Slow & Steady
Keeping Traffic Moving Through Your Coffeehouse
By Margot Chase

Today's coffee consumer is a creature unlike any we've known in the past. Some are well-educated with a fine palate, and some prefer to sugar up their morning kick with any number of enhancements. Some linger in the corner for hours, sipping the same cup, and some are in and out in mere minutes, rushing off to a number of tasks. Retailers attract customers to their shops in a number of ways: It's a meeting place for friends, for job interviews and book clubs, a perfect spot to work on a term paper or simply catch up on local gossip and news. The coffeehouse has become a standard social hub, essential to a thriving community.

Every owner strives to create a bustling business.
A coffeehouse should be filled with satisfied patrons and hard-working employees. But even those that provide the best brews will experience slow days when the customers just stop coming in. Down time means a chance for employees to regroup, restock and prepare for the next rush. But if you find that at certain times of the day your cascade of customers dwindles, and instead of lines out the door, you see empty chairs and idle employees, you're not alone. If slower times are a constant concern-a long stretch of down time after your morning rush or a deserted shop mid-week-there are steps you can take to improve your customer base, and encourage new business.
   Each location has variables that contribute to the flow of customers. Most coffeehouses do 90 percent of their business in the morning, and you can bank on some seasons being slower than others. Often a gap in sales can lead to even more profit losses, exhibited in missed opportunities. If your customer base is dwindling, take a good look at the way you operate and see if there isn't room for improvement. Slow days may be unavoidable, but there are ways to minimize them, and to spend your time wisely when you have a chance to sit down and think.
   Take a look around. In order to see how you can improve, you have to first understand your surroundings, and how you fit in with your community. What is the average age of residents in your surrounding area? Who frequents your shop and what demographic would you like to see more of? What will fit the community's economic need? Where is your coffeehouse located? Location is an all-important factor, determining how busy your cash register will be. Finding answers to these kinds of questions, says Bruce Milletto, president of Bellissimo Coffee InfoGroup, can make or break your business. "No coffee bar can subsist on the morning crowd alone," he states.

Instant Motivation
As a retailer, you know that customer demand will fluctuate not just seasonally, but throughout the day. There will always be days that are busier than others; such fluctuation is part of the business world. But what about those stretches that seem to drag on with few customers in sight? Do you find that your employees lose interest and become unmotivated? There are steps you can take to not only keep your coffeehouse productive and lively, but to use this down time to your advantage, preventing slow times from turning into a total loss.
   It's important to consider how slower days will affect your employees. "We call it the 'bored sheepdog theory,'" says Philip Anacker of Flying Goat Coffee in Healdsburg, Calif. "When there isn't much going on, [employees] start getting into trouble." If you're lucky, you have a staff of enthusiastic baristas who are eager to please. They will perform better if given a goal-your employees want to feel like they're accomplishing something-and it may take just a bit of guidance on your part. "There's always something to do," says Anacker, "and most coffee shops don't prepare for when it's slow." Heeding his own advice, Anacker has come up with a list of more than 100 tasks, in order of importance, that employees can refer to when they hit a slow point. The list includes everything from cleaning the espresso machine and restocking shelves, to sprucing up areas visible through the windows and sweeping outside the store. The list provides guidance and allows employees to take responsibility without having to ask for direction. If you're able to keep your employees motivated, they will take the initiative to judge what needs to be done and decide how their time will be spent most efficiently.
   Anacker contributes much of the success of Flying Goat Coffee to the surrounding community (and to the tenacity of his founding partners). More than 10 years ago, he and his partners envisioned their coffeehouse as a meeting place for locals, and they fostered a sense of belonging with the community that is evident today. They found that by becoming part of the community, they were able to provide a lasting service to a community that appreciates high-quality products. So even in the downtime that the store might experience, they are part of the community and the burden felt by a lagging coffeehouse is the burden felt by a community's stalled business.
   Fostering a communal atmosphere is essential to building a lasting business, as is finding new and retaining old customers. Creating the right atmosphere for your clientele takes careful planning. Be open to suggestions from customers and employees, and put yourself in a position to really listen to what customers are asking for-but make judgments based on what is best for your business. Anacker recently decided not to introduce WiFi into his cafés. Although there is a recognizable demand for the service, his decision was based on a touchy subject when it comes to owning a coffeehouse. It depends on how one defines downtime or a slow business day. WiFi encourages customers to linger for longer periods of time. By some coffeehouse owners' definitions, this can viewed as the antithesis of making sales. But it can be looked at another way as well: If the seats are full, it's a sign of strong business and encourages others to come inside. However, if seating is a problem for you, you might want to find alternative ways to satisfy your customers.

Setting the Mood
How much space do you have? If you've got extra space that you're only using as storage, consider reorganizing to use the area as a meeting place for political groups, book clubs and perhaps even classes. All can be hosted free of charge. Post a sign-up sheet and before you know it, all 14 members of a book club will be having a cup of coffee and a pastry each week. Even if you're not making a huge profit on your sales, this will further help brand your establishment as an integral part of local commerce.
   Perhaps the most important and most often overlooked component of the coffeehouse atmosphere is music. It's one of the first things a customer will notice upon entering. Music is an incredible tool for setting a mood and creating the right vibe. Consider retail clothing stores and the carefully selected soundtrack that keeps customers shopping. Music is so prevalent that we often block it out, but you can use it to your advantage. If you're leaving the musical choice up to whichever barista you happen to have on staff that day, your customers won't benefit from the consistency of a well-thought-out music plan. Says Anacker, "It's difficult to choose music that's not too invasive or aggressive but is still interesting and unique, and is something customers may not hear elsewhere." Although it is time consuming to put together medleys that will last throughout the working day, it may pay off in droves of customers (or drive them away, depending on you and your customer's tastes in music). The goal is to choose music that's not too distracting, loud or inappropriate, but piques your interest while continuing to be something you can easily talk over.
   Much of creating new business and avoiding slow days can be accomplished by getting the word out about your services and making people aware of your name. One way to gain a great deal of exposure quickly is to provide entertainment or host special events. In many cities, coffeehouses are as well-known as major venues, and are quickly gaining recognition for hosting an eclectic mix of performances. If these performances have a local bend, they are much more likely to attract the attention of the crowd you want to draw in. Book local musicians. Contact local writers to do readings. Hang the work of local artists and host an event showcasing their wares.

Time is on Your Side
Finding alternatives that will draw different customers at different times of the day can be challenging. If the morning is your busiest time, maximize the number of products you offer those customers. Anacker suggests fresh-squeezing some organic grapefruit juice. Employees can prepare individual drinks before the morning rush using cold-drink cups. You can store the drinks on ice, creating an appealing visual display while keeping your drinks fresh and cold.
   Cold beverages are excellent in the hot summer months, and you might want to focus on diversifying your iced tea menu to capitalize on that market. Anacker suggests creating different summertime brews of iced tea to keep the customers coming in.
   If you consistently experience a mid-afternoon slow period, consider offering light lunch fare. This has become so prevalent that most customers wouldn't dream of entering a coffeehouse that didn't offer something for the lunchtime crowd. If you're hesitant to take the next step in offering elaborate lunch and snacking options, consider that it may only take a short time each morning to prep for sandwiches, soups and salads, and with a little sprucing and creative presentation, you can turn those basics into high-end profits.

   Providing something hot is a good option, especially in the colder months, and you are usually able to charge more for that extra bit of preparation. This doesn't mean you need to tear down a wall to install a new kitchen; Milletto suggests jacketed skillets, which don't need hoods and are less expensive than conventional stovetops.
   Before you decide to expand your menu in this way, make sure there is need for it at your location. As Anacker realized, more is not always better. After careful consideration, he made the tough decision to pull sandwiches and salads from his menu, so he could focus on coffee and baked goods. At his Healdsburg location, there were many surrounding restaurants, and Anacker wanted to focus on providing the best possible cup of coffee, which has the best profit margin. This allowed Anacker's employees to focus on the coffee, and to become incredibly proficient baristas and counter staff. While there were initial negative reactions to the decision, it proved to be the right direction for the business.
   If after the morning and afternoon bustle, your customer traffic slows to a trickle in the evenings, consider making your daytime haven evening-friendly. You can make the transition subtle and simple by adding candles to tables and offering select wines and high-end gourmet beers. Regional bottles are always a draw, and can be a conversation starter. You could even justify a tasting to make a proper decision about what ends up on the menu. Customers love the opportunity to try different coffees. For them it's a chance to sneak behind the scenes of the coffee world, and they realize it is all geared toward making them happier as customers. Taken a step further, gelato or quality ice cream may be a viable option for you. Providing desserts and alcoholic beverages can liven up the shop in the evenings, encouraging an after-work or after-dinner crowd.

Simple Specials
When you know that business will be crawling at a slow pace mid-week, or that customers will all but stop coming in at a certain time, it's time to try offering a promotion. This could help to quickly move a certain product, or to encourage customers to come in during a slow time. What better way to showcase a special product than by offering free samples? Flying Goat offers free French press tastings for new blends, so their customers can really discern that they are purchasing a high-quality specialty coffee. Not only are customers drawn to anything free, they will identify with the company as a true high-end niche beyond other coffeehouses.
   Also at Flying Goat Coffee, their espresso happy hour has been a huge hit. Charging 50 cents per espresso encourages customers to appreciate the flavor of different blends. It's also a fast way to get people addicted to your coffeehouse's espresso beverages. The happy hour created a buzz that attracted a crowd, enough to make a small profit. Weaning their customers off the typical American fondness for over-sweetened espresso beverages and encouraging them to appreciate the flavors of quality coffee has been fruitful for Flying Goat Coffee. For example, customers can taste an organic coffee from Rwanda, and hear the exceptional story behind how it arrives in their cup. Maintaining a high level of customer interest and ensuring well-educated baristas is just good business for your business.
   Try using two espresso blends, one darker, more robust blend for drinks made with milk, and one lighter, sweeter blend for espressos. Making distinctions between brewed and espresso coffee is a perfect way to educate patrons and keep them coming back.
   Most of your customers drink coffee or tea every day, yet the average coffee or tea drinker knows relatively little about what they're consuming. Ensure that your baristas are well-educated and able to answer questions from customers or offer tips on preparation. If given the right circumstances, a customer will benefit from a barista who has the time to tell them a bit about the brew they're serving up, which can make time pass.
   If you don't see an immediate return on your special promotion, wait it out. All too often, retailers offer a new promotional idea, "Try it for a few weeks, and when it fails to turn a huge profit, they'll kill it," says Milletto. Studies show that it takes up to three months to judge whether a new promotion will be successful. If your new venture isn't picking up the steam you had hoped, wait it out for three months and re-evaluate. If your investment isn't turning a profit high enough for you to keep it running, consider a different approach. It is always best to integrate any new promotions gradually and never more than one at a time.

Take it to the Streets
Retailers may find that slow times are the perfect opportunity to get out of the café and promote. Marketing is key to running a successful enterprise, and owners should take advantage of the occasional slow day to entice new customers. Go to neighboring businesses and pass out menus. If you are located near offices, consider offering free delivery at a certain time of the day. While this may not bring physical bodies into your establishment, it will keep you busy, and word will spread. Contact local businesses and talk to other retailers to forge contacts and deepen your understanding of surrounding businesses. If you can find a compatible option, you can cross-market with another business to double up on profits.
   Many factors contribute to lulls in business, and many of them are challenging to control from inside the café. Slow days may be unavoidable, but when armed with the right information, you can minimize their impact and their frequency.