Talk about noise in the workplace! Come into Uncle Ray’s on a hot Saturday night in the summer. It appears to be total chaos. Perhaps, but it’s a kind of organized chaos. It’s a situation that calls for rules. These rules CANNOT be broken under any circumstance or the whole system completely falls apart.
First, the Cashier must shut out all distractions. They will make eye contact, smile and greet and then listen intently to the customer. When a customer places an order, the cashier must REPEAT OUT LOUD the item to me customer as they touch the cash register keys. This verifies with the customer that the cashier has correctly placed their order – this is the first link, in the chain where errors can be discovered and corrected BEFORE an expensive mistake is made. We sure don’t want to make a Banana split when the customer really wanted a Banana split Blast! When the cashier verifies the order by repeating the item OUT LOUD – exactly like a tape recorder – this potential mistake is completely eliminated!
This rule CANNOT be broken. So please don’t take any “secret orders”. Secret orders are ones in which the cashier doesn’t repeat OUT LOUD the customer’s order and keeps it a secret to themselves – which makes it impossible for the order maker to proceed in making the item without inconveniently screaming back, “What’s the secret?” or “What do they want?” This is a very destructive habit of some cashiers, which TOTALLY shuts down our whole ordering system. No “secret orders” please!
ORDER PREPARERS must listen intently also! When the cashier repeats the customer’s order OUT LOUD, the back-up person must repeat the order OUT LOUD just like a tape recorder, too! The cashier must be able to HEAR what it is you are going to make. This means NO WHISPERS, please! And it does absolutely NO GOOD for the order preparer to say, “OK. I got it” What is it EXACTLY that you’ve got? When you say, “I’ve got it.” and come back with a beautiful Snickers sundae, deliver it to the customer, and they look at you and say, “Oh no. I didn’t order that, I ordered a Snickers shake!” You’ve made a $3 error, you have to apologize for the mistake, you have to re-make the item and you’ve wasted at least one minute of your precious time.
So, it is IMPERATIVE that ALL order preparers REPEAT OUT LOUD the item is that you are going to make. If you repeat an item OUT LOUD to your cashier, they can easily hear you and correct you BEFORE you make that mistake. SECONDLY, by repeating the item OUT LOUD you will avoid DUPLICATE items that can occur. So, if an order preparer simply goes and makes an item WITHOUT repeating OUT LOUD the order, it is very possible that someone else has heard me order and is ALREADY making it. This means another costly mistake also and causes duplicate items that we DON’T need. This is one rule that CANNOT be broken. ALL orders must be repeated OUTLOUD – NO EXCEPTIONS. This means even when you’re the only one in the store, you must repeat the order OUT LOUD – EVERYTIME. We are counting on you!