They definitely could be making it when they see you stopped at the speaker. Personally when I see regulars come into the cafe, I’ll start their drink before they finish ordering and usually have it ready by the time they walk over.

Kindly you’re on the wrong sub, try r/Starbucks

When i worked at Starbucks we had a regular at night that would call in his 2 venti pour-over dark roast and trenta water with splash of lemonade 15 minutes before he would arrive because he was on break from the medical center across the street and didn't want our drive thru times to go down. He was a very sweet man and always tipped. We started just making dark roast our last brew of the day so we could break down the pour- over station and clean it to get out on time. I miss him. He and his wife had a baby with my first name and he would always show me a new picture of her like a proud dad and even brought his wife and daughter to see me on their way to a formal dinner they were going to once. He was the only one we would make before he arrived. I miss the sweet regulars. I even miss the eccentric ones.