Customer service plan for a Brisbane CBD coffee shop

Customer Service Plan

Australians are fussy about their coffee, and this is true even in CBD Brisbane. So customers expect a range of espresso drinks, made perfectly every time. This means a high-end espresso machine, great beans and an experienced barista. Customers also expect a relaxed, unhurried environment and a range of tasty baked goods and other snacks. Service expectations are high -- not only should the staff be very knowledgeable about coffee but they should be able to assist with all other aspects. The premises should be always clean, the staff always friendly and able to multi-task. Staff should remember the names of regulars, and their orders. Further, staff should be able to accommodate large orders for entire offices. You have to know what the market needs in order to have happy customers (Yahalom, 2010).

This plan requires investment in equipment -- a Marzocco at least for the espresso machine, and that is about $10,000. Training is also critical. The cafe needs at least two experienced baristas who can pull a perfect shot, and they will need to train two others at least on making espresso drinks. If there are two baristas on at any given time two other staff members will be required to handle all other tasks in order to ensure that all other aspects of the business are attended to. The staff need to be able to handle large orders efficiently and with excellent service. We will get them the equipment, but they will need to be trained to handle complex orders, and to remember customer names. This training will take at least a week before the cafe opens if we cannot find experienced staff, but only a day if the staff have experience in cafes. Experienced baristas cost more than other staff, or inexperienced baristas, but they are essential to the business. Quality will be established by beverage and service specifications.

In terms of quality standards, all regular staff will know the names and orders of regular customers -- this is essential. There will be timing standards for how long it takes to make a beverage, based on industry standards. Espresso drinks in particular will have quality standards in terms of temperature ranges to ensure maximum quality of the beverage. There will be time frames both for processing of standard orders and large ones. There will also be an expectation that there will not be any customer service issues (complaints) that remain unresolved. Cash handling perfection is also expected. Lastly, there will be targets for things like cleaning of toilets -- once an hour or whenever an issue is raised with the staff. Food handling standards are set by the government, and those will be the initial targets. These standards will ensure that customers feel appreciated, that they are served efficiently and that they receive coffee beverages that are up to the standards of the discerning Australian consumer.

Customer feedback and spot monitoring will be used to ensure standards are maintained. Management will be charged with ensuring the quality of both premises and beverages. To ensure that employees meet these standards, the cafe will give all employee training with respect to the standards. New baristas will receive cheat sheets as well, to ensure that they always remember the right proportions and temperatures for the different beverages. Senior baristas will also be charged with training, mentoring and quality control of food and beverage products. The feedback from spot monitoring and from customers will be processed by management to ensure standards are being met (Drell, 2013), and management will be responsible for any supplemental training that is required to correct deficiencies. Staff are the main resource to ensure that this plan is carried out effectively -- the budget should allow for 3 or 4 staff members to work full-time during the banking hours in which the cafe will normally be open.

To attract customers, free beverages is a good starting point. When a customer buys a beverage, they receive a coupon for a free one the next day. A local shop did this for me and it got me hooked so I know it works! You end up going back every day, and after a month the promotion ends because people are hooked. But a social media presence is also valuable -- promote the business on Twitter to anybody who works in the CBD and people can thus be enticed to try, knowing they will get a free drink the next day. Thus, these two promotional techniques complement each other to build a staple customer base. I would also make the rounds of the local office towers and hand out promotional materials to the secretaries and office managers, just to get the word out initially and make some good first impressions in the local area.

Questions

1a) Anti-discrimination legislation is legislation that prohibits various forms of discrimination. This is a baseline for customer service, the legal bounds to which you can discriminate. The cafe will clear this floor easily. Australian consumer law plays a similar role, providing a legal framework for things you cannot legally do and the company needs to operate within those bounds. The same goes for privacy laws, which govern things like sharing of customer information. Financial legislation is the same again -- these are the basic codes by which all businesses should follow; a minimum standard of conduct for doing business. Customer service ideally will exceed these minimum significantly. Workplace health and safety guidelines play the same role, again as minimums for operations, but they do not particularly dictate customer service standards.