Helping Bartenders Better Serve Customers

Bartending is all about interacting with guests, serving great drinks and making people happy. One of the most important aspects of the job is serving your customers.

Bad Bartending Habits

Here are several tips to ensure you are serving your customers with the best possible care.

Be Prepared

Come to work prepared for the day. You can not serve your customers very well on only a few hours of sleep. This also applies to your work area. Make sure everything is it’s proper place and the bar is well stocked. Customers hate it when you say that you are out of something they want. If you are well prepared it will really help you serve your customers to the best of your ability.

 

Anticipate Problems

Many problems can be prevented if you pay close attention. If a customer has their glass too close to the edge of the bar, or a customer seems to have had too much to drink, you can fix the issues before they become a problem. This also applies to things like running out of ice, or not having enough clean glasses for drinks. If you pay attention to your surroundings and foresee possible problems you can keep things running smoothly.

Know The Menu

As a bartender you should know the menu at your establishment even if you only serve drinks. If you are knowledgeable, you come off as more credible to your customers. Keep in mind a few things on the menu that are great for recommendations when helping a customer decide what to order. Don’t just hand your customers a menu and let them review it themselves. Tell them about specials and things you like on the menu. This will build up good rapport with your customers and regulars.

Work Fast and Efficiently

Bars get busy. If you want to better serve your clients you have to be willing to work fast without dropping the ball on your customer service. Customers do not like to wait, so it is important to get to them as soon as possible. However, if you are fast but messy, you are more likely to give poor service and upset customers. So, you need to find that happy medium.

Pay Attention To Customers

If your customer’s drink is almost empty offer to refill it. If their meal is almost finished ask if they want the check. It’s in the little details of your service that makes you a great bartender. Customers will come back if you are paying attention to their needs. If you make their experience personable and have things ready even before they ask you will be rewarded with loyalty.

Shhhh…

There are things that are okay to talk about and then there are things to avoid. Knowing when to tell a good joke or when to see yourself out of a conversation are key. Keep in mind you are there to serve and be there for your clients but there are also lines you can’t cross. A good rule of thumb is to always stay away from topics on politics and religion. Also, don’t over assert your opinions or push ideas onto your customers. It’s okay to play the role of a good friend and listener, but it’s not a good idea to get into controversial material.

Keep Your Work Area Clean

Nobody wants to order drinks at a dirty bar. People go to bars to have a good time and escape life for a while. So your bar has to keep up with the illusion of a fun place to be. Also, a messy bar poses health risks so be sure to keep it clean. Your customers will appreciate it.

Control Your Environment

 

A lot goes on at the bar. In order to serve your customers you have to be mindful of the atmosphere. Is it too cold or too hot? Is the music too loud? Is a customer upsetting another customer? Are your customers into the television show that is on? If you control what’s going on you will make your customers more comfortable and be able to serve them better. Also keep in mind there are things you can not control like the weather. But you can always find a way to make the best out of things you can control.

 

Good Money Handling Skills Are Key 

A good bartender knows how important money is to people. The way you handle people’s money or credit cards ensures that you have satisfied customers. Take the time to make sure you are giving correct change every time and don’t count your tips until you are off work. Serving your customers also means handling bar tabs and bills with great care.

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Billie Raucci, Contributor

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Ways to Bartend Without Experience

Bartending can be a fun and exciting job. It’s also not easy and to be successful requires dexterity and craftsmanship. You go to bars often and figured you too could do this job and be really good at it. Well what happens when you don’t have the experience and want to be a bartender? Here are some things you need to consider to bartend without experience.

Bad Bartending Habits

Desire to Learn

It’s your responsibility to have an interest and passion to learn the art of bartending. Bartending can be tough and it takes time for you to learn both the field mixology and being a good customer advocate. Be patient and be committed to learning the field which doesn’t happen overnight.  

 

Go to a Bartending School

Attending bartending classes and short mixology courses might be costly, but it helps you to enhance your skills as a bartender. Bartending schools conduct trainings and provide you with fundamental and in-depth knowledge about bartending such as bar management, customer service and bar sanitation. 

Read Cocktail and Mixology Books

There are tons of books about mixology that will provide you more useful tips and techniques about cocktail mixing. This is an effective option if you can’t afford to send yourself to a bartending school. Get some bottles of alcohol and practice mixing cocktails at home with friends and family.

Watch Flair Bartending Videos 

With the prevalence of digital revolution, it will be easier for you to find flair bartending videos and learn some basic routines and tricks daily. However, it would not be easy to learn at first, but as you keep on practicing, you will become much better. Bartending videos are also effective in learning mixology and how to win over a crowd at the same time. This is also a good alternative if you can’t go to a bartending school and remember as well that you need to practice daily.

Hop on Nightclubs

Explore nightclubs and observe how bartenders perform in this much fast-paced work environment. Try to be a customer for few times. Interact with the bartenders and keenly observe on how they deal with customers and their job. This is a great way for you to understand how it all works and improve your performance.

Work in a Restaurant Bar

This is important in your bartending career. Remember that it will be difficult for you to get a bartending job directly since the majority of hiring managers prefer applicants who have experience. You may have to take a job in a restaurant bar, which can be much slower-paced as a server to get experience, especially if it’s an establishment you want to be at long-term.  

Befriend your Co-workers

Make friends with the staff in your workplace especially with the bartenders. Once you gain trust and successfully build a friendship with them, volunteer to help them perform their job such as cleaning the bar counter, bar stools and equipment and glasswares. This is a perfect way for your bartender buddies to recommend you to the bar manager that you can also be a great bartender.

  

 

Join a Local Bartending Competition

Joining a bartending competition can be an ideal option to being a bartender without experience as you will never know who those people are in the audience. Some of them might be owners looking for someone that has what it takes to be a bartender. In addition, judges can be bartenders or bar managers and if they like your performance, you may have the chance to be a bartender without ever having worked as one before.

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How to be a Good Mixologist?

You probably have heard the terms bartender and mixologist. However, you most likely didn’t know there is a difference between the two. Often times this difference may seem vague, however the biggest distinction between the two is education.

 

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Mixologists take more online and college courses than a bartender. In fact, some bartenders have no formal education at all. Other than that, there is a fine line between the two. If person works in an upscale establishment or restaurant they are mostly like a mixologist and have a higher pay scale. However, some mixologists who work in smaller venues or restaurants may have the same pay scale as the average bartender. So what makes a good mixologist?

I once heard that mixology was a culinary approach to mixing drinks. With that being said, a truly great mixologist is often times not the social butterfly that a bartender can be. Instead they are the masters of artistically appealing and delectable drinks. In order to be a good mixologist there are several key steps you need to do including:

• Learn everything you can about mixing drinks
• Practice, practice and practice again
• Be creative and different
• Test your new drinks before serving them to customers

Learn Everything You Can About Mixing Drinks

A bartender or bartender chef can mix great drinks and create a pleasant atmosphere for their customers. A mixologist is in the corner somewhere making a masterpiece. Both bartenders and mixologists mix drinks but a mixologists turns it into an art. Both are needed to make the bar run smoothly and bring in customers. Yet a mixologist needs to know everything they possibly can about mixing drinks.You aren’t there to tap the keg. The ability to mix a great drink is a combination between science and art. The proper education really is the key to becoming a good mixologist.

Here are a couple links to websites that will show you bartending and mixology schools across the United States: 

• The Professional Bartending Schools of America www.pbsa.com
• The Best Bartending Schools www.bestbartendingschool.com

Also, check out books like:  ‘The Modern Mixologist: Contemporary Classic Cocktails’ by: Tony Abou-Ganim, Mary Elizabeth Faulkner, Mario Batali. The more you learn, the better your career will be.

Practice, Practice and Practice Again

This sounds redundant however, the only way to get better at anything is repetition. Practice at home with friends and family and look for feedback. Try mixing new drinks as often as possible.  Practicing will allow you to know how well you are doing. If you are having trouble with certain drinks or bar methods check out websites that offer tips to aspiring mixologists.

The website ‘Try Cocktail’  (http://trycocktail.com/tips-tricks/) has easy tips and tricks for beginners.

Be Creative and Different

Any good bartender can make a good bloody mary, but it takes creativity to make a masterful meal out of a bloody mary, especially one that is different and unique. Try mixing new drinks every now and again. Your place of employment may have a set way to make drinks, however some establishments welcome creativity and new designs to drinks. Don’t be afraid to think outside of the box. Learn culinary skills for great garnishes and how to create a great dessert drink. If you can mix creatively and produce fun drinks that people love you will open up the door to great career possibilities.

Test Your New Drinks Before Serving Them To Customers 

This is a no brainer. Don’t mix a new concoction and serve it without ever trying it yourself. The last thing you want to do is serve a bad mix drink to anyone. Also, some establishments and bars have a select set of drinks that you are approved to make. Before selling any new type of drink be sure to get an okay from management. Getting approval first will make you job a whole lot less stressful.

A good mixologist has style and class. They are well educated in the art of mixing drinks and have achieved these skills through practice and knowledge. A leading mixologist will be creative, as well. Take the time to really know how to mix a good cocktail. You will definitely boost your employment opportunities if you master these skills.

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Billie Raucci, Contributor

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