As always the comments are awsome and the criticism is what I post here for.

Marc - you are exactly right - it does assume a customer - later in the training video it goes over the exact approach to the customer - the first five minutes was a sort of preview for the brass

later we discuss - a) be there at the coffee island - clean, make it fresh!!!! don't go missing somewhere else in the store during this time b) look for the people that pause at the additional toys and then move on - grab them and say "if you have a minute can I show you my favorite coffee? If you don't like it - we will chuck it out and I will buy you, your favorite c) If Marc Peters comes in the store stay the hell away from him - he may be a terrorist but for sure he is extremely afraid of coffee hosts - and clowns (boy I hope Marc is laughing as he reads this)

etc etc - you are right though I would consider myself a customer service expert in my line of work and you need to know how to train who to speak to, who to plus sell and who to not talk to in case they bite

Marc is exactly right (wait for it) if you wanted a special coffee made for you, you would go to Starbucks (sarcasm coming) --- and pay five dollars for it at least, and wait in a large line up (almost here...)------ and hey ..... wait a minute, what if I could give the customers all the flavor and service for 1/3 the price and get you in and out in two minutes (there it is!) - that is where this idea came from - once I knew we really could make all the fancies with the extras we put on the counter I thought I would try to get people over thier fear to try.

I have 50 stores doing this now - I hope it pays off and your fears Marc aren't how everyone feels (or I am in real trouble)! So far so good YTD I have the biggest increase in the country - knock wood

NOTE: Now that I have re-read your comments Marc the commision comment is a very good point - we need to ask them in advance - "did you know that you pay for the cup - no matter what you put in it, it is all the same price" - then worry about sampling the special of the day - good point Marc thanks! - Also the "may I make a suggestion" approach is what I want - but I need to make sure it is really happening that way - thanks again

FishCake: interesting that you think the tripod would have been counter productive - will bear this in mind in future

LJR: Thanks - I will lump you in Marc's category - I better approach this with caution - tomatoe and egg coffee - now there's a retchid idea - I will get right on it!

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