So I’m canvasing opinion of how we can make our twelve month orders more exciting and interesting. Currently we just send out coffee, but I’d like to make it a bit more of a club feel, so perhaps a special place on the site where you can talk about the coffees, or a mailing list that gets sent before you receive the coffee.
How about cupping notes with each coffee or brewing notes? Maybe a special in my mug for each one ?
I don’t know, and thats why I’d like you to tell me. So please email me me or leave a comment with any suggestions. Thank you !!
Morning Steve 🙂
A few ideas for you!
– how about a special hasbean mug for people after a certain time?
– a series of postcards that build up over the time to build a little book (cupping notes like you say possibly)
– monthly live chat invites
– series of hasbean stickers
Look forward to catching up soon!
Jon
Jon
The current description on the website of “random coffee beans” makes it sound like you just grab the first bag you find on the shelf and ship it off. (I know you don’t, but consider the wording!) If instead you made it a little more systematic so the subscriber could sample an interesting variety, perhaps with tasting notes.
I wonder if you could offer a choice of, say, two beans every month. I know this would complicate the logistics a little though. Another idea: every month, send two smaller bags of different, contrasting beans (a little like tasting two wines of the same grape from different countries.)
What I would also like is a subscription service where I could select my normal, everyday bean PLUS your variety pack. So, every month, I receive a shipment with 250g of my staple (whatever I choose) along with the monthly changing variety. 500g per month should be just about right, and that would hopefully keep the postage down.
I can well understand that allowing some customer choice of the coffees would significantly complicate matters for you but as you have asked for suggestions I would offer the following:
I signed up to a twelve month order for the express purpose of trying some coffees that I would otherwise never try. I expected to be delighted by some lovely coffee but also to find some that was not to my taste. This is exactly what has happened and I am very happy so far despite having two coffees that I have binned as not to my taste.
I wonder if it is possible to have a short list of descriptors and allow customers to select say two that they would prefer to avoid (without guarantee if it is too difficult for you). As an example the following descriptors are things I would like to avoid:
Tobacco
Musty
Decaffeinated
If I had to choose two I would like to avoid it would definitely be tobacco and musty. The most recent coffee you sent was Monsoon Malabar! I know many people love it but I can not drink it.
You must have a list of twelve month order customer details, if you added the customers chosen descriptors to avoid to the list you would at least know that when you send me the MM it would be destined for the bin.
This is just a suggestion not a complaint and I would certainly sign up for another twelve month order.
Have really enjoyed this concept so far, although if i was to be critical i would say that apart from my first installment i have received beans that i have previously tried, and some that are among my staple monthly orders. Don’t get me wrong i’m not complaining when i get one of my favourites through the door, but as the idea seems geared towards sampling coffees you normally wouldn’t buy, then would it be possible to take in to account customers order history before selecting, and therefore promoting more coffees that haven’t been sampled before?
I know this may be complicated to do and may involve too much work to history check each individual, therefore i have offered a few more ideas as follows:
– Blind taste tests, ie – send as unmarked beans and then put a place on the site where people can try and guess the origin, farm or varietal. Each recipient gets to submit one guess per month before a deadline, which could maybe lead to points and a prize over the course of the 12months. Would be a way of testing our tastebuds and also ensure we keep an open mind and not write coffees off before sampling.
– I second the idea offered by mpj, for two smaller bags of beans, either from the same farm, contrasting coffees from same origin, or two small samples from different origins that would compliment each other if roasted/blended by the receiver.
– Maybe a pre-alert email a day before the monthly installment is dispatched offering customers the opportunity to add to their order on that date with the incentive of combining and reducing postage costs.
Either way i will certainly sign up again next year.
Assuming:
1) there are many persons ordering 12 month set
2) They all get the same bean
Simple improvement:
Ask if subscriber has preference for espresso or filter coffee and then make two roasts depending on user preference with roast profile suiting the selection. This will not (imo) make things overly complicate to you, but will improve the customer coffee experience.
There are lots of them, and at the moment we do use the same bean as it can get confusing.