If you like cream horns, you need to read this article!

When there are a number of competing business around you, how do you make sure that you entice potential customers to your premises? Viv’s Kitchen in Sanson have the answer.

When you are approaching a township and it's time for a coffee, you more often than not find yourself in a quandary because most of the cafes which have signs adopt the traditional ‘Great food, coffee to go’ slogans or similar, which tell you nothing other than they are the same as everybody else.

 
We were travelling by car to Wellington last month and it was time for our coffee stop.  Approaching the Manawatu town of Sanson we saw a sign which said “Viv’s Kitchen, food the way it used to be, 1km.”  My exact words when I saw it were “That sounds like us,” so we stopped there.  The sign at the roadside displayed unashamedly that Viv’s Kitchen was the home of the famous cream horn.  It didn’t stop there because outside the door there was a blackboard proudly proclaiming that over 26,000 cream horns had been sold to date.

So far Viv’s Kitchen had got our attention, maintained our interest and created a desire.  All they needed to do now was to call for action, and they didn’t disappoint.  The display cabinet was not only beautifully presented, it also featured a compartment full of the biggest and most enticing cream horns I have ever seen.  Having an extremely sweet tooth, I was not going out of that place without trying one – and most people in the queue were the same.  I was not disappointed as the pastry was crisp, the cream plentiful, and the flavour was true to label.  To top it off, the rest of the food was top class, the service was smart and friendly, and the coffee was great.

On our way back from Wellington a week later, guess where we stopped for a break?  Viv’s kitchen did everything right from the signage to delivery of the product.  And they did it so well that we set out from Wellington with the clear intention of stopping there again.

Definitely an opportunity taken to increase their business.  I have since done some research and it appears that they sell nearly 100 cream horns a day, so by now that sign outside the door may boast 27,000 sold.  So how is your signage working?  And are you backing it up with great service and quality?  If you want to throw around some ideas, give me a call.