Arggh... Mothers Groups

beangroundanddrunk

Folks, any advice greatly appreciated on this one...

We seem to have become the 'in place' for hundreds (well ok, maybe 25 at a time!) mothers to desend on our 60 seater cafe with double buggies, screaming kids, and never ending conversations about chapped nipples!

Today we had 3 separate mothers groups in the cafe at the same time, and for the past 2 weeks its happened on Mon, Weds and Fridays so a 'trend' is forming.

Now fortunately they are generally avoiding us around lunchtime (which is good) and just packing us out during the mid morning / mid arvo times when we are admittedly quieter... So we are making money now in our 'spare capacity' times...

However, there are issues, and I am looking for a way of 'having my cake and eating it' so to speak...

The specific issues I have are:

1. they 'sit' on a single coffee for best part of 2hrs, and we are losing the 'casual' passer by and mid morning business meeting customers who would normally be popping in 2 or 3 times a day on their coffee runs!
2. not all of the mums actually buy something (we are order and pay at counter). The 'can I get anyone anything else' just falls on deaf ears!!!
3. worse still some of the mums sitting on our outdoor seating are consuming products from other cafes they have passed on the way to the mothers group meeting, and buying nothing from us!!
4. they place so much 'baby stuff' on the tables that the staff are finding it difficult to get the drinks on the table.
5. Its clearly annoying some of the regulars, as well as stressing the staff out as they are having to become contortionists to navigate all the buggies and crawling little ones!

I need to find a way of nicely getting the basic message across that while we want their business, they need to have a bit more respect. They need to understand that staff are carrying hot drinks when they rock their buggies into walkways, and if they occupy a seat there is an expectation that they will purchase. Evidently it doesnt go without saying with this demographic of customer that it is just down right rude to be consuming off-site product in our cafe and I need to stop that happening immediately!

I have tried to talk to them, and I am lucky if they even make eye contact with me! I feel like I am on a losing battle trying to have an sensible conversation in a calm manner and explain myself to them over the screaming kids and distractions! My frustrations are building, but I want to resolve this in a constructive way and not just 'blow my top' and either end up arguing with customers or banning them!

I am sure someone must have faced this issue before... any suggestions would be greatly appreciated as I want to resolve this before it gets any further out of hand!

The only thing I could think of was a laminated sheet to give them which layed out the 'ground rules for mothersgroups'... but not sure if that is a good idea or will just annoy them?

Thanks

sketchy

Hi I feel your pain. to start with you should have a sign up stating that it is the parents responserbility to make sure all children are seated, in the interest of health and safety. then mention when you try to put down a coffee how bad you would feel if a kid got burned because you triped over a pram or kid running around. then you should never let eany one have outside food without asking you first and buying something from you, ie if they buy a coffee for themselves and a drink for the kid then you could allow some home bought snack for the kid. you should never let them just have outside food. in the past we had people bring in cans of soft drink (that i sell in 600ml bottles) to have wit there meal, so we started charging corkage as we do with beer and wine. most won't do it again after they pay an extra $2 for a can. some still try so now we take it of them and return it after they have finnished. as for parking inside welcome to my hell ;D we only have one high chair which means lots have to leave kids in prams which does help to keep the kids seated. hope that helps a bit and good luck LE

askthecoffeeguy

In the past I've used small tent cards on the tables to promote a certain product on one side, and on the other to identify that: "Castro's seating is for Castro's paying customers only, especially during lunch and other busy times - thank you for your consideration" And whist we a somewhat flexible on this rule, my staff or myself are required to enforce it from time to time. I simply tell the offending patrons that as I pay rent on the space I am required to turn over the tables in order to be profitable, or you could try placing a 'reserved' sign on the table after a reasonable amount of time, and inform the group that te space has been booked, and you require the table I think that if you can somehow capture the family orientated market in a way that doesn't compromise your business, then you are probably on to a good thing. Hope this helps Cheers, PAt

nzroaster

Oh I feel your pain, it makes me angry all over again. We had a nuber of groups with all the same problems as you do. We went down the laminated card path which we embelished a story for. It was along the lines that an employee was burnt while negotiating baby hummers and in light of this we require groups of mums to please be in control of their kids and have consideration for others. We also stated that it was strictly our food and drink only unless it was an item we did not sell, or have a substitute for. Now we have setup a large table for them out of the way of everyone else. Some groups have left for good (oh the pain of $30 less a week) and others still come in regularily. You will offend some and some will understand, thats life.