Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders

Latest Episodes:

The Currency of Urgency Aug 08, 2019

Show notes

We communicate either care or apathy depending on how we conduct ourselves on the bar. The way we expertly handle all the work necessary to provide a great experience in the cafe is by nurturing a sense of urgency in all we do. This means the difference between run of the mill, low expectation experiences - and amazing service and quality that wins customers and gives life to your work.

Today we are chatting about urgency and the critical role it plays for you and your business.

Inventory & Ordering Magic with ODEKO!

odeko.com/keystotheshop

Clean that equipment with Urnex!

www.urnex.com

168 : Getting the Best From Your Coffee w/ Pete Licata Aug 06, 2019

Show notes

Dialing in your coffee can be hit or miss. There are so many factors to consider for the extremely large variety of coffees we are tasked with brewing. Methods, recipes, and philosophies abound yet still the complexity of brewing remains a barrier to getting the best from your coffee. That is the problem that todays guest, 2013 WBC Champ, Pete Licata has set out to solve in his new book, "How to get the Best from your Coffee".

In the book Pete identifies and expounds on 4 fundamentals in brewing: Water, Device & Filter, Grinding, and Variables. He takes readers through his process of identifying key practices and insights into each of those categories that will yield a predictably great cup every time, whether or not you are familiar with that coffee.

In this conversation you will learn:

How to choose temperature based on coffees density
Which material is best for brewing
What about our water makes a coffee shine?
Is grind uniformity truly the best for brewing?
The importance of questioning and curiosity
Why our obsession with celebrity is regressive
So much more!

Go get this book:

"How to get the Best from your Coffee"

www.licatacoffeeconsultants.com

Familiar Apathy Aug 01, 2019

Show notes

When a customer comes into our bar they expect that they will be taken care of and the best cafes strive to get the details of the guests visit right. Over time though, there is a migration away from the details. The customer begins to be familiar and with that familiarity there is a falling off of the vigilance and attention to detail that was what made them a customer in the first place.

Today we chat about this phenomenon and how we can re center our service to our best customers so they continue to feel cared for.

Inventory & Ordering Magic with ODEKO!

odeko.com/keystotheshop

Clean that equipment with Urnex!

www.urnex.com

167 : Handing off the Shift : 4 Tips to Avoid Chaos Jul 30, 2019

Show notes

The most confusing moments in the day are when the shifts switch. People finishing tasks, gathering items to leave, and others coming in tying to get caught up to speed, get situated, and find their place. It can get chaotic and customers are often left wondering which one of the haired people behind the bar is going to notice that thy are waiting to be served. It rarely goes very well

Unless of course, you have a plan.

That is exactly what we are going to talk about today in this episode. With just a little bit of intentionality and communication we can take what is usually a tangled mess and straighten it out to something that sets up the staff for success and the customer for a good experience even if they do happen to show up during the switching of the shifts.

Links to related episodes:

Working Clean (Shift Break)

4 Keys to an Effective Checklist (Shift Break)

SOPs FTW

You Need SOPs (Shift Break)

166 : Founder Friday! (Special Curated Edition) : Four Awesome Perspectives on Caring for Staff from past Founder Friday Episodes Jul 25, 2019

Show notes

From the Founder Friday vault we are diving into the subject of how to care for your staff, staff culture, and setting up yourself and your people for success with amazing past guests Lauren Crabbe of Andytown Coffee Roasters San Fransisco, Dorian Bolden of Beyu Caffe and Beyu Blu,Durham, NC -Jonathan Rubinstein of Joe Coffee Company NYC, and Kathy Turiano of Joe Bean Roasters in Rochester, NY.

I have pulled out some clips from each of these amazing founder's episodes that will address this subject.

We have now had 30 conversations with some amazing founders here on the show and one of the things they all have in common is that the care for their people is of primary importance. In fact, the cornerstone of the most successful shops is that they are in constant, substantive conversation with their staff about their needs and the needs of the shop as they experience it.

I hope will inspire you to make the care for your staff a tangible and consistent foundation of your leadership and business.

LINKS:

Founder Friday w/ Lauren Crabbe of Andytown Coffee Roasters

www.andytowncoffeesf.com

Founder Friday w/ Dorian Bolden of Beyu Caffe / Beyu Blu

www.beyucaffe.com

Founder Friday w/ Jonathan Rubinstein of Joe Coffee Company NYC

www.joecoffeecompany.com

Founder Friday w/ Kathy Turiano of Joe Bean Roasters

www.joebeanroasters.com

When You're "Losing it" Jul 24, 2019

Show notes

Sometimes it seems like everything is crashing down around you. You break a cup, your co-workers are annoying you, customers are frustrating, you're tired, you can sense that your are 2 seconds away from biting someone's head off, and it's only 8am!

In short you feel like you're about to lose it.

We have all been there. The question is, how do we get ourselves out? How do we overcome this thing that threatens to overcome us?

Today we chat about some powerful things to do to reclaim emotional control of this familiar situation and I share a bit about my personal struggle with anxiety, and how the tools detailed in this episode have helped both on the bar and in life.

Inventory Magic with ODEKO!

odeko.com/keystotheshop

Clean that equipment with Urnex!

www.urnex.com

165: The Art of Deep Listening w/ Oscar Trimboli Jul 22, 2019

Show notes

When we listen, we tend to stay on the surface of what is being said but rarely ever venture into the deeper meaning of what is being communicated. This means we enter into dialogue with staff and customers only hearing a fraction of what can be perceived and as a result our personal and business relationships fall short of their potential.

Today we are going to take our listening skills to the next level and learn about the art of "Deep Listening" with our guest, Oscar Trimboli.

Oscar is an internationally recognized coach, mentors and speaker who spent over ten years with Microsoft Office leading the Australian division to great success. He created extraordinary opportunities for through the "Microsoft Protege" program that gave young professionals in the company access to mentors and coaching.

Oscar is also the author of the new book "Deep Listening: Impact Beyond Words". In this book Oscar codifies into a very intuitive and easy to understand format the art of becoming and taking on the practice of being a Deep Listener. It is essentially a field guide that will transform you from the inside out and take your communication skills to a level that honors and explores the depth of each conversation you have.

In this conversation you will learn:

The 125/400 rule
How we miss each other in conversation
Overcoming distraction
The cost of not listening
Simple actions to change of your physical state to prepare for listening
What we gain from deep listening
Tactics for fixing the way we listen
Why listening to yourself is the first step
The 5 levels of listening
The 4 villains fo listening

Please do yourself and everyone around you a huge favor by visiting Oscar's website:

www.oscartrimboli.com

Download the 5 Levels of Listening and buy the book:

Deep Listening: Impact Beyond Words

Here are some related episodes:

Shift Break: Feedback Culture

Solving Co-Worker Conflict

Confidence in Conflict

Shift Break: The One-on-One

"I'm Sorry" Jul 18, 2019

Show notes

This phrase is rarely heard in the cafe, especially not from leaders. Too many shop cultures are void of genuine and humble apologies as those with authority wrongly suppose that doing so would compromise their position. Nothing could be further from the truth. Today we will chat about the power of a good, heart felt apology, and three do when measures to take if you want it to make a difference.

This is such an important leadership skill and one that, if practiced well, can stop a huge number of dysfunctions from springing up further down the road.

Manage your inventory with ODEKO!

odeko.com/keystotheshop

Clean that equipment with Urnex!

www.urnex.com

164 : Six Tips for Cooler Cold Brew w/ The Cold Brew Chick, Rachel Dillon Jul 16, 2019

Show notes

For so many people cold brew is the first step into the world of specialty coffee. In order to truly serve our customers well we need to make sure that, when we offer cold brew, we do it in a way that is engaging, fun, relatable, and helps showcase to them the vast possibilities of specialty coffee. Well, today we get the privilege to talk with the someone who has spent year exploring, tasting, and talking to creators of some of the best cold brew out there.

Rachel Dillon is the host of "The Cold Brew Chick" podcast. A show that takes a deep dive into the multi-faceted world of cold brew and the story of those who produce it. Today she sits down with us and gives us 6 tips on how how we can level-up our cold brew game from all that she has learned from her own conversations and experiences as the ultimate cold brew consumer

You will learn about:

Why Nitro may not be for you
What immersion cold brews can offer
The power of samples
Flash chill vs cold brew
The importance of integrity in marletign
How to stand out when you bottle your cold brew
Helpful and customer focused mentalities toward cod brew

Links:

www.coldbrewchick.com

Instagram

Related episodes:

Consumer Revolution

Decoding Decaf

10 Reasons to Love the Customer

Exceptions to the Rule : Toxic Traditions Jul 10, 2019

Show notes

Huge problems come up for staff and customers when we are not on top of the may unique situations that spring up on the bar. In spite of trying to be preemptive and plan for all possible scenarios you will have baristas who make drinks differently, customers who are not charged for things they should be charged for, and many other types of exceptions that will be made on the bar without your knowledge. Customers end up frustrated at inconsistency and baristas end up confused.

Today we are chatting about actions you can take to manage these exceptions now before they develop into toxic traditions later.

Manage your inventory with ODEKO!

odeko.com/keystotheshop

Clean that equipment with Urnex!

www.urnex.com