Latest / The Local Marketing Podcast with Fexingo: Small Business, Google Maps, and Local SEO / How a Local Coffee Roastery Uses Google Maps for Wholesale Leads
Transcript
- Lucas: So there's a coffee roastery in Portland — I won't name them because they're not huge — but they've been roasting for about six years, and they sell both retail and wholesale. Retail to walk-ins, wholesale to cafes and restaurants around the metro. And the interesting thing is, their Google Maps listing is pulling in wholesale leads. Not just the occasional email from a tourist who liked their cold brew, but actual business owners reaching out through the listing to set up wholesale accounts. Luna: Wait, so someone looking for a wholesale coffee supplier is searching on Google Maps? I thought that was more of a retail discovery tool. Lucas: That's exactly what I thought too. But think about it — a cafe owner in Portland who's tired of their current supplier, or a new restaurant opening up, they're on their phone, they search 'coffee roastery near me', and they're not just looking for a place to grab a latte. They're scouting potential partners. And this roastery figured that out. Lucas: Their listing is set up with a very specific structure. The business description mentions wholesale, the photos are a mix of the retail space but also shots of their 60-kilo roaster and bags of beans with wholesale labels. And they've got a Q&A section where they've proactively answered questions like 'Do you supply local cafes?' and 'What's your minimum order?' Luna: So they're treating Google Maps like a mini website, not just a pin on a map. That's smart. But how do they actually convert those lookers into leads? Lucas: Well, the call to action button on their listing — you know, Google lets you set one of those — they have it set to 'Call now', and they direct that to a dedicated line that only shows on the listing. So they can actually track how many calls come from Maps. They told me it's about fifteen to twenty calls a month, and of those, a solid three or four turn into serious wholesale conversations. Luna: Three or four a month doesn't sound like a lot, but if the average wholesale account is worth a few thousand dollars a year, that's meaningful. Lucas: Exactly. And it's not just the call button. They also have a service area set up — they deliver within a thirty-mile radius — and that shows up as a highlighted area on the map. So when a cafe owner in a suburb twenty miles out searches, they see this roastery as a nearby provider, and the listing even says 'serves your area'. Lucas: What really sealed it for me was the posts. They use Google Posts — those little updates that show up on the listing — and they'll put out a post once a month that says something like 'Now onboarding two new wholesale accounts for spring' or 'We have room in our delivery route for one more café in the Northeast.' Luna: Oh, that's clever. It creates a little scarcity, but also it signals to a business owner that they're actively looking for partners. It's not just a static listing. Lucas: Right. And those posts get tied to a specific landing page on their site that spells out wholesale terms, pricing tiers, and a contact form. So the Google Maps listing does the discovery, the post does the nudge, and the landing page does the close. Luna: So what's the one thing a local business owner should steal from this if they're not a coffee roastery? Say you run a catering company or a landscaping business — how does this translate? Lucas: The principle is the same: define who you want to find you, and then make sure every part of your listing speaks to that person. For a caterer, that might mean photos of event setups, not just food shots. For a landscaper, it's before and after images of commercial properties. And then in the Q&A, answer the questions that a business buyer would ask — things like 'Do you have liability insurance?' or 'Can you handle a contract for a whole season?' Lucas: And here's a detail that surprised me — the roastery puts a big emphasis on reviews from other businesses. They've got maybe two hundred reviews total, but the ones from cafe owners are the ones they reply to first. They actually use the keyword 'wholesale' in their replies, like 'Thanks for the kind words, we look forward to continuing our wholesale partnership.' That subtle repetition helps Google associate the listing with that term. Luna: That's a nice hack. But is there a risk that trying to do both retail and wholesale on one listing confuses people? Like, a tourist sees 'we supply cafes' and thinks it's not a place they can visit? Lucas: There's always that tension. But this roastery handles it by keeping the retail front and center — photos of the espresso bar, the pastry case, the friendly barista — and then the wholesale stuff is more in the description and the Q&A. The foot traffic doesn't disappear; in fact, they said walk-ins have gone up since they optimized the listing, because it's more complete and ranks higher for 'coffee roastery near me'. Lucas: The other thing they do is they update their photos seasonally. In the summer, you see cold brew and iced lattes on the retail side, but also shots of their cold brew concentrate in five-gallon bags for wholesale. In the winter, it's batch brew and their holiday blend bags. That constant freshness keeps the listing active, and Google seems to reward that with better visibility. Luna: That's a good point about freshness. I've heard that Google likes regular updates to a business profile — it signals that the business is actually operating. So this roastery is basically running a content calendar for their Maps listing. Lucas: Exactly. And they told me they spend about an hour a week on it, which for the return they're getting is a no-brainer. But here's the honest part: not every business is going to see wholesale leads from Maps. If you're a hair salon, you're not going to get a corporate contract from a Google Maps listing. But for businesses that serve other businesses — even a small niche like a commercial cleaning service or a local print shop — there's a real opportunity. Lucas: So before we go deeper into how to set this up step by step, I want to be straight with you about something that's been on my mind. This podcast — it's ad-free, and that's a choice we made because we think it keeps the conversations honest. But the way it stays sustainable is that a small group of listeners chip in a few bucks a month through buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. That literally covers the hosting, the editing, the research — all of it. Luna: Yeah, and I think it's worth saying that we don't have a big media company behind us. It's just the two of us, and every episode takes real time to put together. So if you've gotten value out of these conversations — maybe you tried something we talked about and it worked — that's exactly the kind of thing that keeps this going. Lucas: Right, and no pressure at all. We're not doing this to get rich, we just want to keep making episodes that are genuinely useful. So if that's something you want to support, the link is buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Otherwise, keep listening — we've got a lot more to cover. Lucas: Now, let's get back to the mechanics. The first step for any local business that wants to attract wholesale or B2B leads through Google Maps is to get your category right. Most people just pick 'Coffee shop' or 'Restaurant', but Google allows you to add secondary categories. So for the roastery, they have 'Coffee roaster' as a primary, but they've added 'Wholesale bakery' — wait, no, that's not right. They added 'Coffee wholesaler' as a secondary category. That's a huge signal to Google about who you serve. Luna: So you're saying the category field is more powerful than most people think? I've seen so many listings where the category is just 'Grocery store' when they also do catering or something. Lucas: Yes. And you can have up to ten categories, though I'd recommend three or four max. For a caterer, you'd put 'Caterer' as primary, then 'Event venue' or 'Wedding planner' as secondary if it fits. For a landscaper, 'Landscaper' primary, 'Snow removal service' as secondary if you do that in winter. It's about teaching Google what you do beyond the obvious. Lucas: Next is the description. This is the 750-character field that most people either leave blank or write a generic blurb. The roastery uses theirs like a pitch: they mention their roasting style, their wholesale delivery radius, and they explicitly say 'We partner with local cafes and restaurants.' That phrase — 'partner with' — is exactly what a business owner is looking for when they search. Luna: And they're using the Q&A section to handle objections before they come up. I've seen some businesses actually answer their own questions there, which feels a little gamey, but if it's done honestly — like, they genuinely get asked these things — it's fair game. Lucas: It's a fine line. Google does allow business owners to answer questions, and if you're preemptively answering common questions, that's not gaming it, that's just good customer service. The roastery answers questions like 'Do you offer samples for wholesale?', 'What's the lead time on an order?', 'Is there a minimum order weight?' — all things a cafe owner would want to know. And those answers show up in the listing, so a potential partner can self-qualify before they even pick up the phone. Lucas: Then there's the matter of attributes. Google Business Profile has these little checkboxes for things like 'Identifies as women-owned', 'Outdoor seating', or 'Accepts reservations'. But there's also 'Service options' that include 'Onsite services' or 'Delivery'. The roastery makes sure 'Delivery' is checked and they note in their service options that they deliver to businesses. It's a small thing, but it again reinforces that they're in the B2B game. Luna: So it sounds like the whole listing is a puzzle with a bunch of pieces — categories, description, Q&A, attributes, photos, posts — and if you fit them all together, you get a picture that says 'We do wholesale' loud and clear. Lucas: Right. And the last piece is maybe the most overlooked: the listing's URL. Most businesses put their homepage. The roastery instead has a utm tagged link that goes directly to their wholesale landing page. So when someone clicks from Maps, they land on a page that's all about wholesale — no navigation, no menu of retail options. It's a straight shot to the 'Request a quote' form. And they can see in their analytics exactly how many clicks came from Maps and what those visitors did on the page. Lucas: One more thing — they track phone calls with a forwarding number that's different from their main line. All of this adds up to a system where they can measure the return on their one hour a week. And they told me that over the last six months, they've signed four new wholesale accounts that they directly attribute to Google Maps. Four accounts, average value about eight thousand dollars a year each. That's thirty-two thousand in recurring revenue, just from optimizing a free listing. Luna: That's a solid return. And it's not just for coffee — I'm already thinking about a local bakery that does custom cakes for restaurants, or a cleaning company that targets office buildings. The playbook seems to transfer. Lucas: It does, as long as you're honest about who you're trying to reach. If you're a B2C business, this whole approach is overkill. But if you have a product or service that another business might buy, your Google Maps listing is a channel you're probably not using to its full potential. Luna: So what's the first thing someone should do tomorrow morning? Not the whole overhaul, just the first step. Lucas: Go into your Google Business Profile and check your categories. Are they the primary and secondary categories that actually match the full scope of what you offer? If not, change them. That's a two-minute fix that can have an outsized impact. Then, over the next week, work on your Q&A and add a handful of photos that show your product or service in a business to business context. That's a solid start. Luna: And maybe set up a dedicated call tracking number too, so you can actually see if it's working. Lucas: Absolutely. That's the difference between guessing and knowing. And if you do see an uptick in wholesale inquiries, you'll know exactly where they came from. It's a small investment of time for a potentially significant revenue stream. Lucas: So the takeaway here is that Google Maps isn't just a discovery tool for B2C anymore. For local businesses with a wholesale or B2B side, it's an underused lead-generation machine — if you treat it with the same care you'd give your website. Categories, description, Q&A, photos, posts, and the right call to action. It all works together. Luna: And it's all free, which is kind of wild. No ad spend, just elbow grease. Lucas: Exactly. And I think that's a good note to end on. Next time you're looking at your own listing, ask yourself: if I were a business owner looking for a partner, would this listing convince me to make the call?