219 interested workplaces for a coffee truck franchise

The situation

A local owner of a national coffee truck franchise. The truck earns when it is booked, and the best bookings are the regular ones: workplaces that make a barista visit a standing perk for their team.

The challenge was awareness. Most office managers have no idea a full barista truck, not a cart or a vending machine, can simply turn up outside their building. Nobody searches for something they don’t know exists, so it had to be put in front of them.

What I did

• Built lists of workplaces in the truck’s service area, and found the people who look after team perks, wellbeing and events
• Kept it local and specific: every subject line was about coffee at their company, and every email named their city
• Ran two angles side by side: the truck as a regular treat the team looks forward to, and a simpler first step, bringing the truck out once so the team could try it
• Used the follow-ups to answer the practical worries before anyone asked: nothing to set up or clean up, fast service, plenty for the non-coffee drinkers, and the backing of a national brand
• Ended by asking to be pointed to whoever handles perks or events
• Once the first campaign proved the angle, extended the same playbook to a larger second list

The result

The first week alone produced 51 interested businesses. Across the first campaign, 3,477 workplaces were contacted, 310 replied at an 8.9% reply rate, and 129 were interested.

The second, larger campaign added 90 more interested businesses, and more than half of its replies were positive.

In total: 219 interested businesses, with 45% of all replies positive. For a business that lives on repeat bookings, every one of those is a potential regular.

This is the second coffee truck we have run outbound for, and the first one followed the same pattern. When the offer is a genuine treat for a team, the right email gets people saying yes quickly.

Run a local business that companies could book? Book a call and I’ll map it out.