tips4you

Depending on where you work, receiving tips is sometimes quite difficult to achieve. Often, establishments pay waiters and bar staff lower wages based on the assumption that they will gain tips. As a customer therefore, although it is a responsibility to give tips as these employees are reliant on you.

However, as an employee, it is your responsibility to work hard and give satisfactory customer service in order to gain these tips.

How to get more tips:

1) Welcome customers personally when they enter the establishment.

This creates rapport, and immediately gives you at opportunity to assess their needs. For example, if it's a family, then certain members may be fussy and have food requirements. If it's a office party, then the emphasis will be on plenty of drinks, constantly flowing with good humour.

2) Get them drinks quickly.

Why do people come to restaurants and bars? To relax. As soon as they are sat down, with jackets off, ask them what they'd like to drink. The quicker you serve them, the quicker they are able to unwind and relax.

3) Be polite, nice and be personal.

Adding a personal touch to your service creates a link between yourself and the customer that is not very common. Complimenting someone genuinely (without flirting) is a great way to create rapport, and a huge step in gaining that crucial tip.

4) Smile.

5) Write 'Thank You' on the receipt.

Again this creates a personal touch, but also adds that final reminder and hint to the customer that you would like a tip. You should never ask directly for a tip, but this is the closest you can get to it.

6) Give the customer information.

If the food is going to take a while, let them know. If something has gone wrong, let them know. People are very understanding and the more information the better...with certain exceptions. Even when everything goes to hell, with a 30 minute delay on food, if you give the customer explanations whilst being apologetic and polite, often they will tip you simply for being nice. After all, it's not your fault.

How to Tip.

Many establishments/countries/governments classify tips as a source of income. Consequently they are taxed. All tips through card payments are taxed, and so when you think you have tipped $10, in reality you have only tipped $6. To the waiter/barman, this makes a huge difference.

When and if you can, always pay the tip in cash. Although they are meant to, many restaurants and bars don't count or tax their cash tips, instead they simply divide them equally with the staff on the shift and leave it as that.

If you've been served by one barman/waiter all night, and you want to tip him/her personally, then give them the cash tip directly. Putting it in the tip jar on the counter means that it'll be split and shared equally with all the waiters and staff.

Different countries have different codes of conduct for tipping. In some places it is compulsory, others it isn't. In England, it is recommended that the tip is 10% of the bill, from what I have heard, in S.Africa it's 17%.

This is all very well, except when it comes to promotional offers. For example, if you go to a restaurant which is serving 50% off all food all day, your bill will be significantly smaller. Consequently you give a smaller tip. This is unfair on the waiter, because the service he is giving you is exactly the same. It isn't his decision that the promotion goes ahead or not. So when you find yourself in this position, give more than the regular percentage.

If you tip well, you will be remembered. Perhaps the greatest lesson of all, is to learn how TIPS originated:

They began in the 19th Century, within English Garden Tea rooms. A wooden box would be placed on each table, with the words:

TO INSURE PROMPT SERVICE

The customers would insert a coin and an employee would serve them immediately.

Please be sure to check out my Life of Change blog.