Secret Hopper
Creating more memorable and profitable taproom experiences

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My 3-Year-Old Appreciates Experience
My 3-Year-Old Appreciates Experience

On a dreary Sunday in early October 2022, my wife and I took our son to his very first monster truck show. As you can imagine, it was crowded, loud, and a sensory overload on many levels. With that said, there was something special about watching his excitement and awe as these oversized vehicles flew through the air. I even had more fun than expected.

As I was putting him to bed that night, I asked him, “What was your favorite part of the monster truck show?” I had expected him to say the fire-breathing robot that ate a car, Tiger Shark, Gunkster, or one of the other silly name trucks, or even the fairly intense laser light show. But no. He didn’t recite any of the truck names. He didn’t comment on any aspect of the over-the-top spectacle. He said the popcorn.

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Andrew Coploncustomer experience, taproom, taproom experience
Transforming Your Taproom Staff into Motivated Rockstars
Transforming Your Taproom Staff into Motivated Rockstars

How much staff do you have in your taproom? How many of those are rockstars? You know, those who crave building relationships with each guest that walks through your doors and bleed your beer out of their veins. These rockstars consistently see higher tabs, know their guests on a first-name basis, and are simply motivated to be awesome. Working hard isn’t something they think about, they just do it.

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Andrew Coplontaproom staff, taproom experience, motivation, engagement, craft beer
How to Motivate Taproom Staff
How to Motivate Taproom Staff

As 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.

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Andrew Coploncraft beer, brewery, taproom, taproom staff, motivation, taproom experience
Positive taproom changes start with baby steps
Positive taproom changes start with baby steps

I'm currently reading Atomic Habits by James Clear and his philosophy encourages you to make little, positive changes that ultimately make a big difference. If you're looking to lose weight, you're not going to drop 50 pounds overnight. The final destination of losing 50 pounds is the result of single habits (i.e. going to the gym, eating healthier) that you make consistent parts of your daily routine.

What changes do you want to make in your taproom?

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Andrew Coploncraft beer, atomic habits, james clear, taproom experience, customer experience, positive change, habits
Drinking with Strangers
Drinking with Strangers

As 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?

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Andrew Coploncraft beer, taproom, COVID-19, customer experience, human interaction, engagement, brewery
Should Your Taproom Offer Flights?
Should Your Taproom Offer Flights?

As the world starts to get ready for the new-new normal, you may ask yourself, should I be offering flights? The answer? If you feel comfortable with it, yes.

Why? Guests spend 25% more on visits when your staff suggest a flight.

There is both the financial and relationship value in offering flights.

We’re in the relationship business. Take the time to invest in your guests.

Are you back to offering flights?

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Andrew Coploncraft beer, taproom, customer service, customer experience, flights, education, engagement
Brewery To Go Beer Sales are Up!
Brewery To Go Beer Sales are Up!

You’re selling more beer to go. Bottles, cans, crowlers, and maybe even a few growlers.

I am excited to report that taproom staff are getting better at encouraging beer to go.

From a prior, pre-pandemic study, we saw that only 19.5% of brewery staff were encouraging guests to purchase beer to go.

While a much smaller sample set, from March 2020 to March 2021, we analyzed 555 unique brewery visits, and see that brewery staff are now encouraging beer to go 10% more than before the pandemic.

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Andrew Coploncraft beer, COVID-19, customer experience, customer service, power of suggestion
Why You Need to Maximize Taproom Engagement During a Pandemic
Why You Need to Maximize Taproom Engagement During a Pandemic

Social distancing. Masks. Contact-free. These are all buzzwords defining the current taproom experience.

Most states still have restrictions on capacity. Others have limited individual party sizes. Effectively, all these regulations have reduced the number of guests that can visit and therefore have reduced your taproom revenue.

While keeping our distance has become the norm in 2020, everyone who chooses to visit your taproom for on-premise consumption is accepting that some sort of interaction will occur. Even during the shortest, COVID-era encounter, you have the ability to build connections with your guests (see the 30 Second Conversation). In this article, we will show the financial value of engaging at a high level and why it is vital even more so during a pandemic.

A few extra bucks from each visit could be the difference between closure and survival.

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Andrew Coploncraft beer, COVID-19, Secret Hopper, taproom, spen
December 2020 Consumer Habits Study
December 2020 Consumer Habits Study

In a Craft Beer landscape that has looked a lot like a rollercoaster throughout 2020, it is ever so important to put your focus on running a successful business. I could fill this sentence with all the buzzwords of the year, but instead, let’s take a dive into some data.

I conducted a study to get a better gauge of current consumer attitudes and spending habits. This research includes 1342 unique submissions. 53.3% of respondents identified as male, 45.7% as female, 0.6% as non-binary, and 0.4% preferred not to say. The average age of respondent is 42.0 years old. All data was collected December 1 to 6, 2020.

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Andrew Coploncraft beer, COVID-19, consumer habits
10 Seasonal Brewery Swag Items You Should Be Carrying
10 Seasonal Brewery Swag Items You Should Be Carrying

It’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.

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Andrew Coploncraft beer, merch, merchandise, swag, taproom, brewery, seasonal, holidays
October 2020 Consumer Habits Study
October 2020 Consumer Habits Study

Two-thirds of 2020 has been spent trying to survive a pandemic. We are still trying to figure out what works best, and each day we are continuing a path of unknown. Unknown how long the pandemic will continue, unknown how long we will operate with restrictions, unknown how our customers will behave. But as brewery owners and entrepreneurs, we do not give up.

As the weather begins to get colder, it’s even more important that you are maximizing every customers' on-premise visit. Many of you have been fortunate enough to have your communities come behind you in overwhelming numbers to support you thus far. We cannot take their purchases for granted and need to continue running our best businesses possible to beat the cold.

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Andrew Coploncraft beer, COVID-19, consumer habits, breweries, taproom, winter
Unusual Observations - COVID-19 Edition
Unusual Observations - COVID-19 Edition

The world has changed quite a bit since we’ve put out one of these (#1, #2). In prior editions, our lists featured primarily engagement and environment based unique observations our Secret Hoppers made while visiting breweries coast to coast. We have since updated our feedback to include comments on COVID-19 related procedures – everything from questions on sanitation/cleanliness to food safety to social distancing. Upon review, I believe the word “safe” is the most noted term when describing a positive experience. Here are 10 observations made since the pandemic began.

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Andrew Coploncraft beer, breweries, taproom, customer experience, COVID-19, unusual observations
How to Prepare Taprooms for Colder Weather
How to Prepare Taprooms for Colder Weather

With 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.

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Andrew Coploncraft beer, brewery, COVID-19, pandemic, winter, holiday
Hate Culture in Craft Beer
Hate Culture in Craft Beer

I’ve been wanting to write this article for quite some time, and in the wake of recent events, I believe now is the time. Black Lives Matter has brought to light a side of our beloved industry that has been silenced for too long. A side that can be uncomfortable to face or acknowledge, a side steeped in elitist views and uncouth beliefs.

While craft beer is often portrayed as hip and idealistic, like other industries, it has its flaws. First off, we won’t always agree. Sure, craft beer is built on collaboration, community, and positivity, but that doesn’t mean we all get along. We are unique individuals who are allowed to have unique and individual viewpoints. It is our differences that help us learn from one another and create a stronger craft beer community.

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Andrew Coploncraft beer, facebook, inclusion, diversity, black lives matter, hiring, firing, company culture, human rights, equality