Welcome to “Coffee with mediaglue”
Hello, I’m James Yuille, and I’d like to welcome you to “Coffee with mediaglue” This is the first of what I intend to be weekly posts with observations, hints and tips about business, marketing and websites.
And what better way to start than with a story about coffee, or, more precisely, about The Coffee Club.
Any Brisbanite will tell you about The Coffee Club; a hugely successful franchised coffee shop / café chain with stores everywhere. The coffee is good, the venues are generally very conveniently located, and their advertising catch phrase, “Meet you at The Coffee Club” is brilliant. It’s almost as Queensland as “Make it a Fourex, Mate!”
I digress…
Last Thursday I went to a morning tea networking event put on by the Brisbane Inner West Chamber of Commerce. It was held at The Coffee Club on Given Terrace, Paddington. Although I live in the inner Western Suburbs, Paddington isn’t on my regular schedule, so this venue was new to me.
On arrival, I paid a fee of $5 which bought me a cup of coffee. After meeting and mingling, we sat down for the usual Infomercial session and then were served with a delightful array of juice, pancakes, scones and savouries. All for just $5.
Surely $5 didn’t cover what we were served? Most likely not, but let’s look at this a little more closely…
Debbie, our Coffee Club hostess, made sure everyone was adequately catered for. Each new arrival was delivered their coffee (with nobody actually writing down orders, itself a feat) and, during the meeting, we were all given a flyer promoting a Jazz and Blues event they hold each Thursday night.
As I said, it was a Thursday, and the door prize was a two-for-one meal package for that night’s event.
Several people talked about going that night. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to go, but I will one Thursday night soon.
What can we learn from this?
There are several points…
I didn’t know of the venue, never mind the Jazz and Blues nights, and neither did some of the other attendees. No advertising about the event would have reached me.
So, for the cost of a coffee and a few slices of pancakes, I now know. And so do 20 other people.
A small value sale, made at break-even (or maybe a small loss), promoted the event. An event where I guess the average customer would spend $60 to $80 or more at full profit.
Profit that, at least from this small group, would not have materialized.
This is a classic example of two core marketing principles:
1. Know your cost of customer acquisition
2. Be aware that although your first sale may not be profitable, know that your second, or subsequent sales will be.
Did Debbie profit from the first sale? Frankly I doubt it. Nevertheless, her café demonstrated its capability, and I for one, will go back for an event I didn’t even know existed.
Compare Debbie’s expense to attract more visitors to her Jazz and Blues nights with this method that her expense for an advert in the local newspaper.
Makes you think, doesn’t it?
The message here?
What could you do along similar lines?
If you’re struggling to come up with an idea, why not post a question here and I’ll answer it. Better still, why not call me on 1300 139 467 and have a brief chat about how you can use a simple two-step product Upsell in your business.
Au Revoir for now, and thank you for taking time out for “Coffee with mediaglue”.
Until next time…
James
