ABC Electronic

Street
Media Consultants
ID 82843

245 W. Main
Moscow,

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

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Executive Summary...
.

Introduction

Background
..

Problems.
...
3
Sources and
Methods..
3
Report
Organization.
...

Current
Situation
..
3
Detailed Objectives.
.
8

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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that appear clearly outdated need to be changed or removed.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

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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

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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

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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.

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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

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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.

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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.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Create/ Write weekly posts for the Facebook page.

Update the website
Finish biographies for employees
Make the Google + page more visually pleasing
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 ecommunication. 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

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2. Update the website

Finish new employee biographies

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 welldesigned 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.

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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
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.