Welcome to Cookout!

Welcome to Cookout!
A Cashier's Guide

1. Welcome to Cookout!
May I take your order please?
•Most positions in the store only require you to
listen and react
•However, as a Cashier, you must communicate
with every station through callouts, and you must
communicate with the customer accurately and
politely.
•This also means that you must conduct yourself
in a professional manner so that all parties will
have your attention when it is required.

2. Introduction
•During the first week you attend your job,
you may notice the overwhelming amount
of knowledge to learn to carry out your
duties flawlessly. Remember that all
cashiers started out the same way, and
that patience, perseverance, and positivity
will lead you to success at Cookout.

3. The 6 Stations
•It is important to know
how the store
functions in order to
navigate the flow of
food making process
to ensure that all food
makes its way to the
customer in a timely
manner.
1.Register
2.Shakes
3.Fries
4.Dogs
5.Board
6.Grill

4. Register
•Register is a vital part of what makes or break
service times. An inaccurate order or an impolite
attitude may cause a disruption in the flow of
serving the customers.
•If callouts aren’t loud or clear enough, food may
not be prepared on time.
•Multitasking is absolutely necessary—but not at
the risk of neglecting professionalism with the
customer. If you are struggling, it’s imperative
that you make it known in order for a manager to
assist you.

5. Register Preparedness
•During less busy hours, it’s common that people
lose focus. Remember that you are a function of
Cookout to run smoothly. That’s why you were
hired!
•If you know there are only a few cars left in your
line, prepare your station by visualizing what you
can go grab to make your station look 100%
ready for upcoming cars. If you’re 100% and
have nobody to serve, find someone who could
use your help. It’ll mean a lot to them; trust me.
You’ll find that they’ll end up doing the same for
you.

6. Register Quick Tips
•Here are some tips to remember:
–Often times the quantity of a callout is less pronounced than the actual
callout. Accent how many, make a short pause, then state the item. This
pause technique is also handy for informing the payment amount over
the speaker. Having money ready also speeds up service. “Fifteen” can
sound like “Fifty” if you are rushing the customer.
–When grabbing four pennies, try grabbing two with each hand.
–When in a pinch, open the window with your shoulder. Also be sure to
close the window gently. Even an unintended window slam can give a
customer the wrong impression of their visit.
–Once you’re practiced enough with putting the appropriate amount of ice
in large and huge cups, try putting some soda in first. Then put the ice
in, and finish it off with soda. The fizz will die out faster, and you’ll
minimize splashing or missing ice with this technique.
–When making a callout, try to fit it in between an expected pause that
the customer will make so you can hear the rest of their order when
you’re voice isn’t raised.

7. Register In-depth Tips
•More tips:
–Most customers are a reflection of you. If you greeted them warmly and
genuinely, more than likely you will be treated likewise.
–When informing the customer of the total, you may want to skim what
they have. “I have for you 2 trays, 2 5-piece nuggets, and a corn dog.
Your total is: ____” Not only does this confirm the purchase, but it allows
you to visualize in the kitchen three Styrofoam containers, and a bag to
be taken. If a different order comes up before the one you’re looking for,
you’ll immediately recognize that something is off.
–You may notice some cashiers make unofficial callouts. The main
benefit to these callouts is to prevent backed up orders. If two Cookout
Style Hotdogs aren’t called out, then it may delay other orders and push
back the kitchen from being ready on future orders.
–Shake callouts are necessary for consistent service times. If a worker on
Shakes provides you with ice, cup lids, and sauce, the least you could
do is tell him the shake ahead of time so he can take off the gloves he’s
using to prepare the cheesecake cups he’s almost run out of.

8. Register Partner
•The window worker
should excel with:
–Patience with
customers
–Preparing appropriate
utensils and sauces
–Mental Math and
providing change
quickly
•The order worker
should excel with:
–Verbal Communication
–Simultaneously
making drinks and
preparing floats
–Knowledge of what
Cookout does and
doesn’t serve

9. Shakes
•If you didn’t learn register first, you
probably learned this station first.
•As long as the shake worker has the
station prepared, you’re good to go. Shake
station is one footstep away, and the only
person they have to communicate with is
you.
•Communication level: Easy

10. Fries
•The only fried item that isn’t a callout is fries!
•Since the fryers are located towards the head of the house, callouts should
be well heard. Just keep in mind that it’s usually the busiest and most
hazardous station.
•If you hear another register making a callout, try to let them finish before you
make yours. It will let the fry person hear clearly of what they need to drop in
the fryer. Too much or too little is the most punishable on fry station.
•Hushpuppies, nuggets, and most notoriously onion rings are the service
time killers. Multiple dozens of hushpuppies can be a fumble, and fitting
onion rings into the small fry bags in itself is a challenge.
•The fry worker is generally the closest person in the back of the house to
you. Look for food they seem to be finishing up to give you so you can save
them the step by getting it yourself. They probably have a lot more on their
hands than you.
•Communication Level: Medium

11. Dogs
•If the order you took has no fried items aside
from Spicy Chicken Sandwiches and Strip
Sandwiches, the worker on dogs will most likely
be the one to hand you your order.
•There are no callouts for specific food that
comes from dog station. However it is courteous
to reiterate the order if it will keep them ahead of
the game.
•Barbeque Plates are probably the most common
order and most useful callout that dog station
can prepare to send to fry station.
•Communication Level: Easy

12. Board
•Communication Level: Hard
–Yes, I put that first.
•Board is the only other station aside from you which regularly verbally calls
for food, so it is imperative that their attention is had when making a callout.
Otherwise you’ll find that you have to repeat yourself.
•Another major drawback is that this station is furthest from you making any
background noise or additional callouts from other registers a hindrance.
•The most notorious callout on this station are the quesadillas, and quite
possibly the most notorious callout in the store. The time to cook is
comparable to bacon, except they have to prepare it first, and it takes up
space on the board.
•Style callouts are known for confusion and bickering. Style callout
alterations can be a headache for the one ringing it up, but even more
frustrating for the one making it... Especially if it’s incorrectly rung up.
•Remember that Board Station is the first to read the order on paper, so
despite their distance, they will be the first to alert you about something that
doesn’t align with what they heard.

13. Grill
•The grill is the heart of the kitchen!
•Similar to Board Station, Grill Station is towards the
back, so callouts must be loud and clear, but not
overbearing.
•All grill callouts are prepared relatively quickly—about
the same time as it takes to prepare a shake. However
you must keep in mind that the food won’t come forward
unless the grill has finished his duties, whereas a shake
can be instantly delivered after it’s completed.
•It’s easy to forget the various callouts that include bacon
such as BLTs, Bacon Wraps, Bacon Cheddar Dogs, and
the rare Bacon Shake. Just think about how delicious
bacon is, and it’ll make you want to yell it.
•Communication Level: Medium

14. BLAST
•All is well in the kitchen. Your hard-earned skills have made you an asset here at Cookout and
everyone respects you.
• Except that one person, staring at you with a disgruntled expression because of a minor
imperfection that they’ve carefully examined over several minutes waiting outside your window
destroying your timer average with one minute left in the hour.
•In most cases, the customer is right. You messed up their food, and you should take immediate
action to fix whatever mistake was made. But not first without ‘blasting’ them.
•Blast without the ‘B’ is Last. And you don’t want to be last. Believing the customer is the most
important part, because otherwise, you can’t take genuine action on the following letters
•L is for listen. Don’t just dig out the details of what they need to be fixed. Know and recognize that
their problem is real.
•Apologize. Don’t think twice. Saying you’re sorry allows them to see you are taking responsibility
for the fault. It assures them that you’re listening.
•Satisfy the customer with action. Let them know that you were in the wrong even if it wasn’t you
at fault. You represent the company, so to them you are the company.
•Thank them. Thank them for letting you know what you did wrong so it won’t repeat itself with
other customers. Thank them for continuing their business with you.
•Knowing how to BLAST customers will allow you to strive to sustain the customer base as well as
keep the line moving.

15. Conclusion
•I hope this was a useful orientation to
Cookout. My goal was to include less
commonly discussed topics that are
equally important to the rest of the
knowledge and procedures to succeeding
as a cashier.
•By Saunders Cox