Other than being able to sleep through it entirely, the best thing about mornings is being able to wake up to a hot cup of coffee. Unfortunately, the coffee maker in my house has a thick crust lining the pot from the previous owners, so in order for my good morning caffeine I have to venture into the world. Despite its over-commercialization and over-priced brews, I have nothing against Starbucks, because I can go into any one and know exactly what to order, exactly what I will get and I will get it fast. But a real, quality cup of Joe is a treat I have learned not to expect. A small company in Chicago has maintained the art of artisan roasting. Metropolis Coffee Company not only makes amazing coffee but it is making news for their business strategy: emphasizing communication with their customers so they are selling more than just coffee, but an experience, an ambiance and are creating a community both within their stores and around the world with the help of the internet.
Co-owner Tony Dreyfuss and his business partner and father Jeff Dreyfuss opened Metropolis in 2003. It quickly earned recognition from Chicago Magazine that names it the best latte in Chicago and Food and Wine that names it one of the country’s best coffee bars. Located within walking distance to Loyola University, the company has a collection of loyal local patrons, but wanted to expand their clientele to the greater Chicago-land area. AS a result of their anti-advertising mantra, they had to seek out alternative means to spread their message.
“We’d always sworn that we didn’t want to advertise,” said Tony said in an interview for 435digital.com. “It just felt stupid — like bending people’s wills. It didn’t really align with who we are.” This was when Jody Robbins and Rita Fisher, co-owners of Nimble Social Media, came into play. “Jody explained to me that your website is the basic information you want to get across about your company — social media is your personality,” Dreyfus said in the article.
Fisher helped create Metropoliscoffee.com, a website dedicated as much to the coffee as it is to its customers. It includes a blog, connections to their Facebook page and Twitter accounts, photos and other links. The website does not end there. Deryfuss takes the content and feedback very seriously, and all business decisions are based on customer input. When the company recently decided to stop offering dark roast coffee they turned to their followers on the website before those in the store. They announced the change via social media which gave their customers an opportunity to honestly express their feeling about it. The openness of the web provided the owners with unfiltered responses, both positive and negative, to the change.
It is this sort of relationship with customers that “The Cluetrain Manifesto” preaches through the use of the internet. Metropolis is returning to the traditional marketplace that the writers of “The Cluetrain Manifesto” are begging for a return to. Rather than being just faceless, voiceless consumers, the customers of Metropolis’ stores and website have an opportunity to communicate directly with the producers. They can look at a product, pick it up, taste it smell it and then either buy it with a smile and a compliment or throw it back in the makers face with a few harsh words.
It is the kind of model that works well for small businesses who have that family feeling, but the difficulty is translating these practices to big business. “The Cluetrain Manifesto” scorns big business for being trapped in the “business and usual model”: Relying on hierarchies, power struggles, races to the bottom line and bigger profits and hiding policies and facts behind veils of PR and advertising spin.
The basic principles that form the foundation of Metropolis’s social media campaign and “The Cluetrain Manifesto” can be applied to any company using the internet, which at this age of technology dependence is almost every company. The first step is establishing the company’s tone and mission, for Metropolis this is an earthy, almost exotic one mixed with urban chic. The website’s blue, purple and rust color scheme is contrasted by its black and white logo. They know who they are – a natural coffee company in the heart of Chicago, and that is exactly how they present themselves. Every company, big or small, had a purpose – a product or idea they are trying to sell – and making that purpose clear to customers is the first step in honest business.
The straightforward business model is necessary to build trust with customers, and this trust in necessary to facilitate the types of communication the internet supports. As “The Cluetrain Manifesto” explains, silence is the worst approach to dealing with business on the internet, regardless if the business is directly involved with conversation with customers, the customers will still talk. By facilitating conversation though their website, Metropolis remains at the heart of customer service. They know what their customers want, their likes, dislikes and needs. Most importantly, they respond to them and build a repertoire that keeps their customers coming back for seconds. With the resources available to big business, there is no reason that a similar repertoire cannot be established, not every employee needs to be in direct contact with the customers the serve, but the lines of communication need to remain open and honest within companies and with the market.
The most important thing about this new open relationship, like any relationship, is there all no rules to what this communication needs to be, it just needs to be there. It can be serious, or sarcastic or funny. It does not have to be dry and technical; it can be entertaining and clever. The unique voices of the customers and company are able to finally shine thanks to the ease of the internet.
Does any of this sound difficult or outrageous? No, but as “The Cluetrain Manifesto” points out, change is hard. Businesses have been following a particular model for decades, and for most of those decades the model worked. The internet changed everything, and businesses need to adapt or eventually die. It’s time to return to survival of the fittest, and those who refuse to change will become extinct. We must return to the market style of our ancestors, as “The Cluetrain Manifesto” says, and go back to the style of vendors selling their wares directly to the customers on the basis that their product is the best not because their commercials are the most clever or their PR and communication departments are the best at hiding the truth.
No comments:
Post a Comment