– by Steve Sheppard –
While working in the coffee business for many years, I came upon a number of interesting conversations. A few years back I distinctly remembered two people talking about their favourite coffee, and the place to have it. The one person would talk only about the price of their favourite coffee, while the other would talk about the taste of their coffee, and the sense of community their favourite coffee house had. I sat eavesdropping (politely of course) on their conversation, and found it fascinating that someone could be so fixated on price. The one person would not comment on taste, or how the environment they drank it in made them feel. How odd, I thought, but then I did a little reading on how people interpret value.
Customer value can be examined at different levels. At a low level, it can be viewed as the attributes of a product that a customer perceives to receive value from. At a higher level, customer value can be viewed as the emotional payoff and achievement of a goal or desire. For example, from a customer’s perspective, the value of a cup of coffee enjoyed with a friend at a coffee house might be greater than the value of a take-out cup of coffee. The monetary cost of the cup of coffee in both cases might be similar in price (if not in quality); however, the value the customer extracts is different. My further reading uncovered that there are two stages at which customers assess value: before and after they purchase a product or service.
The coffee industry is incredibly competitive and people seem to be drawn towards a brand for various reasons. Personally, I’m not interested in $1 coffees, or sitting in drive-thru lineups, and I don’t look much at brands when it comes to coffee … I look for quality. I know dozens of great places to get coffee that are all one-off roasters, or cafés that support local roasters. Their names are not that memorable, but the coffee sure is, which leads me to this conclusion: if you want your coffee house or roastery to be memorable, having memorable coffee is the foundation. When I talk to someone about my coffee experiences I never tell them first what I paid; I first tell them how it tasted, or how the staff made my drink to my liking. Everyone likes a deal, but like many things in life, value is a perception and I absolutely believe: “The bitter taste of poor quality remains long after the sweet taste of low price is forgotten.” This is a great saying by John D. Stanhope that applies to more than just our daily cup of coffee … Steve out.
