Piss people off in order to define your customer base

Something I found online.....


I work in Fitzroy. As such I am blessed with an abundance of café choices. For someone who mainlines coffee, this is a Godsend. Brunswick Street is my strip and I hop from café to café to try the weird and wonderful ways the various barristas put a coffee together.




The truth is most of these cafés could be run by the same people. They’re all going for something like the quirky Fitzroy feel. The problem with that is they don’t differentiate themselves and therefore they are trying to please too many people. What they really need to do is piss a few people off and attract a bunch of raving fans to call their own. Mario’s has been doing this for years.


In my opinion if you’re not pissing anyone off you’re not trying hard enough. You can’t be everything to everyone. In order to be of great service to your kind of customer you have to make it clear that you don’t cater for the other lot. Sounds harsh but it’s the absolute gospel of good business.


Mario’s is – as far as I am aware – the original Brunswick Street café. They’ve been going strong for about 20 years, starting back when Brunswick Street wasn’t all that happening. They do what they do well and they don’t go out of their way to accommodate people who don’t fit the customer base that they have defined for themselves.


Mario’s has a somewhat unadventurous menu. Breakfast is muesli or toast or bacon and eggs and extras with a few special dishes. If you want Morrocan eggs you’ll have to go elsewhere. However, the food is good. It’s just good old café-style food. No frills. No BS.


Coffee is where Mario’s really splits the flock into lovers and haters. At Mario’s there’s no soy, no skinny milk and no decaf. If you don’t like it bad luck. Go somewhere else. The wait staff never apologise for the lack alternatives. They are coffee purists and aren’t going to change for anyone. The truth is they make good coffee. I’ve never had a bad one their regardless of who was working the machine.


At Mario’s you can pay by cash, cash or cash. This is a little bit of a pain in the ass I’ll agree but they’ve got their ways and they are sticking to them. As a business owner I understand the desire for cash. They do have an ATM up back and no doubt score some income from it too. It’s a win-win for them.


My point? Piss some people off. Divide your prospects into lovers and haters. Make it black and white. You want your customers to love you to bits. You want them to rave about you. And the haters? Let them eat cake. They were never for you anyway.