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Top Customer Service Tips for Coffee Shops

Today’s customers expect a high level of customer service from every business that they have dealings with whether it is placing an online order with Sainsburys, calling the bank about a strange transaction on a statement or visiting a coffee shop for a much needed flat white.  The bottom line is that customer service is still very important for businesses regardless of the size or type of business.  But sometimes the customer experience in coffee shops can be lacking and the disgruntled customer simply heads to a competitor coffee shop the next time.  So what are the top twelve customer service tips for coffee shops?  Please read on to find out.

Create a positive first impression 

We form a first impression within five seconds so get it right.  Even if you are busy, make eye contact and smile to welcome a new customer.  Also make sure that a customer’s first impression of the coffee shop premises is good too eg no takeaway cups lying on empty tables outside.  Create a positive first impression with your menu – as well as an inviting array of dishes, make sure that there are no spelling mistakes on printed menus or menu boards on display.

Have attention to detail

It’s the little things that make a difference to a customer such as remembering a regular customer’s coffee preference and even better their name!  Special dietary needs are something that you have to pay very close attention to.  If you are not sure that a product is free from nuts, please take a few moments and check with the chef.  Someone with a nut allergy could eat the product and could potentially have a life-threatening allergic reaction.  

Scrupulous hygiene

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, coffee shop customers demand scrupulous hygiene when they visit.  Follow all the COVID-19 guidance to the letter including wearing face masks and keeping two metres from customers.  Tables should be cleared as soon as possible and all surfaces (table and chairs) wiped down with anti-bacterial spray.  

Have a positive attitude

Enjoy your job and smile a little more.  Customers are coming to your coffee shop for a pleasant experience and to have a little treat.  They definitely don’t want to be greeted by Mr or Miss Grumpy otherwise they will simply be less inclined to return.  Remember that your positive attitude will rub off on your work colleagues too.

Good wifi

According to a recent Statista report, 95 % of households in UK have a mobile phone so there is a fair chance that 95% of your customers have a mobile phone too.  Make sure that your wifi is fast and if your wifi is password-protected, have the password easy to find eg on a customer receipt or blackboard.  Plenty of accessible plugs will help customers who need to charge up a mobile phone or laptop

Engage in conversation with your customers

Greet customers on entry and make conversation with them, even if it is just about the weather.  If it is a regular customer, remember their preferred coffee and if possible, try to find out and use their name.  Social media may give you a helping hand here especially if the customer regularly comments or shares posts.  Even if you are clearing a nearby table, at least smile at customers and try to make conversation but be careful not to be too chatty as you don’t want to be too much in the customer’s face and you also have lots of other work to do.  Remember to say goodbye when they are leaving too and ask for some feedback about their experience which was hopefully good. 

Treat every customer as a VIP

Every customer is important to a business and every customer should be treated like a VIP.  The simple reason is that you want customers to return to your coffee shop.  Customers are spoiled for choice as to which coffee shop they can visit.  The type of beans is important and the decor is important but without excellent customer service, the customer may bypass your business and head to a competitor.  So the challenge is how can you “go the extra mile” for your customers in your coffee shop?  Even simple things like offering to carry a tray for a customer can mean a lot to a busy mum who is struggling with a toddler and lots of shopping bags.

Listen and act on customer feedback

With Trip Advisor, Facebook and Google, it has never been easier for customers to write a review about your coffee shop.  While we may give ourselves a clap on the back after a glowing review,  we may not always like to hear what customers have to say about a business when if it is negative.  A negative review can provide you with insight about the business which you may not know about and lets you make amends.  Always reply to reviews and thank the customer for taking the time to write one.

Reward your regular customers

The loyalty card is an obvious way to do this as it encourages your customers to come back regularly as they know they will eventually get a free coffee.  But what other ways can you reward your regular customers?

Be consistent in your coffee shop customer service

It’s easy to start the day being all bright and breezy but are you so bright and breezy at the end of your shift?  We all get tired and our feet hurt but the customer at the end of your shift is just as important as the one at the start of the shift.  So keep your customer service standards consistently high throughout your shift.  This applies to whole team too – everyone should work hard to deliver a quality customers experience all day and every day.

Manage the coffee shop queue

No one wants to stand in a queue for a long period of time – five minutes is a long time to queue especially when you are in a hurry.  So take steps to make sure that the queue moves quickly and that customers don’t have a long wait for that coveted flat white.  Perhaps there is a training need or extra staff are needed but don’t sacrifice quality of coffee either.  If the queue is slow and long, some customers will simply walk away and visit the coffee shop down the street. 

Common courtesy goes a long way

Please and thank you should be commonplace in your interactions with customers.  Watch your body language too as this can easily show disrespect to customers. 

 

These twelve tips are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to improving the customer service experience in coffee shops.  But please make a start today in implementing them and improving your customer care skills.

Customer Service Training

To find out more about the online customer service training courses available from Customer Sense, please click the button below.

7 reasons why customer service is important to your business

Why customer service is important

Every business textbook starts with the statement that customers are essential for the survival of a business.  Without customers, there are no sales and the business fails.  But there is a balance to be struck between profit and service.  Delivering a world class service is costly in terms of time and that puts pressure on the bottom line.  Provide a very low level of service and customer complaints rise as well as customers walking down the street to the competition.  Business owners therefore need to realise why customer service is important and why it should receive a higher priority in the business.

What is customer service?

Let’s start with a definition of customer service.  One of my favourite definitions is from the Consumer Council for Northern Ireland.

Customer Service is how a business looks after its customers. This includes everything from the moment a customer makes contact with your business; during the provision of a service and after sales care.

Consumer Council NI

“Looking after” a customer is at the heart of this definition but also is the fact that customers have different touchpoints with a business during their customer journey.  A business interested in delivering excellent customer service will ensure that the user experience is spot on at every touchpoint – from answering a social media enquiry, serving a cup of coffee or even a follow-up email to ensure that everything was to the customer’s satisfaction.  In other words, rolling out the red carpet for every customer.

So having determined what customer service is, why is it important to a business?  Here are the top seven reasons.

#1 Excellent customer service leads to more repeat business and increased customer loyalty

Imagine it’s time for a takeaway coffee and there are two coffee shops in your area.  Both sell excellent coffee and their prices are the same.  But you have a favourite coffee shop – the one with shorter queues and friendlier staff.  A few welcoming words can make all the difference and even better, when staff get to know and use your name.  A repeat customer can spend hundreds or thousands of pounds more in your business and all for the sake of “looking after” a customer in a way that shows they really care.

So the number one reason why customer service is important to a business is because it is linked to sales.  84% of organizations working to improve customer service report an increase in sales and that’s a figure that you can’t afford to ignore.

#2 Customer retention is cheaper than customer acquisition

On average, it costs approximately five times more to attract a new customer than it costs to retain an existing customer.  It therefore makes economic sense to get it right for every customer every time in terms of stock availability, price and customer service.  Keep your existing customers coming back to you and hopefully they will spend more on your products at future visits. 

You are also more likely to sell to your existing customers as they already know your business, your products and your staff.  After all, people buy from other people and if the relationship is already there, you are off to a flying start.  Research indicates that there is a much higher probability of selling to an existing customer (60-70%) than a new customer (5-20%).  Existing customers are also likely to spend more in your business as they have already had a positive experience with you in the past.

#3 Excellent customer service improves the customer’s overall user experience with an organisation

 

You may be selling an absolutely fantastic product or service but if the customer service doesn’t match the product quality, the customer is disappointed with your organisation.  The next time they wish to purchase the same product (and all other factors being equal), it is very likely that they will shop with another business.  In other words, excellent customer service is the icing on the cake for a quality product and is a major contributor to customer satisfaction. 

The converse is true too.  Should the customer service be poor, this can push many customers to look for alternative providers.  A staggering 89% of customers will begin doing business with a competitor following a poor customer experience.

#4 Excellent customer service can lead to a reduction in formal customer complaints

No business wants to receive complaints but whenever you are dealing with customers, it is highly likely that complaints will pop up from time to time.  Formal customer complaints can take a long time to investigate and after all “time is money”. 

With excellent customer service, customers are more likely to make more informal complaints which can be resolved more quickly.

Customer complaint

#5 Excellent customer service can improve the organisation’s reputation and strengthens your brand

By investing in high levels of customer service at every point in the customer journey, the organisation’s reputation is enhanced, and your brand is strengthened.  In other words, you become a business that people want to do business with.  This helps to attract future investors and employees as well as new customers.

#6 Staff have more job satisfaction and pride in the company

Management depend on their staff to deliver excellent service to customers.  If the staff team feel empowered to devise new ways to please customers and the business owners take on board at least some of their suggestions, staff will have more “buy in” to the company’s success. 

By valuing customers and working hard to look after them, a more customer-centred organisation is born.  Overall helpfulness increases for both the “paying” external customer but also for work colleagues ie the internal customer. 

Staff satisfaction levels should rise as should their pride in the business as well as a reduction in employee turnover.  Of course, happier staff will lead to happier customers who will keep returning to the business and spending more.  It is therefore important to continually invest in customer service training to enhance staff’s customer care skills.

#7 Excellent customer service leads to more word-of-mouth recommendations and more positive online reviews.

When you delight your customers, they become part of your marketing machine and spread the word about their customer experience.  This is the best type of advertising to do and it’s free!  Some people will recommend your business when talking to friends and family but the more digitally savvy ones will write a review on Google, Facebook, Trip Advisor or Trustpilot.  Online reviews can potentially be seen by hundreds of people so that is excellent PR for your business.

Writing an online review about customer service

Customer service cannot be ignored in any business.  It is important to consistently get service right to make sure that customers keep returning to your business, whether physically, on the phone or online.  If not, your customers will act with their feet and simply go to another business where they feel appreciated.


Did you know that Customer Sense deliver online customer service training courses? 

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