Back in the day, you might pull into a dreary forecourt once a week for petrol, oil, or a lukewarm pie. It was an experience that was more of a chore than a pleasure.  

In 2002, BP woke up and smelt the coffee. By turning their stores into more cheerful locations and selling goods that people actively wanted to buy, they began to transform the service station experience.

Frank explains, “We wanted to be different, to have something of value to offer customers and to change the way people felt about a service station.

“Instead of just offering basic products, we decided to focus on delivering a quality experience.

“We started with premium fuel. We recognised that quality fuel differentiated us from the others and gave people a reason to come to our service stations more often.

“But beyond fuel, we saw an opportunity to deliver a better customer experience through a quality cafe offer.”

Today, Wild Bean Cafe has grown to 89 cafes around the country, making BP the largest coffee retailer in New Zealand. Not only that, 100% of Wild Bean Cafe coffee is Fairtrade Certified.

The business has also won a rich blend of national awards for excellence including; Energy Retailer of the Year 2013 and 2014, the Canstar Blue Most Satisfied Customer Award (Coffee Shop Chains) for two years in a row (2014 and 2015), and multiple recognition awards for its top-quality baristas.

“We’re really proud of what we’ve achieved,” Frank said, “but the true test of success is whether people return to our stores.”

“We’ve been humbled to discover that many people now see us as their local cafe. Year-on-year, people keep coming back for more and we’re constantly attracting new customers,” he said.

Caffeine aside, what does Frank see as the special ingredient for their all-round success?

“The only way to achieve success is to train and encourage your people,” Frank said. “To get that high level of growth and customer satisfaction, you have to provide a consistently great service in every Wild Bean Cafe across the country, every day of the week. A platform for this success is a well-documented training process to support our people and encourage them do a little bit better every time,” he said.  

The Wild Bean Cafe’s Gold baristas and Cafe Team Leads upskill onsite according to BP’s in-house training system in conjunction with suppliers. By connecting the training with ServiceIQ’s Qual Link assessment, these staff - as well as many of BP’s customer services representatives – can also gain national qualifications. (ServiceIQ is the official training partner for hospitality, retail and other service sectors.)   

Franks explains, “You have to constantly challenge yourself and offer new things that add up to an even better customer experience. We act like we’re number two, and by the time they (competitors) catch up, we’ve already moved forward.”