TCMBA #9 - What Your Coffee Customers DON’T Want
Let’s dig into what customers do NOT need from you.
❌ They don’t want flowery language.
❌ They don’t want complication.
❌ They don’t want excessive options.
What they DO want is simplicity. A clear choice.
84% of companies that work to improve their customer experience report an increase in revenue.
Reduce friction, improve sales.
Here’s an awesome article from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management about decision fatigue. If you really want to improve your customer experience, I highly recommend reading it!
Ever feel overwhelmed when trying to make a choice? I do…
I struggle with complicated menus. There was a deli in my hometown that had about 15 sandwiches and none of their names told you “what’s in the tin.” The smoked turkey sandwich was called “Mark’s Last Hurrah.” Basically, you had to read the description of every single sandwich.
Imagine you’re up next to order your lunch and there are hurried businessmen lining up behind you. Meanwhile, you need to read every hand written sign to learn what each sandwich entails.
This situation makes my hands sweat.
So what do I do? Order anything recognizable. Like a salad in the deli case with ingredients I can literally see and identify. Then I avoid that deli at all costs.
This reminds me of a lot of websites and retail racks I see. They have endless rows of single origin coffees or blends that have abstract names.
Do you have a row of 15 coffees that are named after farms or farmers?
Then you might want to consider helping someone like me out (us folks with situational anxiety).
Here are some ideas on how you can offer a more enjoyable experience:
Say what’s in the tin. The name or description of your product should make clear what it is. Sounds obvious, but it sadly isn’t. Avoid names like Mark’s Last Hurrah unless you’re offering other clues to inform customers. This could be a section of the shelf with a huge sign that says “smooth and chocolatey coffees.”
Favor clarity. Lean toward clear and concise language. Lean away from overly clever language.
Suggest options on rotation. Have a new bag of coffee by the point of sale each day to make grabbing an option simple for the customer. Have a landing page on your website that rotates through a new coffee each week.
Provide language for baristas to suggest a single coffee per week. Not for them to repeat word for word, but for them to get comfortable making a clear suggestion. When I worked as a barista I often didn’t even need to explain myself when suggesting a coffee. I could just say, “I love this one!” and BOOM, purchased. Social proof is powerful!
Bonus option for the long-haul: If there’s something on your bag that doesn’t help with decision-making, take it off. Does anyone use elevation to make a choice about their coffee purchase? How about the length of time you’ve worked with the farm? This is great information for a website, not a coffee bag.
A final note on this:
Don’t over think it! It’s okay if your website promotes the same coffee two weeks in a row or you can’t quite get the language right.
Just try!
By thinking about it and putting in the effort you’re going to get so much further than when you started.
When you’re ready for help, here’s how we can work together:
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