Whether you are a working parent trying to put food on the table, or financing your college education, waiting on tables can seem to be a daunting task. For some, the money is not worth the stress that one has to deal with while serving. In most American restaurants, a server is paid a few dollars less than minimum wage and left to depend on guests to support their livelihood through their tips. To most people, this is not the American dream. Granted, waiting on tables may not be your idea of the perfect job, but it can prove very beneficial to those who pay attention to the details of their service. There are a lot of ways that you can maximize your income potential when serving guests at a restaurant. Here are seven of the most important practices that you should master in order to see your tips increase.
Number 1: Smile
The first detail to master is the way you present yourself to the world. Over 80 percent of a person's perception of you comes from the interpretation of body language. This is important to grasp because the main factor in any guest's experience is their perception on everything from the way the hostess talks to them at the front door to the way the server tells them goodbye at the end of their meal. Smiling is the best way to make a good first impression with your guest as well as creating an atmosphere at the table that will provide a good experience throughout their meal. Here is an important note to take; your smile must be real, because people can spot a fake. If you are the kind of person that has to think of a happy thought to form a genuine smile, by all means do it. Anything you have to do in order to let the guest know that they are in good hands is allowed (providing it is morally sound, that is). In review, smiling sets the stage for the rest of the meal. A person's first impression is more often than not the most lasting; and since you only have about thirty minutes to an hour with this person, it is much easier to start off on the right foot than to have to work your way up from inadvertently displaying a bad attitude in the beginning. Remember, most of the time your tip depends on the guest's perception of you and how you treat them, so serve them with a smile.
Number 2: Posture
This next tip is pretty much self explanatory, so I will not delve too deeply into the subject. This is, however, another important detail when it comes to guest perception. Let's face it, if a person just wanted to eat steak or chicken, they could find it much cheaper at the local grocery store than what most restaurants are charging. The reason people are willing to pay so much for their meal is mainly for the experience while dining out. With this in mind, no one wants to see their server walk over to the table looking slouched over like they're depressed. This can ruin a guest's experience. Hold your head up, straighten your back. It not only looks better to the person you are serving, but it gives an image of confidence. Subconsciously, a person sees someone that has good posture as someone that knows what they are doing, and subsequently they will form a good opinion of that server early on in the game. Along with smiling, good display of your posture and the ability to hold yourself with confidence is something that will warm up the guest to the idea of leaving a good tip before they receive their bill.
Number 3: Make Eye Contact
This is a short and simple tip. Guests do not want to talk to someone who looks like their focus is on other things. Use yourself as an example. When you are talking to someone, what kind of perception will you have of that person if they never look at you? The guests are usually going to interpret this kind of behavior as someone who is not interested in meeting their dining needs. That kind of guest perception will definitely impact your tip.
Number 4: Be Knowledgeable
We have gone over some of the basics to prompt the best guest perception, now let's go into the actual "meat" of the subject: How much you know about what you do. Our society has morphed into that of fast food and instant gratification. People need you to help them figure out what they want. In order to keep up with this challenge, it is imperative to know what you are talking about and understand the menu. Your guest perception will go down tremendously if you have to read the menu to them because you don't know what goes in your beef stew. It is equally unacceptable for you to leave your table to ask another person for the necessary information. There are countless times where servers have gotten negative feedback because they needed to ask someone else. Guests usually say something like, "Don't worry about it, I'll just order this..." Study the menu, know what soups your restaurant offers on particular days, and know the ingredients of the drinks at the bar. All of these seemingly small issues will add up to a higher tip percentage on the bill.
