CP103 - Essentials of Customer Service is a lecture-based class that is required for BGA Level 1 Barista Certification. If you haven’t been able to make it to a SCAA Skill Building Workshop or our annual Exposition, this is a great opportunity to complete this course and be one step closer to achieving BGA Level 1 Certification. We strongly encourage attendees to come to the webinar prepared with questions as the webinar includes a 30-minute Q&A session immediately following the presentation.

BGA Member: $0
SCAA Member: $10
Non Member: $20

Presented by: Ric Rhinehart

Who should attend this course: Baristas (all experience levels), retailers, & multi-faceted coffee professionals.

Course Description: "Great food, lousy service", the old saw goes. In reality, this is a description of a business doomed to fail. So what is great service, and how do we provide it to our customers? What specific customer service issues are most relevant to baristas and to the coffee industry? This one-hour session is dedicated to identifying, discussing, and equipping attendees with strategies for providing excellent customer service in the coffee industry.

Attendees can expect to complete the course with a improved skills in:

· How to develop a service oriented culture in the workplace
· Customer perspectives and how they should shape business interactions
· How to internalize service and solidify positive behavior patterns that elevate a customer’s experience

Invest in success by enrolling in this certification course today:

REGISTER NOW

To join the Barista Guild of America, click here or to learn more about the BGA, visit baristaguildofamerica.net.

We are pleased to announce that the next installment of our coffee retailer sector report for the second quarter of 2010 (April through June) is now available!

Sales Trends
· Second quarter sales trends
· Regional sales breakdown
· Sales vs. Expectations
· Traffic and Ticket Sales
· 12 Month Outlook
· Competitive Landscape
· Category and Segment Trends

Pricing and Cost Trends
· Cost Outlook and Price Increases Credit Availability Trends
· Availability of credit for daily operations

Customer Trends
· What is important to customers? Broken down by category

Big Picture Trends
· Specialty Coffeehouses Compared to Other Foodservice Segments
· Food Cost Inflation · Dairy Inflation
· Trends in Electricity and Natural Gas Prices
· Fuel Prices vs. Foodservice Sales

An excerpt from "Getting the Story Straight: Communicating What is Special About Specialty Coffee"
by Tracy Ging


You know that famous quote, the one that says imitation is the sincerest of flattery? Well, if that’s the case, specialty coffee should be flattered because we have certainly been imitated.

Most coffee—whether it’s specialty or not—now carries descriptors like gourmet, premium, coffeehouse-style, and others. The words sound good—and in many cases, the coffee is pretty good too. As okay becomes better, it’s forcing better to rise to best.

That creates a new set of challenges for the specialty coffee industry, mainly in convincing people that there really is something special about specialty coffee, something so special that when presented with a myriad of choices, consumers will understand that specialty coffee is the better option, the one worth seeking out, waiting a little longer for, and paying a little extra for.

It's hard to explain to consumer just what, exactly, is so special about your specialty. How do you do it without resorting to the current industry cliches? Tracy Ging explores the options and gives solid advice for taking your "coffee talk" to the next level.

You may have heard that all Lead Instructors at SCAA’s upcoming 23rd Annual Exposition, The Event in Houston, Texas will be required to have completed the Instructor Development Program (IDP), thus earning the SCAA Lead Instructor Credential. You may, however, not know exactly what this means or how to go about getting it. The following information will outline the process and help you get a better sense of the importance of this program.

The SCAA relies heavily on volunteers to make The Event a success, and SCAA Lead Instructors are one of the most crucial categories of volunteers. Industry professionals from around the world have recognized that giving back to the community in this way can be rewarding and valuable to both the instructor and the student. You may have a level of expertise in the industry that makes you a perfect candidate to lead one of the SCAA Skill-Building Courses, but subject expertise does not automatically make for an effective instructor. This is what the Instructor Development Program aims to do: identify industry experts and train them how to communicate what they know to a group of people who want to learn. If you feel you have something to give back to the coffee community, becoming an SCAA Lead Instructor is one of the best ways to get involved.

Participants who attend the Instructor Development Program (Part I) qualify for the SCAA Lead Instructor Credential, which entitles one to become a Lead Instructor or Assistant Instructor at SCAA events, pending approval by the SCAA Professional Development Committee. Furthermore, the Lead Instructor Credential is an extremely useful skill set for those professionals with training responsibilities in their companies. There is no obligation to teach at SCAA events upon achieving the SCAA Lead Instructor Credential. Look for those instructors wearing the gold pins at SCAA events to recognize those who have completed the requirements for the credential.

With your participation in this program, attendees of SCAA’s skill-building courses at The Event, Roasters Guild Retreat, and Regional Skill-Building Workshops (SBW) have the opportunity to be trained by skilled professionals who have not only coffee skills, but also skills in managing classrooms, designing and leading PowerPoint presentations, and applying principles of adult learning and instructional design. This brings tremendous value to SCAA courses. Conversely, attendees of the IDP have the opportunity for immediate impact in their own companies. The SCAA Lead Instructor Credential brings professionalism to any trainer’s qualifications, but also provides real skills that are a benefit to any business.

IDP (Part II) is an optional addition for those who also wish to participate in the SCAA Professional Development Committee. This session is conducted annually at the SCAA Leadership Summit, which takes place every year in the fall in the city of our upcoming Event. In 2010, this will be in Houston, TX, October 1-2.

IDP (Part I) is offered regionally throughout the year, as outlined below:

SCAA INSTRUCTOR DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
Upcoming Opportunities

July 30, 2010 | Coffee Enterprises, Burlington, VT | REGISTER NOW

August 19, 2010 | Skamania Lodge, Stevenson, WA | REGISTER NOW*

October 1, 2010 | Hyatt Regency, Houston, TX | REGISTER NOW**

* In-conjunction with the Roasters Guild Retreat. If you will not be attending the retreat, use the link above. If you will be attending, please use the RG Retreat registration module and select IDP (Part 1) in the session options.

** In-conjunction with the SCAA Leadership Summit (SLS) in Houston, Texas this October. If you have been invited to the SLS, please register for the IDP through the SLS registration module. If you will not be attending the SLS, please use the link above.