ABC

Electronic







245 W. Main Street
Media Consultants






Moscow, ID 82843



April 17, 2015



Mr. Gabe Booher
Post Falls Coffee Co. & Bakery
621 N. Spokane Street
Post Falls, ID 83854

Dear Mr. Booher,

Enclosed you will find a report which analyzes the electronic communication of your
business. This report is unsolicited, but I respectfully offer you some recommendations of
improvements on your electronic communication. These suggestions are based off of my
analysis and research.

The recommendations I have drafted for your company are designed to help increase your
connection with your clients through communication on your website, Facebook page and
Google+ account. Here at ABC Electronic, we are confident that implementing the changes
we recommend in this report will help your business serve your customers in a better and
more efficient manner.

I would like to thank you for considering this report. If you have any questions, feel free to
contact me at (208)-277-7260 or at my email, roma0019@vandals.uidaho.edu.

Regards,


MaryAnn

Recommendations for better Electronic Communication at the
Post Falls Coffee Co.







Prepared by
MaryAnn Roman
ABC Electronic Media Consultants






April 29, 2015

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

Executive Summary.... 1

Introduction 2
Background.. 2
Problems.... 3
Sources and Methods.. 3
Report Organization.... 4
Current Situation.. 3

Detailed Objectives.. 8

Conclusion.... 10

References 12

Executive Summary

The Post Falls Coffee Co.s primary source of electronic communication is their website.
After this they use Facebook and Google +. The website is very visually pleasing featuring
professionally taken photos and a color scheme of mochas and browns, perfectly suited for
a coffee shop. The site is easy clear and easy to navigate, but hasnt been updated in many
months. Certain tabs that appear clearly outdated need to be changed or removed. The
companys Facebook is equally easy to navigate, but also need updating. The visual aspects
of these forms of communication would benefit from the addition of photos, weekly posts
and responses to customer reviews. Finally, the Google+ page simply needs to be finished.
As of now, this page is lacking in visual appeal, ease of navigation and currency. The Post
Falls Coffee Co would benefit greatly from the updating and redesigning some of their
electronic communication sites.

Introduction

Background
Electronic communication is becoming more and more important in the business world
today. This communication now includes social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter,
Google + and the like. Keeping up with this new communication is essential for a small
business since it has the capability to set the company apart from other competition,
maintain customer loyalty, and allow the company to keep in touch with its customers.

The Post Falls Coffee Co. holds a central part in the community of Post Falls, ID. It is a
popular place to grab a cup of coffee and catch up with friends or get some studying done.
The customers, who come to the PF Coffee Co. for these reasons and more, want to stay in
touch with the company even outside of the shop. The Post Falls Coffee Co. uses a business
website, Facebook page and Google+ to conduct its electronic communication. The primary
mode of communication is their website, which has been professionally designed. After
this, Facebook, Yelp and Google + plus are used equally as another mode of electronic
communication.

Other coffee shops in the region also use Facebook to update customers on events, special
offers and new products. The Coffee Cottage up the street from PF Coffee Co. keeps a very
updated Facebook page, Yelp, and Google+. Like this company, Leopard Lattes also located
in Post Falls also keeps an update Facebook page as well as a Yelp page.

Problem
The Post Falls Coffee Co. has a unique opportunity to form a strong relationship with its
employees and customers, but this opportunity is greatly impeded by the companys
current electronic communication. Electronic communication is key to developing a solid
way to interact with customers. As of now, the PF Coffee Co has a good basis for e-
communication, but it could greatly benefit from a few changes, namely updating all forms
of electronic communication and creating more visually pleasing pages. This report will lay
out detailed suggestions for revisions and plan of action for updating all information.

Sources and Methods

To prepare this report, I researched the business plans commonly used when opening a
coffee shop, tips for business communications, and the Post Falls Coffee Co.s current use of
electronic communication. I analyzed in detail every aspect of the companys website,
Facebook page, and Google+ page. Each of these sources of communication have a good
start, but are in great need of updating. I chose three criteria to consider in my analysis: 1.
Writing for audience, which analyzes how well the e-communication is directed towards
the coffee shops client base; 2. Easy to Navigate and Visually Pleasing, which analyzes how
easy the communication is to use; and Updated Communication, which looks to see if the
communication is as current as possible. Based on my analysis, I am certain improving the
Post Falls Coffee Co.s online presence is quite manageable and will greatly improve all the
sites examined in this report.

Report Organization
In this report I will begin with an analysis of the Post Coffee Co.s current electronic
communications according to the three criteria mentioned above. Next, I will describe in
detail five objectives that should be focused on to ensure better e-communication, I will
provide examples of specific tasks that will fulfill the objectives, explain the benefits of
these changes, and lay out a reasonable timeline for the suggested changes.

Current Situation
In this report I have analyzed the Post Falls Coffee Co.s electronic communication, namely
their website, Facebook page, and Google+ account. I have used three specific criteria, as
follows:
1. Writing for audience
2. Easy to navigate and visually pleasing.
3. Updated communication.

Writing for audience
The website is very strongly written for the coffee shops audience. The website contains all
the information that their audience would be interested in, and the way it is written is spot
on. The language is neither too simple nor too complex. The texts tone is friendly and
inviting. One particularly strong aspect of the website is the inclusion of the different foods
and services the shop offers and a list of what spending time at the shop is good for. The list

is fun and even humorous at times, the coffee shop suggests that it is a great place for
amazing coffee, treating an A student, and splurging.

The website also includes mini biographies and photos of all those that work there. This is
a very personal touch and would appeal to their audience very well. The Facebook page
and Yelp page both cater to the coffee shops audience. The Facebook page posts are
friendly and definitely directed towards the audience. The Yelp page features good photos
of the coffee shop, but other than that there is little business communication. This is also
true for the PF Coffee Co.s Google+ account, which is hardly completed at all.
The Facebook page was directed towards its audience quite well at the start of it, but since
the opening of the coffee shop, very few customers have received responses to the reviews
they have left on the page. The PF Coffee Co. only responded to one customer review on the
Yelp page; the review was negative and the coffee shop apologized.

The PF Coffee Co. could enhance their appeal to their audience by adding a new tab on the
website that features daily deals or weekly events that might take place at the shop. A
news tab would also give the customers a place to keep updated on the coffee shops
activities. Another suggestion would be to complete the Google+ profile and make the page
ready for customer communication.

Easy to navigate and visually pleasing
The website is very easy to use and navigate. The tabs are clearly marked and accessible at
the top of the page. There are links to both their Facebook page and their email. The

website and Facebook page and Yelp include directions to the different PF Coffee Co.
locations and also maps. However, the Yelp page is overwhelming and not particularly
pleasing to the eye. Again, the Google+ account has not been completed so I cannot judge
how visually appealing it is.

Due to the template nature of Yelp and Facebook, it may be difficult to make it more
visually pleasing. Adding new and updated photos to both pages is one thing that can be
done to help improve on visual appeal. Also adding live links on the website, Yelp and
Facebook for each of the other sites would give customers the opportunity to explore all of
PF Coffee Co.s electronic communication without having to Google it. In this manner, the
customers gain a full view of the company they support.

Updated communication
The Post Falls Coffee Co. falls short under this criterion. Each of their sources of electronic
communication is sadly lacking in currency. This is a definite weakness and detrimental to
the companys communication. The lack of updated pages exhibits a lack of care and
attention to the customers.

The website features a tab that is labeled Customer Appreciation Week. The tab is very
out of date; the date reads September 15-20th. The Team tab is also sadly out dated.
There are pictures of newer employees but their mini biographies have not been written
yet. This lack of completion could give customers the wrong message. Like the website, the

Facebook page needs updating. The last post on Facebook was in December and they have
not posted new photos in many months. The Yelp page and Google + are also very outdated.

To remedy this, the Post Falls Coffee Co. should come up with a weekly regime of posting
to their Facebook page. The posts should feature events that have happened at the shop
lately, new services or products made available or coming soon, future events and products
to look forward to, and interactive posts to get the customers communicating and involved
with the company.
The PF Coffee Co. should reply or comment to at least some of the customers comments
and reviews. I only noticed one response from the coffee shop to a customer even though I
looked through all of their online communication. Customers would like to know that they
have been heard. If the review is negative, then the response should be apologetic. If the
review is good, the response should be to thank the customer and to acknowledge that the
company appreciates them.
It is also important to update the website. This could be very quickly accomplished by
simply taking away the customer appreciation week tab. This week is long gone and the
coffee shop should either take down the tab on the website or create a new customer
appreciation week. I would also suggest finishing the new employee biographies. This
gives the audience the message that the PF Coffee Co. cares about and appreciates their
staff.

Detailed Objectives
In the following you will find a list of objectives, which I would focus on to provide the Post
Falls Coffee Co. with better electronic communication. These objectives are based off of the
three criteria used in my analysis of the companys electronic communication.

1. Create/ Write weekly posts for the Facebook page.
2. Update the website
3. Finish biographies for employees
4. Make the Google + page more visually pleasing
5. Reply or comment to all of the customers comments and reviews on all sites

Deliverables
Based on the objectives laid out above, the following will demonstrate a few examples of
what should be done to improve the companys e-communication. Below I have listed three
examples of deliverables that address objective
1. Update Facebook page regularly.

Weekly updates on events

Weekly posts of amusing riddles to get customers responding

Monthly updating of photos

2. Update the website
Finish new employee biographies

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Design a new customer of the week event

3. Finish Google+ page

Add photos of coffee shop and products

Post a little history of the coffee shop

Essentially finish all aspects of the companys profile

Benefits
There are three main benefits to implementing the changes I have suggested above. Firstly,
communication that is easy to navigate, visually pleasing, directed towards the correct
audience and updated regularly will help keep the companys online presence separate
from that of other competitors. Secondly, it will help maintain the coffee shops existing
customers. Coffee shops cannot expect to steadily gain new customers; it is very important
that they keep their already established customer base. Finally, efficient and well-designed
electronic communication can serve as the perfect and easiest way to keep in touch with
customers. I have based these benefits on some research I found on marketing and effective
communication specifically for a coffee shop written by Craig Berman whose writing has
appeared USAToday. With a few manageable changes to their electronic communication,
the Post Falls Coffee Co. will be able to start seeing these benefits almost immediately.

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Timeline
The suggested changes to the Post Falls Coffee Co.s electronic communication, which is
found in this report should be implemented immediately. Each suggestion is fairly easy and
would take little time.

If hired, I would begin this updating May 1, 2015 and have all changes made to the different
forms of communication by May 15, 2015. The maintenance of the Facebook page may be
the most time consuming, but it is important to keep the page updated. The Facebook page
should be updated weekly, preferably at the start of each week. I would suggest updating
the page every Monday morning by 9am, and responding to all customer reviews or
comments by Monday closing time. The Yelp and Google+ page should also be checked
weekly for new customer posts, questions, comments or reviews. These sorts of customer
communication should be answered and acknowledged right away.
As for the duration of this practice, it should continue for as long as the company is in
business. Communicating with the customers if vitally important to the life of the company.

Conclusion
Electronic communication is a very important part of doing business today. Most of society
communicates through online social media. Staying up to date with this practice and being
familiar with how it works can help a small business increase its customer base and remain
connected with its already existing customers. The Post Falls Coffee Co. would benefit
greatly from making a few changes to its electronic communication, primarily on its

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website, Facebook page and Google+. This report suggests a few changes to these modes of
electronic communication, which can be implemented immediately and with little trouble.
The criteria used to analyze the PF Coffee Cos online presence are the following: 1. Writing
for audience, 2. Ease of use and visual appeal, and 3. Updated communication. The
suggested changes found in this report will increase the usability and appeal of all the PF
Coffee Co.s electronic communication and will benefit the company as a whole.

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References
Berman, Craig. Marketing and Communication Objectives for a Coffee Shop.

Chron.com. Houston Chronicle, na. Web. 2 April 2015.

Fergison, Lisa. 13 Tips to Opening a Successful Coffee Shop. Bplans. Web. 28 April 2015.
Post Falls Coffee Co. Facebook. Facebook. Web. 15 April 2015.
Post Falls Coffee Co. Google+. Google. Web. 15 April 2015.