5-7 min per person is deluded.Part of the process of ordering a custom surfboard has always been talking to the shaper. You tell him where you're going to be surfing, what type of waves, and what you normally ride (show him if possible), your height and weight, what you're looking for (shortboard, groveler, whatever) and then he takes it from there. Takes maybe 5 - 7 minutes.
I bet if you ask any custom board builder they'll say talking with the customer is the biggest time suck of their day. People are not in and out in 5-7 minutes. They want to talk story, have a beer, bro out, watch some shaping.......whatever it might be. Multiply that by the other 10 people that walk through the door that day and the shaper's there until midnight trying to catch up.
Having someone manage their orders and talk to customers so they can focus on shaping makes a lot of sense for a lot of builders. And charging people extra for a shaper consultation makes sense too.