Innovation Study — The Bean Cafe, Friday Harbor, WA
Innovation is about practice more than anything else. I am an innovation coach and that takes practice, too — and, oftentimes, it’s something I can’t turn off. While I was on on vacation on San Juan Island about a month ago (it’s an island located in the most Northwest corner of the Northwest corner of the United States), I found myself practicing my craft.
I was at a very nice coffee shop called The Bean Cafe in the city of Friday Harbor near the terminal for the ferry back to the mainland. And, as I was sipping on a nice cup of joe, I thought, “How do you innovate a coffee shop?” They aren’t new — in fact, they’ve been around for almost 300 years now, but that doesn’t mean innovation isn’t possible. But, more importantly, does a single coffee shop need to innovate the entire sector?
So, I sat there in the main seating area enjoying my espresso and sandwich and just observed the people coming and going. “What do the customers of The Bean Cafe want?” I asked myself.
Understanding the Customer
Good coffee and good food? That’s easy — the Bean already knows that and it has it. How about good coffee and good food with a conscience? Again, that’s easy; the Bean has organic and fair trade coffee. Good conversation? Yep, but that’s already covered — the Bean has a big space with plenty of tables, is well lit, and it has Wi-Fi so that your conversation can span across the globe.
Finally down to my last drop of espresso and now well caffeinated, I noticed a wall monitor showing a live video stream of the ferry terminal at the bottom of the hill. That’s when it hit me. A fair number of The Bean’s customers were entering through the door nearest the ferry waiting line. Now, the owners of The Bean do understand the unique situation of their coffee shop (ferry passengers who want a caffeine fix but have very limited time to order, pay, receive their coffee, and get out), and even tout on their website that they have “a FERRY CAM” that customers can watch so they don’t need to hurry back to their cars and can instead enjoy their coffee in the comfort of the coffee shop. Here is where The Bean has it right: Its owners know how important it is to understand their customer’s problems to innovate. The next step is moving beyond those problems and beginning to understand them.
Defining the Problem
The Bean Cafe understands the core problem, which is that ferry passengers stopping in for a cup of joe don’t want to miss their ferry. But, as I silently observed within the cafe that day, I also noticed was that most people were getting their coffee to go and heading straight back to the ferry line, despite the fact that The Bean had a FERRY CAM and could see that the ferry wasn’t boarding. So, why didn’t they sit here in comfort at the coffee shop instead of their cars?
First of all, where the FERRY CAM is located probably takes an average person about 10–15 minutes to notice (that’s how long it took me), and I’d bet that most ferry passengers ordering to-go coffee are in and out in far less time than that. Add to that the fact that the FERRY CAM shows what is actively happening at the ferry dock but doesn’t indicate how long until the ferry starts to load and leave. As a ferry passenger, that’s the sort of information I need to know.
Three Innovation Ideas
So, here’s my first innovation for The Bean Cafe: Add a countdown clock under the FERRY CAM to show customers how long they have until the ferry loads. Doing so will inform them and give them some “breathing room” to actually sit down and enjoy the cafe. Maybe with that extra time they’ll discover that they do have enough time to order a panini or another food item — thereby increasing sales.
Now push that idea even farther: Customers only know how long until the ferry loads if they are already at The Bean, so what if they came in to grab four drinks for everyone in the car with them? Obviously, they can’t stay to enjoy the cafe because they have to go back to their car to drop off the cups of coffee. So, how does The Bean draw in the entire car load? That’s my second innovation: Put a remote countdown clock on the outside of the building that is visible from the ferry line. That clock then informs everyone in the car that they have enough time to come in and get coffee and a sandwich, or, alternatively, that there’s still just enough time to grab that cup of joe to go.
For the third innovation, we have to leave the coffee shop. A fair number of ferry travelers are families, and that adds extra considerations for a customer empathy maps. Does The Bean’s potential customer really want to take the kids out of their seats, lug them to the cafe and back, then reload them in their seats? Having a family (and we all know kids aren’t always easy) increases the workload, time, and effort for this customer, so if the ferry load time is below a certain threshold, that customer will simply forgo the coffee. So, the third innovation brings the coffee to the customer. This isn’t a far stretch — after all, the cafe is literally steps from the ferry waiting line, and The Bean is already utilizing a Square payment-type device. Why not set up a online order/payment system and have a runner take orders directly to the ferry line?
Bottom Line
So, while spending only 30 minutes simply observing its customers’ behaviors, I was able to come up with three different innovations for The Bean Cafe. Are they groundbreaking innovations to the coffee/cafe industry? Of course not, and they don’t have to be. To be a good innovator, you only need innovations that will drive you business forward. These are fairly simple ideas that could all be implemented in very short timeframes.
Now imagine what The Bean Cafe could do with a innovation coach of its own and a bit of practice? They don’t just have to observe the customer — they can actually engage with them to build more robust and deeper empathy maps to discover and map out additional ways innovate to keep their customers jonesing for more than just their wonderful coffee.
Craig Damlo is an innovation coach and the founder of Soap Box Rocket, whose goal is to help ignite a culture of innovation for you and your team. Visit http://www.soapboxrocket.com for a list of services and contact information.
Photo Credit: Hotel Roast by Craig Damlo
Photo Credit: The Bean Cafe
Photo Credit: A Hole in the Boat by Craig Damlo
