There have been several studies on how service workers can increase the amount of tips they receive from their customers. I have heard several things such as to touch the customers hand, to smile when taking an order, and even to write thank you with a smiley face on the receipt to try and get bigger tips for bartenders.
However, studies have shown that this one method will incur bigger tips for bartenders more than any other and it really makes sense when you think about it.
Bigger Tips For Bartenders
I want you to imagine the last guy that ordered a Jack and Diet from you at your bar, can you remember him? Now, I want to walk you through what’s going through his head when he orders that drink.
Customer, “Hi I’d like a Jack and Diet”
Bartender, “Coming right up”
Customer thinks, “I wonder if she heard me correct?”
Bartender takes some money from another customer, gives change, runs out of ice, fills back up with ice, says good bye to a leaving customer, then makes his drink.
Bartender, “Here you go, $4 dollars.”
Customer thinks, “I wonder if this is Jack, tastes like well Whiskey. Wonder if she used diet coke? This speed gun cola all tastes the same, I bet she made it with regular coke.”
Especially for picky drinkers, from the moment they order a drink from a bartender, until the drink is gone, they wonder if the drink was made correctly, especially on a busy night where bartenders are making multiple drinks at a time, serving multiple people and ringing up several tickets all within a short time period.
The best way to alleviate this, which is also the number one way to increase your tips is to repeat the order to the customer before you walk away. No other technique, tactic, practice whatever is as effective as this one thing to increase your tips. This is how the conversation should go. (You should repeat the drink order twice)
Customer, “Hi I’d like a Jack and Diet”
Bartender, “One Jack and Diet, Coming right up!”(enunciating clearly)
Customer thinks, “Cool she heard me correct, hope she remembers to use diet its busy in here. . .”
Bartender takes some money from another customer, gives change, runs out of ice, fills back up with ice, says good bye to a leaving customer, then makes his drink.
Bartender, “Here you go, one Jack and Diet Coke, that will be $4 dollars.”
Customer thinks, “About something totally different since they are no longer worried that the drink was made incorrectly.”
Such a simple thing, yet some studies I have read have shown a 15 percent increase in average weekly tips for bartenders who adopt this practice. If your customers and their experience at your bar is important to you, then you will adopt this practice in your bartender work. Not only will your customers tip more but they will have a better experience, since instead of worrying if they got the right drink they can relax and enjoy the atmosphere.
If you would like to learn more about how to make more money as a bartender, I would like to email you a free workshop on how to use digital and social media marketing to make more money as a bartender. This series (delivered once a week for the next few weeks) will show you several ways to increase your loyal customer base, using the latest social media tactics. We discuss things like
- How to separate personal from work related social media interactions.
- How to get buy in from your superiors to let you use social media during work hours.
- Best practices for Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter and YouTube.
- How every platforms Live feature will get you insane response.
- Best ideas for social media posts, specific to each Social Media Platform
- Ways to use Social Media to get job security and make it easier to get another job if you ever need it. (This one idea will have other bars fighting over you)
Don’t worry everything is totally free, and there will be nothing for sale at the end, its just a course to help you make more money as a bartender. If afterwards you feel like giving me some shares or plus ones or re-tweets, or heck you may even follow my snaps or my Instagram account, if so, then that would be awesome but if not, the course is 100 percent free and I will never try to sell you anything.
I am a firm believer in the saying that you can get anything you want in life, if you just help enough other people get what they want.
So click the link below and enter your First Name and email below and I will start sending you the Social Media Marketing for Bartenders Workshop, free of charge, once a week for the next few weeks. I look forward to getting to know you better. Sign up today!