Strategic Communication Plan

Mikayla Nogueira

16 December 2018
Background:

Tropical Smoothie Cafe opened their first cafe in 1997. They started off their company by selling

fresh made-to-order smoothies with fruits and vegetables. Two years later, they added

wholesome food to the menu. Now, in 2018, there are over 700 locations with several new

locations opening each month across the country. While being a “fast food” chain, Tropical

Smoothie Cafe serves fresh foods made with real ingredients. The smoothies are made with fresh

cut fruits and vegetables, while the wraps, flatbreads, sandwiches, salads, and quesadillas are

made with locally grown vegetables and healthy proteins. However, Tropical Smoothie Cafe has

a reputation for being slow and having poor customer service. This is primarily due to the food

being made fresh with each order rather than being pre-made and set onto hot plates. Because it

is considered a “fast food” location, customers expect quick service, but orders may take as long

as ten minutes to be served. Also, Tropical Smoothie Cafe is an extremely popular chain because

of society’s recent shift to live a healthier lifestyle. Customers are more inclined to choose a

Tropical Smoothie Cafe over a McDonald’s or Burger King. Due to its popularity, employees

struggle to keep up with the amount of orders, which leads to many mistakes being made and

many unhappy customers. Overall, Tropical Smoothie Cafe could surely thrive if they improved

employee training and made employees more efficient in order to properly make each order and

push orders out faster, which in turn would improve customer satisfaction.

Goal or Mission:

The mission of this strategic communication plan is to improve customer satisfaction and

retention rates at Tropical Smoothie Cafe in Fairhaven, Massachusetts.

Measurable Objectives:

The measurable objective of this strategic communication plan is the following:

Increase customer satisfaction and retention by 25% by the summer of 2019 at

Tropical Smoothie Cafe in Fairhaven, Massachusetts.

Desirable Criteria:

1. If customers who were previously dissatisfied become satisfied based on the changes

made to the store operations and begin consistently returning to the store, that will

ultimately result in more revenue for the store.

2. A friendlier atmosphere will breed a better work community because with employees

working collaboratively, they have more positive and optimistic attitudes which is

reflected towards other employees and customers as well.

3. Food quality will improve because employees will have customer satisfaction at the

forefront of their minds. By serving the best quality food, it will ultimately result in

customers having a good experience at the store.

4. Online ratings will improve because Tropical Smoothie Cafe in Fairhaven, MA has poor

ratings online due their history with poor customer service. By improving the customer

service and having more satisfied customers, they are more like to leave positive online

reviews.

Audience (Stakeholders):

1. Tropical Smoothie Cafe Restaurant Franchise

a. The franchise itself is significant because corporate relies on the success of its

franchises across the country. If franchises begin to close because of low revenue
 due to poor customer satisfaction, it could harm the overall company in the long

run.

2. Karyn Ferreira, Tropical Smoothie Cafe, Fairhaven, Massachusetts Owner

a. Karyn Ferreira is the owner of this cafe and she has invested millions of dollars

into the company, including her own money she earned prior to opening the store.

If the store does not improve, she would have to close the doors and it would not

only affect her negatively, but it would have an impact on her family.

3. Tropical Smoothie Cafe, Fairhaven, Massachusetts Employees

a. The employees are a key stakeholder because they are part of the change that

needs to be made for customers to be more satisfied and return to the store. If the

employees are not better trained, do not improve their customer service skills, and

do not prepare food passionately, then they could all lose their jobs. This strategic

communication plan, if implemented correctly, will bring these employees

awareness towards the changes that need to be made.

4. Tropical Smoothie Cafe, Fairhaven, Massachusetts Customers

a. The customers are the main focus of this strategic communication plan and if the

plan is implemented successfully then they will have an improved Tropical

Smoothie Cafe experience, which will in turn influence them to return again. The

customers are seeking high quality food, fast services, and friendly staff.

5. Competitors

a. Tropical Smoothie Cafe does have competitors, which includes Orange Julius,

Red Mango, Smoothie King, and Jamba Juice. These chains can be negatively

affected if Tropical Smoothie Cafe does in fact improve the store. On the other
 hand, if Tropical Smoothie Café does not improve how they train and motivate

their employees, then these competitive chains may earn Tropical Smoothie

Café’s business. However, more customers will be attracted to Tropical Smoothie

Cafe as reviews improve and word-of-mouth occurs.

6. Surrounding Businesses

a. Tropical Smoothie Cafe in Fairhaven, MA is surrounded by chain restaurants.

There is a Taco Bell, McDonald’s, Wendy’s, 7/11, Dunkin Donuts and also some

locally owned restaurants. Seeing that society is becoming more health conscious,

customers may be more inclined to choose Tropical Smoothie Cafe. However, if

Tropical Smoothie Cafe does not improve, these chains will receive more

businesses if the store were to close.

Communication Channels:

1. Face-to-Face

a. For this communication channel, it is the most crucial for Tropical Smoothie Cafe

in Fairhaven, MA. This is because the face-to-face interactions are the first step

for a good customer experience. The employees must learn to approach customers

with a smile and a positive attitude. It is also important that employees are well

trained on menu items and restaurant procedures in order to answer any questions

customers have in a full and accurate manner. Employees also need to learn how

to properly handle conflict with customers if, for example, orders are incorrect or

they feel as if they are waiting too long for their food
2. Radio

a. In Fairhaven, radio is extremely popular, as it is home of FUN107 radio station.

The radio personalities at this station have generated immense popularity from

South Coast Massachusetts residents. Tropical Smoothie Cafe uses FUN107 to

send out messages about the business and current promotions they are offering in

order to bring customers in. Tropical Smoothie Cafe also offers promotions

through FUN107 that can only be used through the radio stations website, such as

50% off giftcards. On some occassions, Tropical Smoothie Café in Fairhaven will

invite members of the FUN107 team and their DJ’s to come to the store and

advertise directly from there. It is important that TSC continues to do this as they

improve in-store customer service.

3. Electronic

a. Tropical Smoothie Cafe heavily uses Facebook to attract customers. They post

photos, events, hiring opportunities, Facebook promotions, and more. While the

Facebook page is highly active, there are some very negative reviews of the store

on the page. It will be important for the store to improve the customer experience

in order for reviews to improve by the summer of 2019. It may also be beneficial

to expand their social media communication to other platforms, as Facebook is

becoming relevant only among a certain demographic. Currently, the Tropical

Smoothie Café in Dartmouth, Massachusetts is far more popular and makes more

revenue than the Fairhaven store. This may be contributed to the fact that TSC in

Dartmouth uses social media platforms such as Instagram and Twitter to promote

their store and promotions they are offering along with Facebook. Karyn could
 ultimately hire a company to run social media for her and create posts that

generate positive responses, or she could assign this role to the manager because

she argues that she is far too busy to invest her time into this.

Partnerships:

1. Town of Fairhaven

a. Tropical Smoothie Cafe has many opportunities to work with Fairhaven and

surrounding towns at craft fairs, festivals, large scale events, farmer’s markets,

school events, and more. When Tropical Smoothie Cafe does catering for the

public, it not only fosters a communal feel for the store, but makes customers

more aware of the smoothies and food offered. For example, the Fairhaven school

system held, “Fairhaven Night Out,” which was an event at the school grounds for

family and friends of Fairhaven. They had rides, food, and vendors. The store

attended this event and it created a positive response.

2. Surrounding Fairhaven recreational sports teams

a. Tropical Smoothie Cafe teams up with local recreational sports teams and brands

their jerseys. By sponsoring a team, TSC in Fairhaven is not only supporting

young athletes, which is great public relations, but they are also marketing the

brand right on their jerseys at every game. The athlete's then have their reception

at the cafe, which results in significant revenue.

3. FUN107 radio station

a. As previously mentioned, it is very strategic for Tropical Smoothie Cafe to

partner with FUN107. When the store has new promotions, they will request that

FUN107 broadcast on the radio from the store and drive customers to come in.
 FUN107 is so popular that the store requires double the employees on shift when

they are doing FUN107 promotions.

4. Other Tropical Smoothie Cafe locations

a. By Tropical Smoothie Cafe in Fairhaven partnering with other TSC cafes in the

region, they show their support for one another and help each other improve their

stores. When one cafe runs out of an inventory item, other stores are able to lend a

hand to make sure the stores stay on track.

5. Camp Sunshine

a. Camp Sunshine is a camp for children with terminal illness. All money earned

from tips at Tropical Smoothie Cafe is donated to Camp Sunshine. There is also a

smoothie named after Camp Sunshine, called the Sunshine Smoothie. The store is

full wall to wall with signed donation suns. With this, the store shows that they

care about an important cause and are willing to give back in some way, which

improves public relations.

Message

Overall, with the recent increase in health consciousness in modern society, Tropical

Smoothie Café in Fairhaven, Massachusetts has great potential. However, this location will be

doomed to fail if they do not improve the culture of the store. By properly training the employees

and following this strategic communication plan, customer service at TSC Fairhaven can

improve. With this being said, it is crucial that TSC Fairhaven acts sooner than later to foster a

better store and employee culture for long-term success.