Please can we ask your name? - An Explanation

When we first opened and had only a few customers, we worked on the process of taking the order for the coffee at the till, then passing down the docket to the baristas, (mainly Catherine), who then made it and called out the drink type.

Usually she would be watching the customer anyway and knew who they were and what they had ordered. More often than not, she would hear the order being made at the till and start to make it before we even took the money and hand it to the guest as they made their way down.

Then we started to get busier. Catherine and Emma as well by then, would start to lose track of who ordered what (fair enough) and so we started to ask for names which we could write on the docket and then be able to call out and identify the person.

It is mainly only for takeaway, but we also write the names on dockets for customers drinking in. These days, it is almost imperative that we write the names on the dockets when we place the order.

This however has positives and not so positives.

Postives:

• You get to know everyone’s name and can say hello to them, in person, when they come in the door, creating a wonderful, personal rapport with them.
• Other staff can learn their names as well, and get to know the customer too.
• You build a relationship with that person, someone who comes in every day perhaps two or three times a day, or just once a week.
• It makes for a much, much nicer working environment.
• It improves efficiency and speed in the espresso making process.
• The person is given their drink without any mix ups. (mix ups create delays down the docket line)
• Remembering someone’s name is plain and simple excellent customer service

Not so positives:

• Remembering everyone’s name, this can be hard. I once quite loudly said to a regular ‘Hello Jane!’. (Her name is Kate). The staff member next to me almost died in shame for me.
• Having a new staff member who has to learn everyone. This can be very daunting for the new person.
• Having to ask again and again. This I know can be annoying. We use different ways of asking though. ‘I’m sorry I cannot remember your name’ or ‘Please can you remind me of your name?’

So we have developed a new trick.

A customer walks in and I am serving them but do not use their name because I do not know it. The staff member next to me knows, and so goes, ‘hello Nick, how are you?’. This then saves me having to ask again when they place their order. Brilliant!

Another trick is we also get the new staff to ask the really old customers whose names we have never known but it is too late/too embarrassed to ask.

We also have recognised a trend. Dan is the most popular name in Kaffeine, by far. We have loads of ‘Dans’. Like heaps. Dan is the winner. Well done Dan.

We also had a few customers say ‘oh you’re doing what starb–ks is doing now’. No, I’m sorry, but a) we do it for the reasons above and b) we did it way before they did.

So here’s to knowing your customers names, all of them, and if you are in Kaffeine watching us and it feel like an episode of ‘Cheers’, well perhaps it’s meant to.

Peter Dore-Smith
Director
Kaffeine Ltd
66 Great Titchfield st.
15 Eastcastle st.