I would say most up-to speed cafe or restaurant owners have somewhat capitalised on a small percentage of the power that the internet offers their respective businesses. By that I mean the things we see now as the everyday norm:

- Food review sites that allow customers to give a rating, read other feedback comments and check out the average score.
- Food blogs that people post up on multiple places that they have visited and dined at (or simply chilled over coffee)
- Generating a word-of-mouth reputation so strong, that the city food guide magazines and other publications get onto it to publish a review
- Having a website where subscribers are posted on deals and specials.

Having said that, I have not seen a large number of them do this effectively. Surely, I’ve seen major restaurants and established cafes making a killing by hiring technologists to set up the systems for them and really drive the advertising to get volumes of customers to their stores. However, not many small business owners are aware of how cheaply available these marketing and value-creating strategies are given the fact that we are currently in an internet era. For example, the simple three step value-chain:

1) Give people intangible value/solutions upfront to a problem they have (or a desire)
2) Build the relationship continuously (i.e more of 1)
3) Monetise at the end of the process

To put this concept into context, I know of one cafe (which I am not going to name) which has effectively and powerfully implemented this concept. So simple and subtle that it doesn’t even pass off as sales. They integrated a persona of arts and cafe culture into one single business to answer a desire people had…”A cafe with a persona matching the business owners”. To give you an illustration of the congruency of the theme:

1) They open three days a week (face it, artists are not workaholics..they’d prefer to be lateral and work smart, not extremely hard)
2) They are located on a hidden lane, and the cafe is in a courtyard with a mezzanine level.
3) They use Facebook and social media and all they ever notify people about is their art events (studio shows) for which people literally pay nothing to attend. They tapped into a powerful concept. No matter how good a cafe is, people do not go into cafes that are empty and there are a dozen substitutes for your service otherwise.

To top this article off, I’d like to share a few opinions/ideas to stimulate the reader’s thoughts. Consider that we are all critics (I know, everyone but you right?). Businesses who offer full transparency and honour feedback (constructive or destructive) will find that they are a touch above 95% of the masses. Say sorry, restore integrity and your worst customer could become your best customer and a ricochet word-of-mouth marketer for your business. Business owners can even do a “behind the scenes” blog so people know exactly how their kitchens are run. This transparency is also a form of expressing the posture you have with your business. There is a large market out there, and those members are really really picky with how their food is made.

Now my last point before I close out on this article. If you are a cafe owner and you’re not offering free internet…what are you doing? People love it and will bring traffic to your cafe. Additionally, if you interact with customers and they share with you what they are doing or searching up on their computer (like, “hey how you doing? work or surfing?”) you are starting to get a feel for what customers want. Of course, you have to somewhat regulate it so you do not get saturated with University/College students looking for a free ride. But it is just an idea. We’re in a technological era, people want to experience the traditional coffee culture, but still have their email/Facebook/YouTube screen next to them. If you’re done effectively implementing the above, start worrying about how you’re going to fit people in!

By: Jonathan Tien Onn Low

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