You don’t have to be the absolute most outgoing to everyone in the store. But pay more attention to people who pay with the app. They are the ones who receive the surveys. I like to ask “you doing alright today?” Because its not as used as “how are you,” but it means the same things. Usually they say yea and they continue the convo if they feel like it.

A great tool is asking simple open ended questions! My favorite is “tell me about your day” I like that question because it’s neutral (which helps if they aren’t having a great day) and it shows interest in their favorite topic, themselves! And I don’t mean that in a judgmental way! People usually love talking about themselves and their experiences!

Another thing that helps with dead air is y’all about yourself! Mention something you’re excited to do after work or some drink you like to order.

My store also likes to put up a daily question on a piece of paper at the window so if you’re struggling you can always ask them that! Or come up with some yourself that you could use when it’s awkward (like when the DM is there and everyone’s watching you and oh god the customer won’t talk to me please god make it stop)

It can be as easy as confirming their drink.

Usually with whipped cream I’ll ask them to confirm if they want whipped cream. Even if the person on register just asked them it shows that you care about getting it right too.

Or with iced coffee and cold brew. If you have the time you can pour the milk where they can watch and you can ask them to stop you when you got it right.

Or even just confirm what kind of milk they want in their drink.

It doesn’t have to be super personal or awkward. You can talk about their drink as you make it! That’s how I started with customers. And then from there. If the customer wants to keep talking they usually will. If they don’t then they won’t.

I compliment something they have on or if I like their car or hairstyle. I ask what their plans are and either commiserate or encourage with them.

My go-to asks are things like..

"how's your day going today?" (anytime)
"So, what's on your agenda today?" (morning/early afternoon)
"What's the best thing that happened to you today?" (evening)
"Do anything fun this weekend?" (sunday/monday)
"Any big plans this weekend?" (friday/saturday)

with follow-ups like "what kind of work do you do?" (I like this better than "where do you work" because it feels less stalkery) or "yeah, boring days are the best kind this year, right?" or "That sounds awesome! I haven't been kayaking in years, but I definitely like it better than canoeing" or whatever I can say to play off their response.

Or anything to do with their drink. If they have a very specific drink order I've been known to ask "how did you come up with this?" or "ooh, this looks awesome! did you find it somewhere or make it up?"

I'll also make small talk surrounding other drink suggestions.

Classic hot chocolate drinkers get "have you tried the white hot chocolate?" or "have you tried the salted caramel hot chocolate?".
Vanilla bean frap = "you know, people have been putting raspberry in these lately; have you tried that?"
Black Tea = "This is one of my favorites! Have you tried the variations on it? My favorite is to get it with lemonade and peach juice. It doesn't even need sweetening!"

A lot of people get the same drinks over and over because our menu is huge and they don't always know what else they might like based on what they already get, and their current order is "safer" than experimenting. Suggestions are often great ways to get that interaction to "stand out"!