Cafe Owner? Here’s How To Cut Down Wait Times

If you own a cafe, getting through the queue as quickly as possible is the main goal of working hours. The sooner a customer is served, the higher their satisfaction, and the more orders you’re going to get through. That means more money for you and a swathe of good reviews! 

However, wait times can get out of hand. On your busy days, or during the lunch rush we often have to cope with from Monday to Friday, customers might be zooming in and out of the cafe at a speed you can’t keep up with. 

But there are a few tips you can put to good use to improve your cafe service. If you struggle with wait times in your business, check out the list down below. 

Invest in Training

The better trained your staff, the better your customers are going to feel about the food and drink you offer. After all, your employees will be able to make coffee and prepare pastries much faster and to a higher standard. 

However, don’t expect all employees to come in with these skills. You’re going to have to train a few people, and then retrain them when a new course comes out, to ensure you’re always providing the best service. 

If you’re worried about the cost, remember that training like this won’t just speed up the queue – it’ll speed up every part of the working day! 

Regularly Check in with Seated Diners

Seated diners sometimes need more sugar or milk, and if you check in from time to time, they’re going to be very happy with you. This also keeps people from coming back up to the checkout and clogging up the queue even further. 

You can take further requests from them where they sit and simply bring things over, as well as a portable POS terminal (if that’s something you’re interested in). Otherwise, get them to pay later on by asking them to come up to the counter when the queue has cleared. 

Keep Your POS Software Updated

Technology in the hospitality sector isn’t just about running a cohesive social media profile! It’s about using only the best and brightest software in your checkout and ordering areas too. 

Any point of sale you operate needs to load fast and be as secure as possible. You might think this will take a bit of tech understanding, but there’s plenty of beginner friendly programs you can subscribe to. 

Similarly, if customers don’t have to come to the counter to order something, this should be made very clear. You should also keep the software this ordering system relies on up to date and well patched – you don’t want this going down or not displaying items properly! That’s going to lose you money and make customers very frustrated.

Clean Your Appliances Properly

The better you clean and maintain your cafe appliances, the less they’re going to break down and/or malfunction on you. If customers have to repeatedly come up to the counter to ask where their coffee or sandwich is, you don’t want to be telling them ‘5 more minutes until we fix this machine’ – that would kill a lot of the good will you’ve worked so hard to build. 

So invest in some proper Coffee Tools and use them on a daily basis at the end of the shift. If need be, invest in hiring a proper commercial cleaning team – at least until your staff is trained in keeping the appliances well cleaned and working by themselves. 

Have Two People Behind the Counter at all Times

If there’s more than one person keeping the queue moving, customers aren’t going to get stuck in the queue for more than a couple of minutes at a time. You’ll also have a much higher rate of employee satisfaction, as you won’t just be relying on one overwhelmed server!

It’s a good idea to hire one or two more people than you strictly need. This way, if someone calls in sick to work, or it gets very busy and you need to schedule two people for the floor, you’re going to have the staff there to pick up the slack. 

If you want to cut down the wait times that plague your cafe, employ both short and long term solutions. Make sure you’re working with the best POS software you can find, train your staff to work fast and effectively, and hire a few more people than you think you really need.