Why is Barista Training Important?

Barista Training Is The Key To Your Success

For any coffee shop business owner, his coffee shop business's success pretty much depends on the employees he or she hires. You can’t do it all yourself, and that’s why delegating duties is an essential task.

Having a coffee shop business is not an exception. As a coffee shop owner, you should create a positive and motivating culture inside your coffee shop. That’s the only way you can ensure that your baristas feel comfortable, empowered, and respected.

You want your coffee shop business to be different from other coffee shops to work for and visit.  Spending time to consider elements that create a welcoming environment to work or drink coffee will pay off. 

First, it starts with your barista hires. You should be able to convey you’re the mission and vision of your coffee shop to your baristas. They should be trained in that distinction. It would help if you modeled the behavior you want to see every single day. Therefore, hire amazing baristas!

Cutting corners should never be an option.

Barista training is a key factor, especially if you hire young and inexperienced employees (and baristas are often like that). How you want your coffee to be served and what experience you want your customers to have, depending on your hiring and training practices.

Commonly, many coffee shop owners are not enthusiastic about training their employees. The costs, the time, and sometimes the nominal results can lead coffee shop owners to skip training and hire “experienced baristas.” However, approaching their business this way only invites problems for themselves and their bottom line.

Yes, training can be expensive. And yes, you might have to hire a barista trainer or coffee educator. But this is the only way you can train your old and new baristas in the same manner to develop a consistent cup of coffee and consistently excellent service.

WHY you should to train your baristas:

#1: Training is Empowering

Well-trained and educated baristas feel more comfortable at their working place. And it would help if you had them trained and motivated, instilling in them the ability to make the right decisions when you aren’t around. Typically, empowered employees are more enthusiastic about their job. They tend to perform their duties better because they feel valued and respected.

As a coffee shop owner, you should find a way to encourage your baristas daily and help them with the challenges they might face in their everyday routine. You also need to have the right approach when something is going wrong, and you need to fix the way a barista is doing something.

#2: Training Levels Up Customer Service

Barista training is essential to great customer service. Knowledge of coffee, coupled with outstanding communication skills, is the recipe for success. It’s very easy for customers to see the difference between an untrained unenthusiastic barista and an educated and motivated one. Naturally, they’ll choose a coffee shop where the baristas are more welcoming.

Your baristas need to have the right attitude to treat every customer with a smile. You can’t allow your baristas to be grumpy or impolite. Give them a good example by treating the customers the best way you can and talk about the importance of customer service during your regular training sessions.

#3: Training Decreases Turn-Over

Low turnover will save you tons of time and money. To do so, you want your baristas to feel happy, empowered, satisfied to stay in your coffee shop as long as possible. The only way you can ensure that is through training.

Barista training builds responsibility, trust, and efficiency. A barista gets a sense of ownership of his position through training, which means he’ll better treat his job and employer.

#4: Training Boosts Your Sales

It's well known that customers prefer a barista who is friendly, helpful, respectful, knowledgeable, and, of course, brews great coffee. The charisma that a barista has is a sure way to get more return customers and increase sales. Training is a long-term investment, and the results might not be visible right away. But over time, the time and money you spent on barista training will deliver high returns.

#5: Training Reinforces Your Branding

Barista training doesn’t only mean brewing coffee and mastering latte art techniques. Training should also cover your coffee shop values, aims, and philosophy. Everyone should be on the same page to deliver a consistently good product and strengthen your market positions.

Well-trained baristas know the culture of your coffee shop and can communicate it to your customers. By telling customers what’s new on the menu and what events you plan to host, your baristas will reinforce your branding and marketing efforts.

Barista Training Impacts Your Coffee Shop Business

As you can see, investing in training provides immediate and long-term benefits to you and your coffee shop.  The overall savings and avoidance of costly mistakes, as well as a consistent level of high customer service, will deliver benefits to your coffee business. This is why we believe in training your baristas.

Whether offering them an online barista training course or hiring a coffee educator, training your baristas will help you reap financial dividends while operating a coffee business. For more information on training your baristas or future baristas, check out our available options. 

Brought to you by Barista Training Academy, “The Beginning Barista,” Your Ultimate Prep Guide to Getting Your First Job as a Barista” is an ultimate resource that is available online. It is affordable for anybody who is looking to start a career in the coffee industry. For more information, visit our blog.