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Raising Customer Service To The Next Level In Your Café

Posted on April 24, 2017 by Ash Bennett

With the amount of competition in cafes, few owners couldn’t stand to set the bar a little higher when it comes to customer service. Regardless of how many books you’ve read or courses you’ve taken about customer service, you likely have your own approach when it comes to handling the people who look to you every day for their food service

Consistency

There is nothing more important than being consistent when it comes to excellent service. Everyone has different priorities of course, but few customers will want to return to an establishment where they feel as though they don’t matter. It’s not easy to smile warmly while staying patient and going the extra mile for everyone who walks through the doors, so finding employees who can do it should never be taken for granted. The key is to remember that every customer who walks through the doors is another big opportunity for success. The people who may just be passing through town for a day may leave you a great review. The person who caved to a friend even though they wanted to go somewhere else may end up being turned onto your place forever. You’ll never know if you don’t treat each person with the same amount of respect though.

Trust

Most people are looking to get their coffee or a quick bite and get on their way, but some may have less desireable intentions: teenagers hoping to loiter for hours without ordering anything, adults demanding free food or drinks because of a tiny mistake, customers who claim that they forgot their wallet — again. Great customer service is about handling all of these incidents with grace and kindness. In a cafe, the opportunity for scams is fairly low, so we feel confident telling you that your first instinct should be to trust your customers. Say yes more often than you say no, let a customer pay the next time they come in, and gently remind people who may need a little nudge. You’re more likely to see people respond in turn than you are to have people take advantage of you.

 Options

Unfortunately, everyone has their own bar for what great customer service looks like. This is especially true today as consumers become more and more reliant on technology to solve problems. The best service is often the one that gives people the most options. Consider online ordering and pick-up if you’re not currently doing so, and continuously go over ways to streamline the experience from entry to exit. Whether that’s hiring more people, updating your machinery, or just redirecting traffic that comes in the door, people want to have as many ways as possible to get on with their own agenda. The more you know your customers, the easier this will become. For example, some people want to chat while others are always running late. You’re never going to be able to please everyone, but taking your service to next level will get you closer to your goal.