cake survey
PEOPLE SKILLS TRAINING
Staff Training: Serving up Success
It doesn’t matter if your coffee shop has an amazing house blend, or the best latte in town. If the service at your location is subpar, your customers will remember that and nothing else.
At any establishment, staff members are performing right at the front lines, making an immediate impression on guests. Locations that invest in both initial and ongoing training opportunities are often those whose customers experience the best overall service. Whether you oversee the training process yourself, utilize web-based or other interactive platforms to maximize employee engagement, or bring in an external consulting team to assist, it’s essential that your operation have a strategic training plan in place.
Training begins before day one
Many retailers assume that staff training starts the first day an employee arrives on the job. However, many industry professionals say that owners and managers should begin thinking about training before they even embark on the hiring process. Consider what types of people are most likely to thrive in your retail environment. Those are the people you want to make sure to hire in the first place: the ones who will fit in and be successful.
Louisa Graves is the co-owner of CoffeeTrainers.com, a Los Angeles-based company that offers barista training, one-on-one consultations, store design advice, and general staff training to coffee retailers. She suggests that retailers have staff training in mind during the initial stages of the employee hiring phase.
“Make sure you hire engaging people,” Graves says. “You want your staff members to be friendly, welcoming, and able to effectively engage with your customers so those customers turn into repeat customers.”
For many coffee retailers, training can be divided into two main components: drink preparation and customer service. On the customer service side, it’s important to stress the same types of good customer service skills
Staff Training: Serving up Success
It doesn’t matter if your coffee shop has an amazing house blend, or the best latte in town. If the service at your location is subpar, your customers will remember that and nothing else.
At any establishment, staff members are performing right at the front lines, making an immediate impression on guests. Locations that invest in both initial and ongoing training opportunities are often those whose customers experience the best overall service. Whether you oversee the training process yourself, utilize web-based or other interactive platforms to maximize employee engagement, or bring in an external consulting team to assist, it’s essential that your operation have a strategic training plan in place.
Training begins before day one
Many retailers assume that staff training starts the first day an employee arrives on the job. However, many industry professionals say that owners and managers should begin thinking about training before they even embark on the hiring process. Consider what types of people are most likely to thrive in your retail environment. Those are the people you want to make sure to hire in the first place: the ones who will fit in and be successful.
Louisa Graves is the co-owner of CoffeeTrainers.com, a Los Angeles-based company that offers barista training, one-on-one consultations, store design advice, and general staff training to coffee retailers. She suggests that retailers have staff training in mind during the initial stages of the employee hiring phase.
“Make sure you hire engaging people,” Graves says. “You want your staff members to be friendly, welcoming, and able to effectively engage with your customers so those customers turn into repeat customers.”
For many coffee retailers, training can be divided into two main components: drink preparation and customer service. On the customer service side, it’s important to stress the same types of good customer service skills