Get 'em Talking

The best way to get new customers through your doors, and keep the old ones coming back on a regular basis, is to get them talking.  About your store.  About your employees.  About your flavors.  About your milkshakes.  Really, about anything positive that happens within your walls. You can learn all the information you need to know about starting an ice cream store buy purchasing my Ice Cream Boot Camp Kit!

If they talk to others, either friends, family members, or even strangers, you will

have achieved your first major goal.  Remember, the very first person to enter your shop must become your first ambassador.  This is more important than print advertising in the local newspaper, a spot on the local radio station, or a flyer in their mailbox.  Just imagine the impact of getting a phone call from your friend, telling you how great his/her experience was at the ice cream shop. Or if you're out to dinner or lunch with them, and they suggest you all go to your shop for some great ice cream.  That personal interaction will do more for your business than anything else.  And here's a few ways to get them talking.

FIRST REACTIONS

When customers walk through your ice cream store door the first time, and every time, you want them to feel comfortable. Number one on my list is to get rid of all fluorescent lighting. It's not an office, or a hospital.  It's not a laboratory, or a warehouse. Use lamps, some directing light down; others directing the lighting upward.  Think about where people are most comfortable.  It's in their homes.  Not their offices.  Fluorescent lighting makes people look pale and unfriendly.  Incandescent lighting lends a warm, soft feeling. And it begs them to stay. 

Number two is your decor.  I'm not a fan of having 15 identical tables, and 60 identical, uncomfortable chairs.  I want to replicate how they feel at home. For all the stores I have opened, I went to flea markets and used furniture stores.  If I see a used dining room table with six or four comfortable chairs, I buy it. I also love going to used hotel furniture stores.  And thrift stores. In all my stores, I also have couches and side tables (with lamps). Decorate the walls with art.

Not ice cream cones or pictures of sundaes.  Hang up things people will look at, and comment on. Obviously, good taste is key.  Try to vary the subjects:  all art is good art.

Add Music to Your Ice Cream Store

I have music playing every minute of every hour my store is open. I create playlists which appeal to the great majority of my customers.  If it's all country, or all rap, or all opera, you will undoubtedly alienate most of them.  The music, like the furnishings, should be comfortable.  Not too loud either!

The goal for all of this: make your place a hangout, where people will come to relax, be with friends, and of course, enjoy the world's best ice cream!

Think about this: when you want to hang out with friends, one of the first places you think of is...Starbucks.  Comfortable, varied seating.  Nice lighting.  Music.  Charging ports.  And, oh yeah, great coffee.  Do they bombard you with directives to buy, buy, buy?  No.  They know that if you come, you'll have a coffee, and perhaps a snack.  And you'll come back.  Often. You feel comfy there. You'll be back. Isn't that what we want?