Re: Question for the home roasters

I think people keep proposing false dichotomies - you can do A OR B - why
can't you do A AND B? Maybe it's not possible to walk and chew gum and
maybe the biker trade will drive out the ladies who lunch, but in many cases
co-existence is possible - you CAN run a gas filling station and sell milk
and bread too. You can run a grocery store and sell bedding plants and bags
of mulch. Not only will this not drive away your existing customers, it will
make them MORE happy, because now they can save a trip and kill two birds
with one stone. You're right that you can't do this randomly and blindly,
but it doesn't take an MBA or a rocket scientist to figure out that if
there are sacks of green beans at your feet that you can sell those without
disrupting your regular business or that if you sell razor blades maybe you
should sell shaving cream too. Bernie talked earlier about his dad would
make his customers his lifelong friends. I remember that when my dad would
go thru one of his marathon selling sessions when someone who had just
stopped in for a dozen eggs left loaded down with vegetables, chickens, 5
different items that they hadn't really planned on buying , they left happy
because these really WERE things that they could use and enjoy. If you sell
your coffee customers filters you haven't swindled them, you're doing them a
favor. I have the feeling that people are practically looking for excuses
NOT to sell people stuff because it's too much bother - you have to
re-program the cash register, you have to deal w. another vendor, etc. This
has nothing to do with pleasing the customer.


"Robert Harmon" <r_h_harmon@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:Xns9931738E6F0E9rhharmonZhotmailcom@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Espressopithecus (Java Man) <rickk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in
news:MPG.20b377f92a8b920698989c@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx:

sniped

Rather than being in the "making money business", I suggest being in
the "profitably winning and keeping customers" business. This may
sound like semantics, but it's really about how one thinks rather than
wordplay. Too often, business owners who think they're in the money
making business overlook who decides whether to fork over the cash,
how much, and how often.

Rick


Well put, Rick!

That's why any reputable lending institute will require a business plan
that clearly
defines what your *core* business is & who your *core* customers will be.
Sure, you'll have
customers who'll tempt you to get away from doing what you do, but those
customers may
drive away *core* customers, if by catering to them you short-change the
customers you
started the business for in the first place.

I'm not suggesting pig-headed obstinance by saying business should never
change it's line
of products/services. But it must be done in a cold & calculating manner
while weighing the
pros & cons, not from a belief that adding product/service 'Z' to your
*core*
product/service line of 'A', 'B', & 'C', will have no impact on your
business.

It's *B* school 101; define the product niche, identify the stake holders,
place your
product/service where it can take advantage of the first two. K.I.S.S.!

Robert (Please don't buy from folks that post advertisements in this
newsgroup!) Harmon
--
http://www.tinyurl.com/mb4uj - My coffee pages.
http://www.tinyurl.com/2tnv87 - My 'Guidelines For Newbies' page.
http://www.tinyurl.com/2cr3e2 - I have things for sale here.

Remove "ZED" from address if replying by email.


.

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