The bars have been raised for the bar staff...
A professional who is directly connected with the customers in any business needs to contain a big bag filled with patience and charm that result in ultimate satisfaction by the customers which is the final destination next to the transaction. Good customer service will include points on how to interact effectively with the customers, handle the tougher situation and ensure the smooth functioning of a scheduled day with the help of strong team-playing attributes.
In Australia, the bar staff is expected to exhibit a good deal of customer relationships and a totally satisfactory degree of service experience as a favourable level of customer experience is considered crucial for the growth of the business. A customer goes back to his/her favourite place to party on a high-on-energy Friday night. Excellent customer service is one of the prime features that can evoke a sweet thought to provoke them to make reservations in a particular place.
Customer service doesn’t just depend on the profitability of a business or even on how much bartenders make. The aim of the bar staff is to give the best which helps them thrive and the happiness of the patrons which makes them give repeated visits to the particular place is an ongoing process which is a result of the best customer experience. This is hence a progression and not a project that may end.
This much-glorified topic of discussion – “Customer Service Tips” for the bar staff does not constitute serving the customers their desired food and drinks. There are copious points following which an F&B business enterprise could reach all new heights in the vast sky of success.
Here is GALAXY TRAINING AUSTRALIA’S take on the top 10 service tips for bar staff:
1. FACE IS THE INDEX OF THE MIND
Bartenders or anyone bar staff are the people who are approached by the customers once they enter the premises. It becomes very important to look presentable and the tone so approachable. The battle is half won if the bar staff clears this stage effortlessly.
2. PLANS ARE NOTHING; PLANNING IS EVERYTHING
Make way for something more exciting and anticipating for the customers with proper planning and effective execution. Charting out the offers for the month, finalising the special menus of the season or making a list of the specialities served during the week… create your own celebration platform. Make it heard; make it attractive to be experienced.
3. THE AMBIENCE; THE ATMOSPHERE
Pep up the place with some pleasant elements to make people come there just to relax and unwind. Be it a place with a dance floor or a lounge bar that serves drinks and desserts in a cosy set-up; the bar staff are required to keep the place more appealing and that suits the requirement of anybody who visits the place. Maintaining the place based on the theme that the bar represents can be the right way to keep the feel of the setup alive.
4. NEVER STRESS OVER STRESS
Make way for some fresh breath of sir when you are all stranded with the stress. Busy weekends, confused customers, angry patrons or first-time customers on a crowded evening; situations may vary. But the only way out is to be prepared for the worse. Managing such situations well is one of the biggest challenges. But one step towards e organisational behaviour can lead to winning feedback from the customers.
5. LEND YOUR EARS
Save the other work for later when you are taking orders from the customers. Give them less opportunity to repeat and never make way for any confusion. Be all ears to what they say. In situations like a noisy evening, try to read their lips… in a subtle way that might not look indecent.
6. EVERYTHING CAN NOT BE FAIR
They say all is fair in love and war – never mix professionalism with personal connections. Serving free drinks for the friends who visit your workplace, being extra attentive with the usual patrons and giving discounts over the bill in exchange of some tips are things which must be avoided. Remember that you are getting watched both by the management and the other not-so-favourite customers.
7. CLEANLINESS AND HYGIENE
A popular bar is one where the customers love the feel of the couch, the ever-sparkling glasses and the mess which is next to nothing. Cleaner bartops, organised stock displays and the spick and span interiors, are the mandatory qualities which a bar ought to possess. Wipe, straighten up and gear up for the next mess.
8. SUGGEST, REQUEST AND RECOMMEND
For the customers who are visiting your place for the first time, the couple who are finding it hard to order their celebration drink or a patron who asks for your suggestion in something particular like an appetiser which is vegan. Have a complete hold of the menu and the kind of food and drinks getting served in the bar. One of the important bartender tips is that educate the customer about the ingredients that go into the drink if the customers are sceptic about ordering it for themselves for the first time. This often happens when customers come to try the bar’s new drink during promotional days.
9. GO THROUGH, RUN THROUGH
Always remember the drinks ordered by the particular citizen with some code like the colour of the dress or their body language. Then run through your memory to make sure that the particular drink reaches that customer precisely- who according to you, has a unique identification. This skill is helpful at times when there is no numbering of the tables and at the dance floor setups.
10. PROFESSIONALISM AND ETHICS
It is important for you to exhibit a professional approach and appearance. Customers would trust you and come back again if they had a great experience. Friendly conversations, clean clothes suitable for the business and keeping up a well-practised attitude will create an environment that patrons, as well as the management, will appreciate. Bartending is a serious career and, even if you are using it as a temporary job to get through college or whatever, you need to treat it as just as sober as a true professional would.