How To Keep Growing As a Waiter

Cocktails, beverages, appetizers, entrees, networking, customer service, deserts, silverware placement, proper etiquette, social skills, excellent memory, the list goes on and on…. One of the beautiful things about being in the industry that we currently are in, is our job is far from being black and white. Unlike a cubical job where you sit in front of a computer for 8 hours, waiters and waitresses deal with so many obstacles and challenges with such a vast array of different people and personalities throughout the day. All in all, being a server consists of so many aspects and fundamentals that we ingrain into our persona to become more efficient in our work environment.

First Glimpse of the Clouds Parting

Now being a server may or may not be your ideal occupation for the rest of your life, but most likely it’s your current one at the moment if you’re reading this. With that being said, why not embrace the fact that within your job you have the opportunity to alter your check to become more proportioned to the amount of effort and service you provide. Granted, there will be those guests who just no matter how elegant the service you offer is they still don’t give you any tip. Maybe they don’t believe in it, maybe their religion doesn’t permit it, who knows. What I do know is that’s a variable that’s out of our control and in order to increase your service and most importantly your tips and sales, we’re trying to grab a hold of and enhance every variable that we DO have control over.

How to Start Taking Action

Become curious about your work. Examine how the customer averagely responds to certain drinks and meals and leverage the most popular ones. Awaken a resilience and persistence to unravel and discover advantages that others are not as willing to branch out their way and find. Ask the bartender what good wine or drink goes with what dish. Memorize two or three suggestions a week. Have exciting drinks for different occasions to recommend. By implementing strides to improve your craft, within couple weeks to a month, your knowledge will surpass other co-workers or servers in your establishment. The implications of this happening means you’ll upsell more, ultimately getting your customers to purchase more than just what they wanted at the very beginning of the interaction. Your work schedule and your income will be highly reflected by this newfound knowledge.

Universally Applicable

The principles taught here could be applied to others as well. Cooks, hostess, interns, even baristas. The head kitchen chief manager at my previous occupation began as a rather ineffective busser. The one interesting thing about him was that he would stay late after his shift was over and remain at the restaurant after work to assist all of the cooks clean up all the equipment and prepare it for the following day. During his time spent doing this which for the record he did for no other reason besides his curiosity and willingness to take initiative. In turn, they ended up teaching him how the equipment worked, he rode that momentum and the rest is history.

Become hungry for more. Become hungry to be the best. Becoming willing to sacrifice some time to really put in those hours that are inevitably necessary when it comes to improving any skill, or on your path to mastery. Don’t stop learning, the reward will always be worth it in the end.
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Be Ahead of The Curb – Leverage Your Menu and Capitalize On The Change of Seasons

“Autumn…the year’s last, loveliest smile.”

[Indian Summer]”

 ― William Cullen Bryant

As we face the transformation of the warming days of summer, to the flood of leaves scattered everywhere falling from trees. The autumnal equinox, day becomes shorter than night, and in anticipation of this change, the plant world starts to move inward during the fall. Grasses convert from green to brown, with their energy moving downward and inward toward their initial roots. Fruits, leaves, and seeds start to fall from trees and bushes as these plants start to close up and prepare for the drop in temperature. Interesting enough, we too are in need of more concentrated energy in the cooler autumn weather and the denser foods that the autumn harvests offer are ideal for ourselves but most importantly our customers.

Autumn Appetite

Here are some examples of ideal foods during the fall:

The root vegetables including:

• garlic
• onion
• carrot
• potato
• sweet potato
• yam
• burdock

as well as the dense above-ground..

• squashes
• gourds
• winter squash
• acorn squash
• and pumpkin
• Also the dry, energy-rich nuts and seeds including
• walnuts
• sunflower seeds

All of these options are all part of the fall’s best food choices.

It Might Be a Different Season, but You’re Still the Main Character of the Show

It’s time to remember that cuisines are seasonal, regardless of how homogenized North American chain restaurant outlets try to impose on us. You’re are still the star of the show and it’s time for you to show everyone you can adapt and acclimate to the new environment.

As we begin to embark on this slow transition period into cooler weather, your view on how you utilize your menu should change as well. Even the most basic ordinary restaurant menu can be adapted to the various seasons through your knowledge of the various dishes. Surely I would hope during this past summer that just finished, you’ve been efficiently recommending some of the lighter fare and pair it with lighter wines, of course if it is applicable to your restaurant.

Now is the time when to consider dishes with more substance, especially as we approach the middle of October into the beginning of November. Here we are looking for heartier sauces, more substantial cuts of meat, bigger, chewier, more refined, opulent red wines. Sweet potato mash or some luscious red meat paired with some of the finest Cabernet Sauvignon will never steer you wrong as a recommendation. Look for items on your menu you can recommend that include any of the foods mentioned earlier.

It’s a crucial component for you to recognize these changes in your workplace in order to guide your guests to a better choice of selection for their meals, but I will say you will see your guests will naturally start instinctively choosing more autumnal food and drink options on their own. If you’re ahead of the curve, you’ll flow right along with it.

Let’s put it this way,  “The fewer surprises, the better…”

How to Create Rapport & Connection in a Small Amount of Time

As a server we know that making a connection and bonding with our customers is a crucial component to having them as a returning customer, leaving you a hefty tip, and having them raving about you to all their friends and family members to come check you out! With that being said, a big dilemma we tend to face is we sometimes don’t have enough time to give each individual group of guests that specialized quality time that we would love to give. We might be in the weeds, a rush just came in, it just hit 12:00 noon lunch time and everyone is placing their order in at the same time etc. Luckily for you I have been experimenting with different approaches to find workarounds and solutions to this.

One thing that I’ve found that has assisted me immensely when it comes to creating a quick connection with my guests in a short period of time is incorporating something called Emotional Prediction. Try to emotionally predict how the customer is feeling. Explained In other words would be the ability to be able to anticipate another person’s feelings by placing yourself in their shoes. Emotionally prediction is so complex that people can seldom predict their own emotions, let alone those of others.

Emotional Prediction VS Emotional Intelligence

Emotional Prediction is NOT the same as Emotional Intelligence. Emotional intelligence is the concept Daniel Goleman fleshed out in his excellent book of the same name. It involves:

1. Knowing your own emotions,
2. Managing your own emotions,
3. Motivating yourself,
4. Recognizing emotions in others
5. Handling relationships

Emotional prediction is yet ANOTHER layer of communicating. In a nutshell emotional prediction is predicting what a person’s prompt or distant emotion will be in reaction to something said or done ahead of time. You can then coordinate your own behavior accordingly, generally to reinforce the confidence and self-respect of those you are communicating with. This, in turn, enhances their devotion for you and boosts your own self-confidence. Why you ask? Well because you will soon be in the habit of reacting sensitively to others around you and thus receiving positive feedback from everyone.

The bulk of people’s reactions to you are subconscious. Their volatile responses finesse around the brain and go right to their “gut.” Malcolm Gladwell’s very research detailed book, Blink, verified, proved, demonstrated, & popularized the concept. People no longer doubt this unseen reality and the pivotal role it plays.

Culminating Thoughts

It’s no secret that all we generally focus on most of the time is on ourselves, right? Well how about you take your focus off of you and envision yourself in the customer’s position. Really stop and ponder how the customer is currently feeling or predict how they will be feeling in the near future and say it to them. By you doing this it shows that you understand and feel them even if it’s not to a large extent it’s to a much larger degree than most strangers they’ve come across that day let alone quite possibly that week, you never know. They feel this way because you’ll predicate their own emotions before they can even present them or show them to you. This builds warmth & comfort with others specially your guests, clients, customers, even loved ones, you name it!

When you see a customer just walk into to your establishment and it’s a scorching hot summer day, use emotional prediction approach him/her and say “I bet you’re completely dehydrated from that blistering hot sun. Allow me to alleviate that dilemma by bringing out the ultimate quench satisfier, our house-made premium lemonade!” this is an example of how a small emotional prediction can go a long way. With this under your belt, you can make rather small emotional predictions around all your tables and reap the benefits of watching your tips skyrocket while building connections with customers in a small amount of time.