Lakota Training:
From Front to Back! (2)

The Self Service Coffee Bar

That's not too difficult though because you are always bringing fresh air pots of coffee out. So every time you make a trip, tidy the area up. You should always have a bar towel with you for that purpose. Restock, wipe down, de-clutter, and reorganize every opportunity you get. It is important to wash anything that contains milk products between refills. Just give the air pots a good rinse.

You will notice coffee description signs on the wall display above. If you've recently changed any of the coffees of the day, make sure the description sign got changed and is neatly in place. If a coffee description sign is damaged, worn out, or outdated, please let me know.

NOTE: We currently use our Lakota labels on our air-pots to distinguish between regular, decaf, blends, and flavors. We may improve this in the near future but for the time being, when these labels get nasty looking, please use some goo-gone to clean the old label off and replace with a fresh one. Please make sure that the label is at the same height on the air-pot as the others. This is one of the many side-jobs that need regular attention. Thank you!

Please wipe down this area regularly and completely. Our guests are right in front of it all the time. Make sure the trash gets compacted and emptied as the day goes on so that it's not overflowing. Please pick up the little pieces of trash regularly and clean the rugs with our little manual rug cleaner.

Odds and ends fall down behind the coffee bar through the course of the day. Occasionally, it needs to be pulled away from the wall and cleaned out. It's heavy so get help if you need it! If you're missing a coffee description sign or two, chances are pretty good that they are behind the coffee bar.

Appliance Area:

To the left of the self-serve coffee bar is the toaster and microwave area which also needs some consistent attention. Beneath these appliances are two bus tubs. One is for our customers to deposit recyclable empties and one is for self-bussers (God Bless them!) to place their dirty dishes.

Right next door to this area is the Naked Juice refrigerator. The juice guy stocks this for us so we just need to keep it looking reasonably spiffy.

The Espresso Bar

Burlap Bag Barrel:

As we move through our inventory of green coffee we have lots of burlap bags left over. They end up getting folded and placed in our burlap bag barrel next to the register. People use them for all sorts of arts and crafts or just to hang on the wall. We sell them for $2 apiece or $5 for three. These bags get picked through in the course of a day so please re-organize this area from time to time. The picture below shows a very nice project done with our bags.

As you get more familiar with our Espresso bar, you'll notice that there are plenty of items to keep in stock. Taking advantage of opportunities to stock during slow times or "lulls" in business is an important responsibility and will save you and everyone else major headaches. Running to the basement to grab a sack looks pretty bad when you have a line. Enough said.

The Pastry Case:

Beginning with the pastry case, there is a lot to know, and much to keep clean. You will learn from your trainer exactly how to lay the pastry case out in the morning. Suffice it to say, the case itself is all glass and needs regular cleaning, inside and out. The compressor for the refrigeration unit will need to be cleaned out once in a while according to our checklists.

The Register:

Counting down the register: You may already have some register training and of course you'll be getting lots more. For now, a few words about the register.

You will want to count the drawer before your shift to make sure you have a complete bank. Otherwise you could come up short or long at the end of your shift. When your shift ends you will complete the daily worksheet and once again count down the drawer to make sure your bank is on the money.

9th street = $250 * MU Hospital = $300

Tally up the calculator receipt and sign it, then put the receipt in the drawer with the money so the next person to count the drawer realizes that you did your job successfully.

While you are on your shift, the cash drawer is your territory. You and your work mate are the ONLY ones that should be in your cash drawer!

If ANYONE goes to access your drawer, politely take over and get them what they need or remind them that they will have to pay any shortages! If your drawer comes up short, YOU ARE responsible. Any shortage over $5 gets split reimbursement by you and your co-worker.

Make sure that you staple all coupons and/or discounts to all receipts and put them in the register. Gift cards receipts need to be stapled to the register receipt for our records.

Don't sweat this. You'll get adequate on the job training for all of this. These are just guidelines!

Making Change

How many times have you paid for a purchase somewhere and had the person at the register just read the amount that’s supposed to be your correct change from the register and shove the bills and change into your hand? To me, that’s just not acceptable. I want my change counted back to me starting at the purchase price.

Example: My purchase is $4.97 and I hand them a twenty-dollar bill. I don’t care whether they key in my twenty or not but here’s how I want my change and here is how we want you to count change back to your customers:

“Your total is $4.97… your change (Dropping 3 pennies into my hand) makes $5, (Handing me a five and a ten) five is ten and ten makes twenty.”

Or if they may need change for tipping… “Your change (dropping the pennies in their hand) makes $5, (Counting back 5 ones and a ten into their hand) here is 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and ten makes $20…Thanks very much!”

Or someone needs change for parking: (you need to break one quarter for parking)

Change of $10… “Here is your change for one dollar (3 quarters two dimes and a nickel dropped into their hand), and here’s 2, 3, 4, 5, and five is ten dollars. (Counting the bills back into their hand)

NOTE: Also, never put the bill in the slot until after you've counted their change back to them. Lay it sideways on top of the drawer facing you, so that you can see it. This way, if the customer tries to tell you that they gave you a different bill, you'll show them clearly that you never put it away.

Using these simple techniques, you're certain to make correct change because you are pulling it from the register as you count it back to them. You'll know for certain if your customer is trying a little "Quick Change" on you, and in turn, they'll know that you didn't rip them off! Everyone wins except the bad guy!

It’s good for you because your drawer will be consistently correct and you’ve made your customer happy because they know they got the right change. It does a lot of good and takes as little time as keying in the $20 and letting the register do your thinking for you.

I know from experience that people all across the country appreciate this nice touch of having their change counted back to them. This is part of excellent customer service and it’s the way we expect to see it happen here….please.

Credit Cards:

Please make certain of charging the correct amount when someone pays with a credit card. I know this seems obvious but it is very easy to key in the wrong price when manually processing a credit card.

If a customer tips you via credit card, you have to adjust the amount manually. On each credit card machine, there will be an adjust button. You press that button, and then add in the tip. You can do this by using the invoice number on the credit card receipt.

Teas:

You will learn how to brew our tea selections "on the job" but becoming familiar with the following pages will be helpful:

Stash Tea - Tea Types


Republic of Tea - Discover Tea Brewing

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