2. Training for speed and quality
It’s critical to make sure your training program prepares team members to handle slow and busy days with grace and efficiency. Learning the ins-and-outs of your POS system is one of the biggest hurdles new employees face when starting out. Does your new cashier know how to enter a Double Venti Nonfat Decaf Iced Vanilla Double-Shot Frappuccino Extra Hot with Whipped Cream into the register? Do you want them to try to figure it out in the middle of a rush?
Here are some tips for any training program:
Make sure your training program includes the nuances of your POS system. If your brand offers a practice mode or training mode, include this in training. Teach the cashier to navigate the keyboard before putting them in front of guests.
- Have trainees roleplay with experienced workers, so they know how to work with different types of customers, including challenging ones.
- Make sure new employees have the opportunity – and are encouraged – to ask questions of seasoned employees.
In particular, training makes the most impact on speed of service when you are closest to the customer – at the register and in the drive-thru lane.
Optimize your register techniques
Make sure your employees are focusing on fluid transactions. There are only so many things that can happen at the register – the customer might ask for a beverage or condiments, and then is probably going to make a payment using cash or a credit card. If you manage a burrito restaurant, a good percentage of your customers are going to ask for chips and salsa when they pay – your cashiers should anticipate these scenarios so they can respond immediately. Quick access to drinks and condiments is a basic necessity, as is the ability to quickly count change. If your cashiers are stumbling on these steps, get a more experienced employee to help them out.
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Similarly, make sure your cashiers are repeating orders back to customers. Repeating a customer’s order back to them can feel tedious, and many customers won’t even listen – they’ll just nod and say “yep” – but the few extra seconds it takes to repeat an order can save you minutes of extra work down the line (which can also save you from food waste due to incorrect orders).
Prioritize the drive-thru
You already know that a backed-up drive-thru is frustrating, but it may be causing more problems than you think. A backed-up drive-thru can be like a gridlock downtown, with cars unable to clear due simply to the sheer amount of traffic. A long line at the drive-thru can cause traffic to back up into the street, blocking access to (and from) your restaurant, making things worse. Customers who see a backed up drive-thru might opt to park and come in the store to order, which can actually slow things down even more – after all, you have the same amount of employees working on in-store orders as you have working drive-thru orders. Even worse, some folks will simply drive right past your long line and find their food elsewhere.
To prevent the snowball effect of a backed-up drive-thru, make sure your employees are always working on drive-thru orders. If someone’s making an order for an in-store customer, someone else should be making food for – or handing an order to – a drive-thru customer. Keep the drive-thru moving at all times.
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