How to be a Good Waiter
by Everyone thinks that being a waiter is one of the easiest jobs you can have. Those people would make bad waiters. It’s important to consider that you can increase the size of your tip by simply increasing the size of the bill. But how can you be a good waiter while convincing customers to spend more of their money?
It may seem obvious that a bigger bill means a bigger tip. But what truly makes a good waiter stand out from a bad waiter? Suggesting extra cheese or gravy is a simple process that you’ve undoubtedly heard countless times. But there’s more to suggesting “add-ons” than meets the eye.
A good waiter never tells you “today’s specials.”
This specific suggestion may seem somewhat counter-intuitive. The issue here, though, is that every waiter at every restaurant recommends today’s specials. It can lead to a much stronger recommendation by simply being more creative. Tell the customer what you would eat if you were ordering, or if you’re in a restaurant of a certain caliber, try the classic “our chef recommends.”
By ensuring that you’re not blending into the food service crowd, you can help ensure that your suggestions are taken more seriously. Which of course, can always be turned into a more expensive suggestion quite easily.
A good waiter invokes social proof
You can lead people to ordering more expensive food simply by suggesting that “everybody who’s tried it has loved it.” So when someone may be leaning towards that $8 burger, you may get them into the $12 steak sandwich. It’s a very simple trick that leaves a person psychologically disarmed to what they truly want, without being abrupt or rude about the suggestion.
But of course, there’s more you can do to influence a customer in their tipping than convincing them to purchase a more expensive meal.
Suggest an opinion
You can simply check on your customers with the simple “How is everything?” that everybody else uses. Or you could influence the opinion of each person in a very subtle manner. “So, is everything delicious?” will get you the exact same responses as the original question, but will lead the person to think about how delicious their meal actually was. Despite it not having anything to do with what you’ve done to help them, this will ensure a greater tip.
Image via Wikipedia
Three very minor changes on how you do your job can help you earn double what your lazier co-workers do. It’s worth at least trying.
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Post Commentsmoothe1
On September 6, 2009 at 8:12 am
Hey!! These techniques have been used on me before. I would say the third one is most effective in my case. Just check on me now and then with out being a nuisance guarantees a good tip, even if I didn’t like the meal.