big smile, fast.  Make sure your store is clean and well lit.  Then, in your marketing, tell potential customers what you’ve done.  In other words, tell them why they should try you again.

The group I’m with just took over two stores in the Kansas City area.  Neither store was well run, and both we’re doing poorly, financially.  Both stores were poorly staffed.  The one store had a willing and eager staff, but they didn’t have a clue about what was important.  The other store had a staff that couldn’t care less about customer service, or their jobs.  We retrained the staff at one store, and fired everyone but 1 person at the other store.

Sales improved immediately, just because of those things.  But then, we sent out 8000 mailers to every home and business within a 2 mile radius of both stores.  The piece simply said “New Management, New Attitude.  Great Drinks, Amazingly Fast”.  We knew that customers had had bad experiences with these stores.  We wanted to tell them that we have changed, and ask them to try us again.  The postcard had an offer of a free drink (12 oz.).

Sending out a free drink coupon wouldn’t be as effective if we didn’t’ tell customers that “things have changed”.  Why would they want a bad drink with bad customer service…even if it’s free?  We had something new to say, and we couldn’t afford to sit around hoping that the word gets out on its own.            

One other thing about customer retention…in your efforts to build your customer base, don’t be too quick to give away the farm.  By that I mean, don’t lower your prices below what a good margin would allow for, and don’t be anxious to start a customer loyalty program.  Customers will patronize your store because of the products you sell, and the customer service they receive when they buy them…not because they can get a 10 punch card. 

Speaking of products…let me get a plug in for Harvest Roasting.  Everything we sell is the best of the best.  Our coffee beans are the finest in the world, carefully roasted to perfection.  And, they’re priced from $6.50 - $8.25 per pound.  Most roasters can’t touch our quality, and if they can, they are generally much more expensive.  Please contact us at harvestroasting.com.  We’d love to send to samples to you.

We also sell Monin flavoring syrups and sauces, Mont Blanc Sauces, Maui fruit smoothie mixes, cups and lids, paper products, and a host of other things you need to run your business.  And, if you order just 75 pounds of our specialty grade coffee, we’ll ship your entire order, freight free.

We would like to figure out how we can become your supplier of coffee beans and other assorted items.    It would be VERY helpful if you would let us know what we could do to make that an easier decision for you.  Is it lower minimums?  Is it a shipping issue?  Is it freight costs?  Or, is it that you just like buying closer to home?  I know we are not going to get everyone, but if we can serve your needs, that’s a start.

This will be the last newsletter you receive via U.S. mail.  After this, all newsletters will go out via e-mail.  If you have not given us your e-mail, and you would like to continue to receive this letter…let us know.  E-mail Barb Miller at barb@harvestroasting.com.  Also, you will be able to view these letters at our website, which is harvestroasting.com.

Sincerely,

Don Eckles

Harvest Roasting

October, 2009 Newsletter

By Don Eckles, President

It’s been a couple of months since we were able to get our last newsletter out.  We have been VERY busy as we come into a pretty good time of year for the coffee house business.  But still, for those of you who enjoy getting this letter, I apologize.  I generally try to get one out every 6 weeks or so.  I’ll try to keep to that schedule.

Since I last wrote, a strange and disappointing thing has happened.  We have received as “undeliverable” 150 or so newsletters from coffee houses that have closed.  Now, I know they haven’t all closed within the last 60 days, but apparently, many of them have.  Also, the post office has begun returning mail that is undeliverable, on a more regular basis than they did before.

It would be very helpful to know if you enjoy getting these newsletters in the mail, or, if you would read it if it came via e-mail, or, if you’d rather not get it at all.  It is obviously incredibly expensive to mail several thousand of these out every few weeks, but the response we’ve received from many of you has been very gratifying.

After the first of the year, we are going to send the newsletters out, via U.S. mail, only to those who have asked to receive it.  We will also post it on our website.  If you want to continue to receive it, please let us know.  You can e-mail us at accounts@harvestroasting.com

I’m not sure why, but business has never been better…both, in our wholesale distribution business and our coffee house business.  I think some of it has to do with the fact that we expected the economy to go into the tank; therefore, we really focused on our four core principles.  They are:

·                     great drinks

·                     great (over the top) customer service

·                     a clean, well lit store

·                     amazingly fast

In addition to our operations people focusing on these principles, we have also focused on cost control.  Remember, at the beginning of the year, we thought that there would be quite a few business that didn’t survive this down cycle.  We were determined “not” to be one of those companies.

Our group has been preaching these principles to our store managers.  But of those principles, I think the “amazingly fast” part is the hardest for people to get.  EVERYBODY THINKS THEY’RE FAST!  Well, maybe they are…but they’re not fast enough.

Let’s talk about these last two points…

Costs:

As many of you know, I consult.  A couple of weeks ago, I visited with several new customers about their businesses.  Most of these stores are doing enough volume to succeed, but they’re not succeeding.  The owners are very frustrated, and they don’t understand what they’re doing wrong.  As an aside…it’s much easier to help people fix this kind of problem, than it is to fix the lack of customers.

The common denominator in most of these stores is cost of goods and cost of labor, and the self denial that either of these things could be the problem.  Many store owners think their cost of goods is just fine, when in fact, they don’t really know what their cost of goods is.  And almost without exception, cost of labor is an area of opportunity for most operators, too.

On cost of goods, I hear…”I am behind in my bookwork, so I haven’t had a chance to do my P&Ls for the past few months”.  “But, I’m watching my costs, very closely”.  You have to know these numbers!  It’s impossible to run a successful business without knowing (for sure) your cost of goods.

On labor, it’s “I’m working 60 hours a week myself; there is no way to cut labor costs”.  Wanna Bet?

In one of the stores I went into, there were 4 people working in the morning, and, the owner was sitting in the corner working on her computer.  That’s fine if you’re doing $350.00 hours.  But if you’re not…4 people are not needed.  2 people plus the owner would be more than enough.  Learn to work smarter, and thus, faster.

In another store…I went in at 3:00 in the afternoon.  There were 3 employees working.  The husband of the store owner was frustrated that he had to continue to put money into the store (their store volume is close to $30K per month).  I told him that his store was already making money; they were just choosing to spend their profit on payroll.

“But I get big rushes between _____ and ____”…“I have to have _____ people in here”.  Again, are you making those decisions based on facts, or is that more of a feeling?  If you do hourly readings in your store, that will tell you when you need to staff up or staff down.  I have seen very few stores that need 4 people working in the morning, and fewer still that need 3 people working in the middle of the afternoon.

Amazingly Fast:

What is “amazingly fast”?  When you’re busy, it’s under 1 minute per customer.  When you’re really good, it’s 40 seconds per customer (again, that’s when you’re busy).  “We’re doing that”.  Really?  How do you know?  “I’ve watched my people…we really do a good job of getting the customers through”.  Have you ever timed them?  “Yes”.  How long is it taking, when you have a line?  “I think we’re in that “minute” range”.  (Deniiial).

Don’t think…know.  Time your people when they don’t know that you’re timing them.  It’s not to beat people up; it’s to recognize whether or not you have an opportunity to get better.  Also, the faster you get… the fewer people you will need to serve your customers.  More customers…lower costs.  Now that’s a good combination.

I think we all tend to not fully understand the difference that speed of service makes to our bottom line.  Customers will simply not come back if it takes too long.  Or, they won’t come back when they’re in a hurry.  They may not say anything about it (they probably won’t), but they will not come in when they know you’re busy.  That costs you money in lost sales.  Add an extra customer every 5 minutes during your rush, and that could mean extra 10 – 15 customers a day.

Look at it this way…If you get customers through faster, but don’t gain any additional business because of it, what have you lost? If that happens, you’ve at least learned to do more with less.

One of the big misconceptions is that “if I’m busy, I need more people”.  That’s only true to a point.  Having too many people can actually slow you down.  You can actually become less efficient.  How about that?  Now you’re spending more on payroll, and actually slowing the process down.  Geez!

Well, that’s about it for now.  Please check out our web-site, harvestroasting.com.  We will be a supplier you can count on.  And don’t forget to let us know if you’d like to continue to receive these newsletters.

Sincerely,

Don Eckles

Harvest Roasting

August, 2009 Newsletter

By Don Eckles, President

We’ve always believed that there are three things above all else in the specialty coffee business, which determine your success or failure.  They are, #1 great customer service, #2 great drinks, #3 fast service!  That’s assuming that other things, like a good location and a clean, well lit store, are givens. 

We’ve discussed the first two at great length in previous newsletters.  But number 3, speed of service, is almost as important as numbers 1 and 2.  It’s so important that Starbucks has actually hired a “Vice President of Lean Thinking”.    If you visit the following website, you can read the article.  http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB124933474023402611-lMyQjAxMDI5NDA5NDMwMzQ0Wj.html

In the article, they talk about finding efficiencies that will save them seconds per action.  Add those seconds up, and it translates into more customers served at the end of the day. 

Now, we all know that what applies to Starbucks doesn’t always apply to the rest of us.  For example, having time to serve a few more customers each day only matters if you’re so busy that you are somehow not getting as many people through your store as you otherwise could.  But…in this case, and maybe for different reasons, this is something to take very seriously.

I have a favorite pizza place (don’t we all?).  Yesterday at 12:30 p.m., I waited in line for a good 15 minutes before I even got to the order window.  It was very frustrating.  I almost called my order in while I was standing in line, so that they would get started on it before I got to the window.  I didn’t do that because I was worried that the other customers would jump me (hee hee).

Seriously though, I wondered to myself how many of my customers think the same thing when they’re in line at one of our stores.  I’ll bet the number is higher than I think it is.  Customers may or may not be in a hurry, but I can promise you that standing in line, or captured behind others in the drive-thru, is not an experience that people enjoy.

I have always felt that part of great customer service is getting to know the customers, and chatting with them, a bit.  But when you’re busy, it’s time to turn on the after-burners.  Most customers are on their way to somewhere…and it probably isn’t your shop.

A good rule of thumb is 1 minute per customer.  Find ways to do several things (multi-task) at one time.  1 minute may not seem like much time, and it isn’t, but put yourself in the place of the person who is 5^th in line.  If it’s taking you 2 or 3 minutes per customer, that guy is going to wait 10 to 15 minutes to get to the counter.  He’s thinking “is there a Starbucks around here”.

New topic…

How are your costs?  We recently had our milk prices lowered .25 cents per gallon.  Also, last month I told you that we had switched to Maui Smoothie products.  That resulted in a savings of close to 30%.  This could be a good time to revisit supplier costs.

Things are tight for everyone.  Some of your suppliers are willing to sharpen their pencil a bit.  It may also be a good time to talk with some of their competitors.  If you can save .25 cents a gallon on milk…that adds up.

A couple of months ago, we discussed coming up with some new drinks, which are lower in cost of goods.  Now may be the time to look at creating whole new categories.  Re-look at your pasties.  Re-look at your drink menu. 

Try some new products.

If you are not offering smoothies in a big way, you’re missing a huge opportunity.  And no…it’s not too late in the year.  In our stores, we sell smoothies year round.  11% of our winter sales are smoothies…

either fruit or espresso based.  In the summer, it’s 17%.

If we could get you to switch to Maui smoothies, available at harvestroasting.com, Maui will provide you with the point of sales materials you will need to promote the products.  They are all natural, and they are very good.

Here are a couple of great recipes for espresso based smoothies:

20 oz. Blended Mocha…

1 ounce of Monin or Mont Blanc chocolate sauce.     (Harvest Roasting)

2 ounces of freshly pulled espresso                                  (Harvest Roasting)                             

2 tablespoons of vanilla crème powder                          (Harvest Roasting)

5 liquid ounces of low-fat vanilla soft serve                  (milk supplier)

20 ounce cup filled with ice                                               (your ice machine)

Put the chocolate, espresso, vanilla crème powder, and the low-fat soft serve into the pitcher.  Add the ice, blend for at least 20 seconds.  The drink should pour easily out of the pitcher without using a spoon.  Add whipped cream if you choose, and watch your customers smile.

Don’t use pre-pulled espresso shots, or some sort of espresso powder.  What makes this drink so good is the fresh espresso and the high quality chocolate.

You can do the same thing with caramel sauce instead of chocolate.  If you want a blended espresso drink without the chocolate or caramel, use 6 ounces of the low-fat soft serve and 3 ounces of espresso. 

The cost of goods on these drinks is in the low 20% range.  And, they are better than anything your competitors are selling.  Make sure that they are pouring out of the pitcher like silk.  Smoothies need to be, well, smooth.  No ice chunks.

Another product that seems like a good bet, long term, is Mate’ (pronounced  maa-tay).  It’s great hot, iced or blended.  We carry Pixie mate’.  Also, if you’re not carrying Chai, you should be.  Chai is a great winter drink (and very popular), but it’s also great blended or iced.

Whatever else you’re doing, do it well, and with a big smile.  And…don’t forget to pick up the speed.  It matters.

As always, if we can help you with anything, call Barb Miller.  Barb’s number is 402-670-9755.  We’d love to be your supplier.  Don’t forget that we ship your entire order free, with the purchase of 75 lbs. of our fresh roasted, specialty grade coffee beans.

Have a great month.  Thanks for reading this.

Sincerely,

Don Eckles

Harvest Roasting

July, 2009 Newsletter

By Don Eckles, President

It doesn’t’ look like we’re going to miss summer, after all.  I’m not sure how it’s been where you are, but, here in the Midwest, we’ve had a fairly cool spring and early summer.  That all changed in the past couple of weeks.  Summer is finally here.  Sometimes, that means a general slow-down in the specialty coffee business.  Rather than just accept that, we have worked hard this year to switch our customers to “iced” or “blended” drinks, or, smoothies.

Over the years, I’ve noticed a slow-down in June, July, and early August.  I’ve attributed it to a few things…mostly, school being out of session, and the weather.  With school out, you don’t get the teachers, or the moms taking their kids to school, and, you have families taking vacations.  With the weather, sometimes it’s just too darned hot for a cup of coffee (not for me, but for normal people).

This is a great time to piggy-back on to McDonald’s advertising campaigns for iced drinks.  They’re spending millions to promote drinks that (frankly) aren’t particularly good.  I believe that this advertising will create lots of “new” specialty coffee drinkers.  All we have to do is let the customer know where they can get a “good” one.

The problem seems to be the reluctance, on some people’s part, to try “iced” coffee.  To them, it doesn’t sound good, at all.  But, a good iced mocha or iced vanilla latte is incredibly good.  If we can get customers to try one, as often as not, they’ll be year round coffee drinkers.

Maybe a “TRY IT ICED FOR HALF THE PRICE” campaign would get some folks to make the switch.  We have used this in our stores, and it has worked really well.  A week long campaign is plenty of time to let customers try something new.  A banner promoting such an offer, may bring in some “potential” customers who have not tried you before.

An even bigger opportunity, during the summer, is smoothies.  Smoothie sales can actually help you increase sales during the summer.  And, as a segment, smoothie sales are growing rapidly.

Along those lines, let me announce that we have proudly switched to Maui fruit smoothie mixes.  These incredibly high quality fruit smoothie mixes are all natural.  Maui uses real sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup.

Currently, we carry Wild Berry (Raspberry, Blackberry, Strawberry, Blueberry), Strawberry/Banana, Strawberry, Passion Fruit, Mango, Peach, Banana, Lemon Ice, and Pina’ Colada.

These 100% all natural fruit smoothie mixes are not only great tasting…they are VERY reasonably priced.  Those of you who have been Harvest customers for years, know that we don’t switch brands easily.  We have been a Dr. Smoothie distributor for over 10 years.  However, with the high quality product that Maui offers, the price difference can no longer be ignored.  Maui is 20% - 25% less expensive.  That’s huge!  Call Barb Miller for a free sample.  Barb’s number is 402-670-9755. 

Maui joins our line of some of the highest quality products on the market.  They Include:

·                     Monin Gourmet Flavoring Syrups

·                     Mont Blanc Gourmet Sauces

·                     Harvest Roasting Fresh Roasted Specialty Grade Coffee Beans

·                     Pixie Mate’

·                     Pacific Soy Blenders

·                     Dart Containers and Lids

·                     Chinet Cups and Lids

·                     Astoria Espresso Equipment

·                     Fetco and Bunn-O-Matic Coffee Brewing Equipment

·                     Vita-Mix Blenders

·                     Whip-It Whipped Cream Dispensers and Chargers

Don’t’ Forget….

The federal minimum wage is increasing to $7.25 per hour on July 24^th.  In some states, the rate is even higher…check with your local Department of Labor for your local rate. 

This will make things very difficult for some small businesses, who find themselves forced to pay higher wages, but, because of the current economic situation, unable to raise prices.  Thank you members of congress…most of whom who have never had to make a payroll, with their own money, in their lives (oops!  There I go again).

I suggest that you take a hard look at where you can save a little money.  Saving an hour or an hour and a half of payroll a day would make a big difference. 

Or, how about saving the shipping expense on your product purchases?  Don’t forget, we’ll ship any order freight free with an order of 75 lbs. of our “fresh roasted” specialty grade coffee beansJ.  For some stores, that’s over $100.00 per order.

We’re all in this wonderful business together.  The more we can share with, and help one another, the better it is for us all.  If you have any ideas or experiences that you would like to share with our readers, please e-mail them to barb@harvestroasting.com. 

Also, we would like to transition as many of you as we can to e-mail newsletters, for cost control purposes.  If you are willing to receive these via e-mail, please let Barb know.  If you would rather not receive these letters, please let us know that, as well.  It’s our hope that we can help you in some way.  It is not our desire to burden you with “junk” mail. 

Finally…it’s been 2 months since our last newsletter.  Last month, we held an open house, which kept us more than busy.  Thanks to all of you who attended.  And thanks to our supplier partners for their time and investment.  We had a great open house, with gratifying comments from those who attended.  Thanks again.

Don Eckles

Harvest Roasting

Harvest Roasting

By Don Eckles, President

Rome wasn’t built in a day.  I’m reminded of that saying as a result of a conversation I had with

the owner of a coffee shop in the Denver area.  I was asking him how his business is, and he replied that business was up, but it’s still not to the level it needs to be.  He told me that he has done all the things I’ve suggested, but he’s still not there.  After some further discussion, it turns out that his business sales volume is significantly higher than it was 2 months ago, but it still has quite a ways to go.

That reminded me of a time, years ago, when I opened a coffee store in Bellevue, Nebraska.  I had tried a new concept, which at the time was unheard of.  It was a drive thru kiosk, with a drive-up window and no inside seating.  The first day we did $98.00 in sales.  Day 2, it was $103.00.  Day 3…$108.00.  At the time (and remember, this was YEARS ago) we needed $340.00 a day to break even.

Another time, a couple of years later, I opened another drive-thru kiosk with 2 drive-up windows (obviously, the first one eventually worked out).  By 9:00 a.m. the first day, our sales were $9.52.  Honestly, I got out the calculator and tried to figure out how long it would take for me to “go broke” at that rate. 

Both of those stores are still open, but, it took some time.

I think it is important to understand that, you will not get dramatic results if you don’t take dramatic action.  And sometimes, dramatic action is not needed…just some small tweaks.  The kind of action you should take depends entirely on the results you need to achieve.

For example, if your business is running along and doing fairly well, or maybe you’re close to breaking even, but not quite there, you probably just need to fix a few things, and market your store regularly.  But, if you have a new store, or one that has never taken off, you will need to make some serious marketing efforts.

We all know that the specialty coffee business is attracting lots of customers.  If they come in once and like what they get, you probably have a better than even chance to keep that person as a long-term customer.  And that brings us back to marketing.  If you market your store regularly (maybe weekly) but on a small scale…over time, you will build a solid customer base.  Adding just 3 or 4 new “regular” customers a week will result in 156-208 new regular customers after 1 year.  If your per cap is $4.00 per ring, that means a sales increase of $624.00 - $832.00 per week.  And that’s just adding 3-4 customers per week.  What if you double that, or triple it?  Refer back to our January newsletter for some great, small scale, marketing ideas.

My friend in Denver has a different issue.  He has a new store, which has started off slower than everyone expected, and is building steadily (but, slowly).  His situation calls for a focused marketing effort.  A “shotgun approach” will work eventually, but will not be nearly as effective in the short-term.  And by shotgun approach, I mean trying a little bit of everything.  I love the free drink promotion, which I also addressed in the January newsletter.  Not just an offer of free drinks…but, targeted marketing, directed to every household within a certain radius of the store.  In larger cities, I do up to 2 miles.  In smaller communities, I do the whole town.

It is definitely more expensive to do it that way, but, if the promotion costs $2,500.00, and your sales increase by $50.00 to $100.00 per day long term, the benefits far out weigh the cost.  See below…

If you increase daily sales by just $50.00 per day (which is very do-able), that means a monthly increase of approximately $1,500.00.  If your cost of goods is running 30% of sales, your monthly profit would be $1,050.00, or $12,600.00 per year.  If your sales increase by $100.00 per day (also, very do-able), your profit is over $25K per year.  Those are great returns on a $2,500.00 investment.  Send out more mailers, get a bigger result.  If your drinks are better than your competitor’s drinks, and if your customer service is as good or better, you will see nice short and long-term gains from a promotion like this.  My original point is, whatever you do…keep after it.  Rome wasn’t’ built in a day.

If you would like to review any of our archived newsletters, they are free, and available on our web-site, which is harvestroasting.com.

Last month, I told you that we are actively trying to reduce cost of goods another 4%.  While that is VERY difficult to do, we are over half way there.  At our open house, we will be showing some of the new products which are putting us on the road to that goal.

Can you come to Omaha for our open house on June 6th?  We will try to make it very worthwhile for you.  To date, we have manufacturer reps. from several of our largest and best suppliers, including Mont Blanc Gourmet, Monin, Creative Juices, Kristen’s Cookies, and, The Tea Smith.

We plan to offer the following:

• Espresso drink making and preparation
• Coffee education and tasting
• Smoothies
• An open forum for exchange of ideas among business owners and mangers
• A question and answer session

We will provide a small lunch and an “after-show” barbeque at no charge.  There will be plenty of time to visit with others in the business, to share ideas, and get to know each other.

Our goal is for you to become a customer and friend of Harvest Roasting.  We hope to accomplish that by helping you become as successful as you can be in this business.  We believe that starts with quality products.  We want to help you take those quality products and turn them into the best drinks available.  I assure you that we will not pressure you in any way. 

We want to serve the coffee industry by providing the things you need to thrive. 

That’s why we started sending out these newsletters every few weeks.  We know how difficult it is to get good advice for free.  Everyone seems to have “an angle”.  Our angle is simple…we hope that you come to see us as something more than a supplier of products.  We want to be your business partner, as well.

That’s why we purchase, roast and package only specialty and premium grade Arabica coffee beans, and, that’s why we sell them for around $6.00 per pound.  Do you know that some people have actually “not” purchased our beans because they are concerned that we couldn’t possibly be selling high grade beans for such a low price.  If you have questions about that, please contact Craig Holt at Atlas Coffee Importers and ask him about Harvest Roasting.  Craig’s number is 800-701-5211.

That’s why we carry only the best products on the market.  If we believe that Mont Blanc makes the best caramel or white chocolate sauce in the world, why would we sell others?  If we believe that Monin offers the worlds best flavoring syrups, why would we convince someone to buy something else?  Using the best products to make your drinks will never disappoint you.  The question is…can you buy the best products for about the same price as the lower quality products?  Because of our volume…the answer is “yes”!  

That’s why we sell most of what you need to operate your business.  You can get it all in one place.  And, if you purchase 75 lbs. of our fresh roasted coffee beans, we’ll ship your entire order freight free.  We have it all… the world’s finest grade coffees and teas, cups and lids, paper products, syrups and sauces, smoothie mixes and supplements, and assorted other items.

Now, because we want you to come to our open house, and because we need you to let us know that you are coming (for food estimates); we’re offering a pre-show special.  If you let us know that you will be attending, by the end of the day on May 20^th, we will give you 50% off every order you place in June…and, we’ll ship all of those orders freight free.  Please contact Barb Miller at 402-670-9755 to confirm your attendance.  If you can’t pre-register, or, you’re not sure that you can come, just yet…don’t let that stop you from attending.  We will give all attendees 25% off all of their June orders.  Hopefully, we’ll see you on June 6^th.

Sincerely,

Don Eckles

Harvest Roasting

April Newsletter

By Don Eckles, President

Today, I want to talk about profit…how important it is to all of us…how it relates directly to our survival as a viable entity, and how to make more of it (or, any of it).  Because the reality is…we need to make a profit in the short term, as well as the long term.

As I’ve mentioned many times before…the group I’m with owns 19 coffee houses and drive thru kiosks.  We face the very same issues you face, on a daily basis.  How do we make more money in the profitable stores, and how do we make a profit in unprofitable stores?

In football terminology, it’s all in the blocking and tackling…doing the fundamentals right, day in and day out.  Those fundamentals are:

·                     Great Customer Service

·                     Great Tasting, High Quality Products

·                     Clean  Comfortable Store

·                     Correct Pricing Structure

·                     Cost of Goods at 30% (or under) of Gross Sales

·                     Cost of Labor at 25% of Gross Sales

·                     Continual Effective Marketing

But what if you’re doing most of that, and you’re still not profitable?  Then, you take off your manager’s hat, and become a CEO.  It’s time to re-evaluate everything.  If you’re hitting most of the above targets, and you’re still not doing as well as you need to do, then figure out how to drive costs down, and sales up.  Right now, we’re trying to drive cost of goods down another 4%.  If we can do that (and I think we can), it would make a huge difference to our bottom line.

There are two ways to drive sales up…bring in more customers, or, sell more to the ones who are already coming in.  Doing both is obviously the preferred option.

Driving costs down is trickier.  However, it’s an important piece to your long-term success.  Did you know that the cost of goods on a 12 oz. latte is around 20%?  That’s really good.  So why is your overall cost of goods in the low to mid 30s?  It is either your pricing structure or your product mix.

Currently, we are re-looking at our complete menu.  We’re not going to cut costs by using an inferior product…that’s the beginning of the end for any business.  Instead, we’re looking at the cost of each item we sell verses its retail price, and…how much are we are selling of that particular item. 

We make a good profit on coffee, coffee drinks, coffee smoothies, and tea.  We don’t do as well on pastries and sandwiches, and…we sell fewer of them.  So, as we look to improve our bottom line, we need to look at removing unprofitable or slow moving items from our menu, and replacing them with higher margin items, or items that would add to the customer’s total purchase.

It makes no sense to sell an item for which you make little or no money. In a coffee house, most of what you sell is coffee, coffee drinks, smoothies and pastries.  Look at each of those, and focus on the ones with the highest margins and price point.

For example…

Create a new drink of the month (or week).  Make it look good and taste good, and, price it so that you make a good margin.  How about a peanut butter mocha?   The 12 ounce version has ½ oz. of Monin peanut butter syrup, ½ oz. of Monin chocolate sauce, 1.5 – 2 ounces of espresso, whipped cream, and chocolate drizzle.  Including milk, a cup and a lid, your cost of goods (at Harvest Roasting prices) is less than 67 cents per drink.  If you sell it for $3.35, your cost of goods as a percentage is 20%.  WOW!!!   And, customers love trying new things.  Write it on your “featured drink” board, and watch them sell.

How about new customers?  You can create a whole new segment by offering a premium tea program.  The cost of goods on tea is even better than it is on coffee, and, you’re not just switching your coffee customers to tea…you’re bringing in a whole new customer…creating a new segment for your business.  Harvest Roasting offers a complete line of premium teas…some of the best in the world.  These are whole leaf teas from the Tea Smith.  We have the tea, the bags, and the accessories.  Everything I read in the industry and everything I sense from my conversations with industry experts tells me that tea is going to be big.  And, it’s not too far away.  We would love to send some samples to you, with brewing instructions for hot and iced varieties.  Just e-mail us at harvestroasting.com.

It’s difficult to get a lot of good information into two pages of a newsletter, though we try our best.  We are in the process of expanding our mailing list to include coffee houses in 48 states.  We are also planning to hold an “Open House” at our roasting and distribution facility in Bellevue, Nebraska.  It looks like the date will be Saturday, June 6^th.  We will begin at 10:00 a.m. and end at 4:00 p.m.  Lunch and a “after show” barbeque will be provided. 

At the open house, we will have:

·                     Training and Seminars,

·                     Manufacturers reps.,

·                     Coffee Tastings with Bill Kipper, our Director of Roasting Operations,

·                     Free food

·                     Show discounts

I will discuss the open house in more detail in the next couple of newsletters.  Please set that date aside, and plan to come to beautiful Omaha for the day.

We hope to have one of our sales people, Barb Miller or Traci Gabriel, contact you within the next few weeks…to see if you are getting some good from these letters, if we can help you in any way, and if you might have an interest in coming to Omaha for our open house.  Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts with them.  If you would like to contact them ahead of time, feel free to do so.  Barb’s e-mail is barb@harvestroasting.com., Traci’s is traci@harvestroasting.com.

Lastly, please allow me to make a pitch for Harvest Roasting.  We have been roasting the world’s highest grade Arabica coffee beans for over 10 years.  And we’ve been supplying it to some of the country’s best coffee stores.  We sell it for a low price because of our huge volume.  You honestly will not find a higher quality coffee anywhere.

Same with our flavoring syrups and sauces.  We’ve been offered distributorships for most of the names you know.  We choose Mont Blanc and Monin because they are better than everyone else.  No question about it.

And, we’ll ship your entire order, anywhere in the country; freight free, with an order of 75 pounds of our fresh roasted, specialty grade coffee beans.  If you don’t currently use that much per week, you can order every two weeks or even every three weeks.  You can get most of what you need, right here…coffee beans, syrups, sauces, smoothie mixes and powders, cups and lids, straws, sugar and condiment packets, cup sleeves, teas, and all kinds of accessories.

I give you my word that we will take good care of you.  We’ll do everything in our power to help you succeed.  Please contact Barb or Traci via e-mail, and we’ll get some samples out to you, right away.  I think you will find that getting it all from one source, and having the highest quality products on the market, will make life easier for you.  And, I’ll bet your customers will notice a good difference.

Thanks for reading this.

Sincerely,

Don Eckles

Harvest Roasting

February Newsletter

By Don Eckles, President

Now may be the time to upgrade your staff.  Whoa!  If one of your employees opened this letter, you may not even see it.  But seriously…now may be the perfect time to evaluate your staff, and make changes, if changes are needed.

Regular readers of this newsletter know that I think customer service is one of the most important parts of your business.  Customer service is as important as your location, and, it’s more important than your pricing structure or the brand of syrup you use (no offense, Monin).

It’s well known that people buy from people they like.  It has always been that way.  You can’t resist great customer service…not if it’s genuine.  A pretty good drink and a warm friendly smile will always win out over a great drink, handed out with indifference.

Indifference is everywhere.  I can’t tell you how “bugged” I am when the person checking me out at the grocery store carries on a conversation with the check-out person in the next lane…completely ignoring me.  Or, how I feel when I pull into a fast food place, and the window opens…someone say’s $3.89 (O.K…they really say $5.89)…and the window closes.  A few seconds later, the window opens again, someone hands my change out, and the window closes again.  Man…I can’t wait to go to that place again.

On the other hand, I had lunch in a national chain yesterday.  My server told me about the specials of the day, offered me a “regular customer card” of some sort, wrote my name on the card and told me how the program worked, and called me by my name several times during my time there.  When I left, she said “it was nice to meet you, Don”.  Wow.  I was not only impressed…I’m going to offer that lady a job.

We all need people like that representing us to our customers.  Customers get a wonderful feeling when they are treated really well.  They can’t get enough of the place.  And they certainly wouldn’t go anywhere else for their coffee.  They would almost feel like they were “cheating on you”.  People with great customer service skills make you feel like you’re a friend.  Their whole focus is on you and how they can make your day better.  It’s so enjoyable that you kind of hate to leave the place.  THAT is great customer service. 

We sell coffee and assorted products to a store in south central Nebraska.  The couple that owns the store have it all figured out.  He is warm and easy to talk to…she is “out of this universe” friendly.  With her, “Hi” is spelled “Hiiiiii!  You just want to get your wallet out and say “here…take it…it’s yours”.  That friendliness has served them well in the past few years.  Another coffee store has come to town.  It has a better location, 2 drive thru windows, and a great looking building.  What they don’t have is Greg and Kim.

You know people like that.  In fact, you may be a person like that.  But you should strive to have everyone in your store be a person like that.  And, repeating what I said at the top of this letter…now may be the time to find those people.

With the economy struggling, many people are unemployed or underemployed.  When we run ads now, looking for help, we get dozens, if not hundreds of applications.  There are some very gifted and friendly people out of work, through no fault of their own.  Some of those people would be wonderful additions to your staff.  Or, they may actually be on your staff now.

If you have that person, now may be the time to sit down and talk about building a business together.  Talk about what it’s going to take, and the new attitudes that will be required.  Generally, unless you have a real “dud”, your employees will be excited to be part of something new and better.  They know what it means if your business doesn’t make it…they lose their job, too.

If you don’t have that person, now may be the time to find them, and start moving forward.  You need someone who is not only willing to try, but anxious to try.

Here’s what you should look for…

A very clean, well kept person

Appearance is so important.  If they aren’t neat and clean when they come in for the interview, it won’t get better…I can promise you that.  You and your employees are handling things that your customers are going to put in their mouths.   Believe me…they are looking at cleanliness.

Bright, friendly eyes that are full of life

Some people just have a love for life.  Find those people.  They are pleasant to be around, and your customers will feel the same way.

A warm genuine smile

You can’t fake nice for very long.  Nice people attract other people.  Hire genuinely nice people.

Someone who looks you in the eyes when they are talking to you

It’s the best way to tell whoever is speaking to you, that you care about what they’re saying.

Good speaking skills, someone who uses proper grammar

Poor grammar is a real turn-off.  They don’t need to be an English professor, but they do need to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time.

Good listening skills, someone who doesn’t monopolize the conversation

Good listeners know that it’s always about someone else…it’s not about them.

Someone who is not afraid to up-sell (in fact…have them sell something to you during the interview)

This is a great way to find out whether or not you have a winner.  If they are too embarrassed to do this…how are they going to up-sell your customers?  It doesn’t matter how good they are at it (at least when they are practicing on you), it’s the fact that they were willing to try.  If they are willing to try to sell something to you, they will probably be willing to try new things, as your employee.

       It’s been interesting watching how various stores seem to do during difficult times.  We’ve noticed that, in stores where we have a great staff, business always gets better.  In stores where the staff is poor to OK, business stagnates or drops.  If we fix the staffing issue, business turns around.  It really is about taking good care of our customers.

I hope you have noticed that my newsletters are about constantly moving forward.  There is no such thing as a ½ empty glass (not for successful people)…only a ½ full one.  My intent is to help you see the potential your business has.  It doesn’t matter where you are, or which challenges you face, there is a solution, and that solution is wearing your shoes (you are the solution).  Be proactive with your business.  You have time and money invested…you can make it work.

Finally…have you noticed our new web-site?  It is harvestroasting.com.  Great new look…easy to navigate.  As always, we have the best products on the planet, and they are competitively priced.  Please try our world class espresso and coffee beans.  With any order of 75 lbs. of coffee or espresso, we’ll ship your entire order, freight free.  That includes syrups, smoothies, sauces, cups and lids, etc.  By the way, we have added Chinet’s line of triple insulated cups to our site.  They are called “Comfort Cups”. We currently have 16 ounce and 20 ounce cups.  The lids are black, and they fit both sizes.  We will have the 12 ounce cups in stock very soon.

Thanks for reading this.  I hope you get some good from it, and that it helps you to grow your business effectively.  Past newsletters are available on our web-site.  If we can help you with anything, please contact Barb Miller at 402-670-9755.  Or, you can e-mail him at barb@harvestroasting.com

Sincerely,

Don Eckles

Harvest Roasting

By Don Eckles, President

How is Business?  Are you concerned about what lies ahead in 2009?  Just this week, huge, well known companies have announced closure or bankruptcy, or both.  Even in the specialty coffee business, a large regional player has gone down.  What does that mean to you?  Maybe nothing…but, it sure should be a reminder of what happens when we get lazy, or when we cut corners.

In our company, we see this as a time of great opportunity, while at the same time recognizing the realities of the market.  In the past 2 or 3 months, we have purchased 3 coffee stores from banks for pennies on the dollar.  These are stores that were doing fairly well, as far as sales volume goes, but were completely out of control in the area of debt and operating expenses.  The same thing could happen to us, or you, if we’re not diligent about sales and expenses.

In the past few newsletters we talked about the importance of using high quality products, controlling cost of goods and cost of labor, and, giving exceptional customer service.  In this edition, we’re going to discuss marketing, and the impact it could have on your business.  And, we’re going to look at how you can market your store for very little money.

Before you start any marketing program, I think it’s essential that you know what it is that you’re going to market.  In other words…what is it about your store that would entice a customer to come to you instead of someone else?  Do you make better drinks?  Is your atmosphere better?  Is it a lower price?  Are you more convenient or do you provide better and faster customer service?  If you can honestly say “yes” to most of those things, you’ve got a winner, and you need to tell someone (customers) about it.  If you can’t say “yes” to at least a few of those things, you need to figure how you can truthfully change your answer.  Look back at our past newsletters for some free advice relating to these areas of your business.

Once you’ve figured out what separates you from the crowd, you need to find a way to get people to try your store.  Make sure your staff is prepared for the extra business, and that your store is ready for its debut.  Once you start marketing your store, people will come in.  You need to be sure that, once they come in, the experience is so good that they will come back, again and again. 

Marketing on a budget:

The least expensive form of advertising is called “gorilla marketing”.  It’s not fancy, but it’s effective.  It can be as simple as you or some of your employees going to neighboring businesses and passing out some coupons, or taking some samples of coffee and muffins.  Be sure to leave a take-out menu with each business you visit.  You will be surprised at just how many people have never tried your store, or maybe didn’t even know you were there.  Make sure the samples are “out of this world” good, and that, whoever is going on your behalf, knows the importance of a big smile and a warm invitation.

I love banners.  They’re inexpensive, and VERY effective.  You may need a temporary sign permit to put a banner out, but it is very much worth the expense.  When we want to market a new store, or one that needs a jump start, we like to do a 3 day “free drink” promotion.  We put out a banner announcing that all 12 ounce drinks are free for a certain number of days, and, that all other drinks and smoothies are $1.00 off for the same period.  The 1st day you’ll give away quite a few drinks, but will still sell a surprising number of drinks for $1.00 off.  Day 2 you’ll do more…and the 3rd day, more still.  I always tell customers to “tell your friends and co-workers that the drinks are free”.  The idea is to get as many people as possible to try your drinks.

Direct mail can be a great way to build your business…if the offer is right, and you’re ready to “wow” people when they come in.  Do not do one of those “mailer” campaigns, where your ad is one of a dozen or so that gets sent to homes in the area.  Do your own piece.  It’s more expensive, but the results can be staggering.  You can create a very nice piece and produce 10,000 of them for less than $1,500.00.  Then, you can bulk mail them for about a quarter a piece.

Or, you can create a different piece…one that offers a free drink, and maybe a five punch card which, after filling, gives the customer another free drink (this gives you 7 chances to impress that customer).  With an offer like this, the best way to distribute the cards is by buying a few boxes of clear plastic bags with a slit for a handle…put a card in the bag, then, go through the neighborhoods and hang them on doors.  It takes longer, but it’s also much less expensive.  You could see a return in the 8%-15% range, which is much better than the 1%-2% range you’ll get from most mailer programs.  And, with the plastic bags that you hang yourself, you can do 200 or so each week.  That allows you to really focus on the new people coming in, and to absorb the cost of the promotion a little bit at a time.

Don’t be shy about asking for some financial support from your suppliers or your franchisor.  Many franchisors will offer co-op dollars for marketing, and many suppliers will give you some free products to help support your efforts.  Don’t ask your milk delivery person…call his boss and ask.  Same with coffee…call your roaster and ask for some marketing support.  Your cup supplier would probably provide you with a case or two of cups, if you ask.

One last thing about marketing.  You won’t get the most bang for your buck, if your store looks shabby.  Make sure the lights are working, inside and out.  Look at the store through the eyes of a customer.  Is it clean and comfortable?  Are the employees clean and neat?  Do they know their stuff?  You’ll get 1 or 2 chances with a new customer, so you must get it right.

I hope you find these letters helpful…

Remember, if you feel the need for some additional help, we do consult.  The cost of consulting is $500.00 per day, plus expenses.  But, we’ll give you that $500.00 per day back in the way of free products from Harvest Roasting.  So, for the cost of the expenses, you can get consulting help.  If you’re a current Harvest coffee bean customer, I might be able to help you over the phone…and that’s free.  Also, if you would like to receive this newsletter via e-mail, please let us know.  You can e-mail me directly at don@harvestroasting.com.   Give us your e-mail address and the name and location of your business, and we’ll take care of the rest.

Finally…we would love to be your coffee supplier.  Harvest Roasting supplies most of the products for coffee houses all over the country, every week.  Please check out our web-site, or call Barb Miller.  Barb’s number is 402-670-9755.  Our web-site is www.harvestroasting.com.  As an added inducement, we’re offering free shipping on your entire order, when you purchase at least 75lbs. of our specialty and premium grade fresh roasted coffee beans.  If you’re currently not using 75 lbs. of beans per week, you can order every other week, or even once a month.  As long as you order 75 lbs. of beans, we’ll ship your entire order, freight free.  That includes syrups and sauces, smoothie mixes, cups and lids…everything.  Ask Bill for details.

Here’s hoping that 2009 will not only be a year you survive, but one in which you thrive.

Sincerely,

Don Eckles

Harvest Roasting