“Thanks!” Or “enjoy!” - both easy to say but might come off a little nicer to customers :)

I mean the usual for us is them saying thank you and you say thank you back. My usual is something like 'Thank you! Have a great day!' According to our dm we should looking every customer in the eyes while we say it too which is a LOT. but hey

I would say you definitely should connect at the end of the interaction though yeah.

Honestly, yeah it is.
People generally don’t like being ignored or dismissed. This applies to situations outside Starbucks too.

Personally, if I was pressed for time, I’d just say “Enjoy!” It’s short and sweet.

Also, one thing that my DM suggested that actually stuck with me was to always at least look at the person as they grab their drink.

So I would just glance up real quick when they said “thank you” and I would flash a quick smile and say “Enjoy!”

Those small connections are all you really need if you’re not the typical happy-go-lucky kind of person.

Other short phrases include: “Have a good one!” “No problem!” or “Thanks [name of customer]!”

“Of course!” or “absolutely!” are usually my go-to responses. They’re short, easy, and come off as much more of a “happy to be of service” vibe without feeling like you’re groveling. Which depending on your customer base can get people into an even more entitled headspace than they already come in with. An old manager of mine once said that you can kind of think about it like training the customers how to treat you. If you’re short, act annoyed, or that it was a big deal to make their drink, they’re going to respond by also being short, impatient, and that it was a big deal that they’re in your store. But if you’re patient and have a sense of openness, they’re going to be much more likely to connect with you and see you as an actual human being. Connection is not just good for sales, but also for setting up a store culture of respect between customers and baristas.

I just say thank you back to them. We’re supposed to be the ones thanking them when they come in. Sometimes I slip up and say “you’re welcome.” But even that’s better than a “yeah” or a nonresponse. You’re working in a customer service role my dude.

Just thank them before they thank you. And if you don’t get to it first a quick thank you back is much much better than “yeah” or “sure.”

Being busy on bar is understandable but we're never too busy to thank our customers. Take the extra 2 seconds to calmly say thank you or compliment them in some way i.e. "that's a great necklace" "I love your shirt" etc.

“Of course!”

Going with something like Thank You or You’re Welcome and wishing a good one should be good. I would try avoid saying Yeah or Sure (depending on the tone you’re using) since it might come off the wrong way. I understand it’s difficult doing everything at once, but I don’t think anyone will have a problem if you take a second to say something nice to the customers before sending them off.

I usually say “thank you have a nice day!” really quickly and get on to the next drink