Sales Within a Coffee Shop

I have worked at my local coffee shop back home for nearly three years. Throughout my time there, I received a lot of experience with attempting to sell drinks and pastries to potential customers. While I did not recognize it at the time, many of the situations I was in align with certain topics discussed throughout this class so far.

One of the sales topics that I have recognized occurs most is the idea that people do not like to be sold. Frequently, people will come into the shop not having any idea regarding what they would like to order. When this situation arises, they will frequently ask us baristas what we would recommend for them to try. While some may take this situation as the opportunity to get them to order the most expensive drink, I have always taken a different approach. I will ask the customer multiple questions regarding their tastes and preferences, and then offer them a choice after that. This approach allows the customer to remain in control (they get to select what they would like to purchase) and increases the chances they leave satisfied with their decision. In turn, this increases the chances that they will return to the shop, leading to a win-win situation.

This situation aligns with one of the alternative definitions of sales that was discussed in class. We used a definition of sales which defined it as the process of discovering the consumer’s need and offering the solution to fix it. While this does not happen on as large of a scale at a coffee shop, the general concept is quite apparent. As the barista (salesperson), my job is to help figure out what the potential customer is looking for (their need) and make a drink that would make them want to become a regular (the solution). While I did not think of my job at my coffee shop a sales position at first, throughout the past weeks of this class I have been able to see how all of the topics discussed fit.