If you are planning on opening a coffee shop, or you have recently opened a new store, then you should be aware that one of the greatest influences on your shop’s success is your staff. You can have the finest equipment and the best ingredients, but without a knowledgeable and friendly staff, your coffee shop may be doomed from the start.
Good employees are important in any customer-service business. Good employees are doubly important if you own a coffee shop. In order to succeed, you need to make your coffee shop a destination for your clientele. Very few coffee shops succeed by relying on customers who just happen to be near the business when they suddenly have an urge for a cup of coffee. The best way to make your coffee shop a customer destination is by hiring and keeping good staff.
Knowledgeable Staff
Some customers are intimated by the multitude of choices at many coffee shops. Most customers appreciate a helpful suggestion from the staff taking their order as long as the staff member appears knowledgeable about the subject. That means your staff needs to know your shop’s coffee, and they also need to be enthusiastic about your coffee. A staff’s enthusiasm can often motivate a customer to try a new and more expensive coffee. If the customer likes your staff’s suggestion, then the odds are that they will order the more expensive coffee the next time they visit your store.
Friendly Staff
Coffee shops are unique in that they tend to rely on customer loyalty to remain in business. If your store’s staff is friendly, then the customer is likely to return for repeat business. As an owner, you can’t train your staff to be friendly. You can order your staff to say hello and smile, but that’s not the same as friendly. A friendly employee takes a genuine interest in your customers. If you have a friendly staff, then you need to do your best to keep them.
Multiple Sales
An average staff member will ask a customer if they want anything else with their coffee. A good staff member will make a suggestion to the customer of a product that would go well with the customer’s coffee purchase. Your coffee shop needs multiple sales per customer if you want to remain in business. Consequently, your staff needs to be cross selling at every opportunity.
Next to the taste of your coffee, a friendly and knowledgeable staff will probably have the greatest influence on your coffee shop’s success or failure. Nothing can guarantee your coffee shop’s success. But, a friendly and knowledgeable staff that consistently cross sells your merchandize will go a long ways towards insuring the success of your business.
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Rodney Hartman Posted on: 2013-07-19 12:00 AM 
