The taproom landscape is changing. No longer can a brewery simply make quality beer. The perfect brewery experience now exists at the intersection of delicious beverages, a memorable atmosphere, and engaging staff. When you successfully understand your guests’ goals, expectations, and exceed them, you create a repeat customer that craves your taproom.
Read MoreWhen working with breweries nationwide, we collect data that helps better the level of service and build more meaningful connections. Through this, we wanted to see what the top contributing factors to experiences where taproom staff truly wow the guest. Upon analyzing these high engagement experiences, we discovered 5 behaviors that are found in over 96% of the these visits.
Read MoreI bet your brewer’s setup cost quite a pretty penny, and that they’re regularly investing in quality control measures to put out the best possible beer. If you’re not treating your taproom with the same level of respect, then you could be serving your guests that buttery popcorn-esque experience without evening knowing it.
Read MoreBreaking the ice. Whether in an elevator or taproom can be tough. We all don’t have the gift of gab or natural ability to strike up a conversation with people we don’t know. However, by using context clues from our surroundings you can better build relationships with guests.
Read MoreAs taproom managers and owners, it’s important that you understand why your staff is working at your brewery. Unfortunately, in most cases, these questions aren’t being asked. By not asking these basic questions, we are preventing ourselves from understanding the “why” and ultimately unable to successfully answer the “how can we best motivate our team” question.
Read More86% of brewery staff are not encouraging guests to sign up for your mailing list or loyalty/rewards program.
This is a huge missed opportunity to not only turn that guest into a regular, but to stay in touch. In many cases, your POS can even do the work for you.
How can asking this question and using the data help you see more success?
Read MoreAs brewery owners and managers, you were forced to find new ways to engage with your guests to maintain their relationships (and ultimately their dollar). You never stopped being experts at talking to strangers. Nothing against you, but your interactions with guests are only a small portion of the interactions taking place at your taproom. The more spontaneous and organic encounters are those happening between your guests. You were interacting out of necessity.
It was unnecessary interactions that weren’t happening.
How is your brewery re-facilitating connections between guests?
Read MoreIt has been two months since I last conducted a study on consumer habits. Since then, temperatures have dropped in most of the country while access to vaccines has increased. While it is unknown how long the impact of the pandemic will be felt, it at least appears the end is in sight. Now let’s look at some numbers.
Read MoreIt’s the holiday season, and in the true spirit of 2020, it’s necessary to think outside the box about the merchandise items you plan to offer your loyal fans. Brewery guests nationwide are already being more intentional when planning which taproom to visit and will be just as selective when considering if they will purchase additional Winter merch. You need to not only WOW them with your fantastic beers and customer experience, but also offer them a lineup of a seasonal swag they can’t say “no” to. We’re not talking your standard hats and hoodies. Think of that mind-blowing gift you opened on the holidays when you were 10. Yea, that kind of gift.
Read MoreWith summer being the prime months for most breweries, it can be easy to savor the moment and not think about the cooler months ahead. However, if you're not already planning for less ideal patio weather, then you're already behind. Creating a strategy to survive the rest of 2020, and beyond, is a necessity. While some brewers may be able to (unfortunately?) throw the kitchen sink in their next boil and see what happens, your business may not.
Reduced capacity in most cases has already reduced guests, reduced revenue, and reduced the ability to connect with your audience. Fall and Winter merely bring a new challenge and opportunity to once again pivot. Here are 10 potential strategies you can implement to be ready.
Read MoreCraft beer today is arguably just as much about branding as it is producing a high-quality product. Because of this, your brewery should aim to remain in your guests’ minds long after they take the last sip. This can be done via social media, mailing lists, and even encouraging your customers to proudly leave with a collection of bottles, cans, crowlers, and growlers. But don’t forget the merch.
Steve and Scott Schmidt of Promote The Brew are experts in helping breweries get the most of their merchandising. Here are 5 tips to maximize your merchandise sales.
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We’ve conducted studies analyzing spending habits by age and gender. Remember that women spend slightly more than men? And 41 to 45-year olds spend the most. But what impact does the size of a party have on the amount a guest spends while visiting a brewery?
Read MoreA well-crafted liquid is without a doubt the anchor of our industry. Take away quality beer and we’re nothing. Next, engagement serves a key role in creating relationships that will keep guests returning to your brewery. However, we often don’t spend enough time going over how to get from Point A to Point B. Sure, making great beer brings people, and once they’re in, put out a great experience, but how can you get new guests through your doors in the first place?
Read MoreAt Secret Hopper, we aim to always stay positive and to look at things from the glass is half full perspective. We take this approach with every internal aspect of our business as well as our relationships with breweries. If we observe a brewery that has staff not interacting with guests, we don’t discipline that brewery and put them down for it, but rather look at this as a starting point with room to get better. With that said, there are certain that a guest should never experience while visiting your brewery. Here is an absolute list of 10 things your staff should never do.
Read MoreThrough research collected through Secret Hopper, based on 5064 non-paid brewery visits, we discovered that brewery staff ask guests if they would like to purchase to go beer 18.6 percent of the time. When staff doesn’t ask this question, guests only purchase to go 9 percent of the time – this constitutes a purchase they decided to make on their own. When staff do ask this question, guests purchase beer to go 49.1 percent of the time.
Read MoreEngagement is an essential factor in maximizing your guests’ experiences. Staff have a greater opportunity to build this relationship during slower times; however, even during the busiest shifts, a bartender or server can create a memorable connection with your guests. Here is a formula to maximize engagement during these times.
Read MoreWhen Sam at Crafting A Strategy first posed the question about the role taproom staff members’ clothing plays in a guest’s experience, I simply thought that the matter was a mere decision made by the brewery owner based on the atmosphere they are looking to create. While this is ultimately still true, your staffs’ attire affects not only the minds of your guests, but also those behind your bar wearing that required, or lack thereof, uniform.
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