Opening a coffee shop is an exciting endeavor, but it comes with its unique challenges. Among them, staffing plays a crucial role in shaping your coffee shop's success. The right team can enhance the ambiance and customer experience, while the wrong fit can lead to inefficiencies and dissatisfaction.
Opening a coffee shop is an exciting endeavor, but it comes with its unique challenges. Among them, staffing plays a crucial role in shaping your coffee shop's success. The right team can enhance the ambiance and customer experience, while the wrong fit can lead to inefficiencies and dissatisfaction. Here are some essential staffing tips to help you build a stellar team for your new coffee shop.
Evaluate Your Service Model
Start by assessing your coffee shop's service model. Will you focus on quick, counter-service for busy commuters, or a kiosk ordering model where guests do not place orders at the counter. Determine if you'll offer additional services like specialty drinks, pastries, or even light meals that require kitchen staff. Understanding your peak hours and expected customer flow will guide your staffing levels and ensure smooth operations during busy periods.
Early Planning and Thorough Preparation
Define your coffee shop's identity and atmosphere early on. Consider the type of coffee experience you want to offer—whether it's cozy and community-focused or modern and efficient. This clarity will help attract employees who resonate with your vision.
Initiate the hiring process well ahead of your planned opening. Ideally, start scouting for talent several months beforehand to allow for thorough selection, training, and adjustment periods. Networking within the hospitality industry can be particularly beneficial, as recommendations often lead to finding the right fit for your team.
Craft Detailed Job Descriptions
Create detailed job descriptions for each role you need to fill. Outline responsibilities, required skills, and any specific qualities you value, such as passion for coffee, customer service orientation, or a knack for multitasking. Utilize platforms like Indeed, LinkedIn, and local job boards to reach potential candidates who align with your coffee shop's ethos.
Emphasize Soft Skills
While technical skills are important, prioritize soft skills during interviews. Look for traits like warmth, attentiveness, communication skills, and a genuine enthusiasm for coffee and customer service. These qualities are essential for creating a welcoming and enjoyable atmosphere that keeps customers coming back.
Background Checks and Security
For roles involving cash handling or serving alcohol (if applicable), conduct thorough background checks. This step is crucial for ensuring the safety and integrity of your coffee shop, building trust with both staff and customers.
Invest in Training and Onboarding
Once hired, invest in comprehensive training programs to familiarize your team with your coffee shop's operations, values, and customer service standards. Ensure all employees are comfortable with equipment operation, preparation methods, and any technology systems like POS or ordering apps you use.
Consider cross-training your staff to handle various roles within the coffee shop. This flexibility can mitigate operational challenges and ensure seamless service during peak times or unexpected situations.
By following these staffing tips and aligning them with your coffee shop's unique service model, you'll be well-prepared to create a successful establishment that delights customers with exceptional coffee and service.
Situated “in the heart of it all, yet tranquil enough to make you feel away from it all too,” The Limelight Hotel Snowmass offers 99 hotel rooms and 11 residences, as well as footsteps-to-gondola access in winter and summer — right in the middle of Snowmass Base Village.
The Situation
Especially over the last few years, the Limelight Hotels IT team had witnessed a significant shift to contactless technology in the hospitality industry. After evaluating friction points in the guest journey, aligning with modern technology platforms in their restaurant was determined to be an effective way to offer elevated contactless dining experiences to their guests while also evolving their technology platforms to continue to support long-term company goals. Limelight Hotel partnered with GoTab to provide an enhanced on-demand dining experience on par with the brand’s reputation for exceptional guest service.
The Solution
Reducing Staff Touch Points Without Sacrificing Guest Experience
Guests are now able to begin a tab from their room or the property’s restaurant by scanning a QR code, texting a link to friends or family members on the ski slope to add in their orders, then meeting up together at the patio or lodge to enjoy their meal and après ski festivities without interruption. By streamlining tasks like inputting orders and processing payments, this eliminates friction for hotel staff and allows them to focus on delivering renowned guest service for a memorable experience. Since partnering with GoTab, Limelight Snowmass has consistently seen higher check averages and sales.
“We found the Point of Sale platforms we were looking at offered the guest and staff limited opportunities to further reduce touch points or improve the traditional restaurant experience. The GoTab platform enabled the guest to take an active role over the flow of their experience while simultaneously reducing touch points and further streamlining restaurant operations.”Nick Giglio, Manager of Hotel IT Operations, The Little Nell Hotel Group
According to the Limelight Hotels team, some of the other platforms that were evaluated were either missing some of the pieces they were looking for, had weak customer support models, or had little willingness to develop integrations to existing hotel platforms already in place. To that end, GoTab integrated with cloud-based platform, Infor. Together, GoTab and Infor are providing dynamic solutions to support central, efficient service across hotel amenities and deliver exceptional guest experiences.
“Previously, guests would call down to the restaurant to begin an order from their room or while they were out enjoying the ski slopes. Using GoTab, guests can now place orders from anywhere on the resort, giving them the on-demand service they want without interrupting their day. GoTab empowers us to give control to the guest, reducing touch points and streamlining overall restaurant operations, making Limelight Hotel the resort of choice for Snowmass.”Nick Giglio, Manager of Hotel IT Operations, The Little Nell Hotel Group
Since introducing GoTab, The Limelight Hotel has seen a consistent level of upsells and items sold per check resulting in additional revenue capture. They have been able to maintain service levels in their restaurants during periods when there was reduced staffing available without significantly diminishing the guest experience.
The Benefits
Eliminate Phone Orders – Take Orders from the Slopes. Guests can start a tab from their room or on the mountain without interrupting the flow of their day.
Future-Proofed Technologies – Delivering elevated contactless ordering via integration with the Infor hotel management platform.
Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.
Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.
Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.
Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.
Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.
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