Franchise Mentor: Cafe2U Franchisee Has Own Brew of Best Practices for Building Her Business (Part 2)

This post is the second of two parts. To read Part 1, please click here.

Making Regular Stops

Cafe2U supplied Liu with a lengthy list of companies in her region and even identified them by number of employees so she could target those that might supply her a large volume of business. Having grown up in Eugene, Liu said she narrowed the list herself, selecting those businesses she wanted to secure as clients. The process involved approaching the businesses, explaining the concept, and offering free coffee to the employees. If the response was good, she would establish a time with the company to return daily during the work week at a specific time.

“You want to target at least five to 25 people coming out daily, ideally,” she said. “Then you go next door and do the same thing. You don’t want to be wasting your time driving all over town.”

Liu’s regular stops include businesses such as credit union corporate offices, the local utility company, a police station, veterinarian clinics, mortgage companies, and some retail centers. She spends five to 10 minutes at each spot, unless it’s a larger company with a big staff.

Mastering Customer Service

As with any business, excellent customer service is important in building a clientele and Liu is exemplary in that department. She estimates that she knows 85 percent of her customers by name and she remembers the coffee drinks they order and how they like them prepared. Perhaps even more shrewdly for her particular business: When she can, she takes note of the cars that regular customers drive. When she sees the vehicle in the parking lot when she drives up in her van, she starts getting the ingredients for that customer’s drink ready so it’s delivered quickly when they come to place their order.

“I think people like that,” she said. “That level of customer service is not prevalent in this society.”