Before you can plot a winning strategy, you have to know who you are talking to. The first step in formulating a successful advertising or marketing campaign is to identify and get to know your target market. You can never know too much about your customers, both the people you count on to spend money and the ones you hope to recruit.

When you are choosing a location, demographic information will provide the first clues if you are not familiar with the people and culture of an area. You might be surprised, for instance, to learn that 40 percent of the people living in the area are under 40, have been there less than two years, work 60 hours a week and earn over $80,000 a year. Or that a large percentage of your customers are retired and like to golf. Near a college, many could be students under 25 into extreme sports. In a small town, half might be people from a rural background who feel uncomfortable ordering drinks with foreign names.

Who is Your Customer?
As in any business, before you invest, do your research. Let's assume you buy an existing operation. You take a big chance if you assume, without proper investigation, that the area has demographics that will find this concept appealing. That's why most savvy business people don't purchase an existing operation but look for an ideal location, one that suits the ideas, menu, ambiance and character of the business they envision. Often a business that is for sale is being sold for a reason, such as poor location or steadily eroding numbers. It's wise to remember that, in buying a coffeehouse, you may need to overcome years of poor management by the former owners.

Whatever location you choose, you will have to become familiar with the habits, likes and dislikes of your customers. First, find out the median household income of the area. These statistics are usually available from a local government agency or you often can find them on the Internet. Next, find out how many cars visit the shopping center you have chosen, or drive by your location on the major thoroughfare.

Ask yourself questions. "Why do people visit this particular shopping center? Does it contain stores that will attract the same customers I am targeting?" A good location to consider might be near a busy grocery store or movie complex. If you are in a center that also houses a health-food store or gym, consider marketing that captures the mindset of the health-conscious consumer.

Find Out More About Your Own Customers
The many ways to acquire information all involve research. Well before you open, gather information to make your marketing easier. Ask questions and really listen to the words and body language of the answers. You want to know who is buying and why. If you understand people's motivations, it's far easier to appeal to them with your marketing and to keep them, and others like them, happy. Train your employees to ask leading questions and report to you what customers want.

Your suppliers keep up with the industry and have a vested interest in seeing you grow, so tap into their expertise too. You can't win all the people all the time, but you can win with a certain demographic when you create a unique niche for yourself using decor and special menu items that satisfy your chosen group of customers.

In-house surveys and conversations with customers will provide additional ideas. Some large chains have disclosed that their pre-sold drink cards are one of the primary reasons behind the growth of their business. They sometimes use questionnaires with these cards to obtain other useful information. You could offer a free beverage, or entry in a drawing for a free pound of beans, to those willing to fill out a form.

If you decide to use such a method to gather customer data, choose carefully what you really need too know. Six or eight questions to answer in writing are enough. Include a checkbox where customers can elect to receive information on new products or specials. If you obtain your customers' e-mail and physical addresses, you can send them promotional materials or a newsletter informing them about a new product or special of the month.

Useful things to know about your customers include their age and whether they have children, if they own or rent, if they live nearby or are tourists, their educational level, what kind of work they do and what clubs they belong to. These are clues to socio-economic status and predictors of what standards of excellence or amenities they may demand, what they like and can afford.

Another way to gather information is to hold a weekly drawing for a French press or beans. Ask interested people to drop their business cards or a form into a giant coffee cup or other container on the counter.

Modern point-of-sale systems will give you a wealth of information about your operation and sales. Study this data on a daily or weekly basis and adjust your operation and marketing from the knowledge you gain from your point-of-sale system.

One additional method for finding out more about your customers is the focus group, made up of 7 to 12 people. Major advertisers and product development people often use focus groups to get information about customer responses. A professional should lead the focus group, to direct the discussion and encourage everyone to be honest. These meetings are often videotaped or sound recorded for review later. The participants are generally paid for their time, usually for no more than two hours.

The leader poses questions for discussion such as, how people view what the business is currently doing, problems they see in the operation and proposed new products. If you use this method, your job is to sit down with the leader and the recording and learn all you can from the feedback offered.

What are Your Customers' Needs?
What you choose to serve should be directly influenced by your customers' desires and needs. Before you open, you might walk around the area and introduce yourself as the owner of a new business. Boldly ask people what items they would like to see on your coffeehouse menu. You may be surprised by what they tell you. For example, you may have planned to serve little or no food, but you hear from prospective customers that there are no unique lunch spots in the area and they hate to eat fast food. Take this new information as an opportunity to meet the needs of the customers in your particular area. Keep it simple but develop a menu based on your customers' desires.

If you are already open, talk to your customers and find out what menu items they like and dislike, or track your sales to give you this information. Find out why customers buy from you and not the competition down the road. If they tell you they love you because yours is a local business, then promote this in every facet of your advertising. If they tell you they love your coffee, then be sure to promote your delicious brew. If you discover your customers need a meeting room and you have the space, add one.

Hire people-sensitive employees then train them well. See Chapters 6 and 7 for more on employees. You could have them practice various scripts, but by all means don't allow them to become robots, spouting the same insincere and boring phrases every time. But do require them to ask questions and talk to your customers. "Is this your first time here? Have you taken a look at our specials? Did you know we now have a catering service? We have hot muffins just out of the oven. Would you like to try one? Did you know all our coffees are certified organic?"

Help employees develop skills at reading gestures and body language and noticing when people seem interested in a teapot or the pastries. And yet, be sensitive about overwhelming customers, either with too much information or too much talk. Learn to recognize the confused new customer who is not sure how things work, and treat that person with total respect and patience.

Customer needs never end. What people want is individual dialog that changes with each interaction, so keep your antennae tuned to the competition and to signals from those who walk in your door. Trust builds your income as loyal customers provide free word of mouth advertising. When people can totally count on you to create a marvelous experience every time, they will send their friends and bring their guests. As a general rule of marketing, keeping old customers costs you about one fifth as much as replacing dissatisfied people with new ones among the thousands of potentials out there. Rewarding regulars with an exceptional experience is the key to your success.

Narrow Your Marketing
You can't sell to everyone. The type of operation you open will help you decide which customers to target. The customer at a drive-thru will more likely be a commuter in a hurry. Convenience is the main reason people will patronize your business. The small neighborhood caf� often becomes more important to the community than the products it sells. It becomes a place to read the paper and meet friends. If you own a kiosk or cart, it's easy to learn what businesses are around you and what types of people work in or visit your particular building. In this type of operation you have a captive clientele. If you open your operation in midtown Manhattan, or the financial heart of any large city, you will quickly realize that most of your clients have limited time. You must teach your employees to chat less and give great customer service with tremendous speed. Your menu should reflect what the rushed urban sophisticate wants. You may want to install an overhead television and play a financial channel or CNN.

No matter what type of operation you have and no matter where it is located, do your homework before you plan and develop any marketing plan. The more information you have about your customers, the better you can serve them and the more effective your marketing plan will be.