When you open a restaurant/bar, you are expected to provide top-notch customer service not only for the restaurant but also the bar. In addition to delivering excellent cuisine, running a great restaurant, brewery, or bar necessitates excellence in a variety of areas. Establishing a complete customer experience strategy, educating personnel in all procedures, and giving discounts and promotions that make your customers feel valued and ready to return are all ways to assure an exceptional customer experience. You work hard to train your bar staff, keep your customers happy, maintain positive distributor relationships, stay on top of your bar’s sales and inventory data, keep your establishment clean, bring in business, and reinforce the big picture of your bar, whether you’re a bar manager, beverage director, or general manager.
Putting in place a formal bar staff training, and education program is one of the most effective strategies to assure a high level of performance when hiring bar personnel. This will keep them up to date and hold them responsible for the work they do. As a restaurant owner, you are responsible for the customer service whether it be from the bar staff or restaurant staff. Every restaurant owner values customer service, after all, customers are the only way you can survive in the industry.
4 Ways To Train Your Bar Staff To Deliver Good Customer Experience
Here is how you can train your bar staff and retain your customers especially as a new business.
1. Hiring The Right People
You should know what kind of people are best suited for the job of a bartender. There is a difference between treating people like guests and treating them like customers. You can have people who visit your bar regularly and some who are on the lookout to find something new.
To make the new customers stay and have them coming back, you need someone to provide quick service. As a bartender, you need to know the names of your regulars and their favourite drink preferences. Know who can make small talk and also recommend top-selling drinks.
To many customers, bartenders take on a variety of roles, from sympathetic listeners to someone who entertains them daily. Encourage bartenders to strike up conversations with customers and form connections while retaining a professional demeanour. Bartenders should never probe into their customers’ personal affairs, but they should be willing to listen. Customers that are frequent and loyal become guests as a result of their attentiveness.
2. Training And Barback
One of the most essential criteria in determining the success of your bar is having excellent bartenders. It’s no wonder, then, that they’re the ones that need the most instruction. Even if you employ experienced bartenders, you’ll need to instruct them on the unique processes and standards of your bar.
The most crucial thing for your bartenders to learn is how to make your signature beverages. Your bartenders will be able to give a consistent customer experience if they use standardized recipes. It’s a simple way to boost customer satisfaction.
Stocking and cleaning tasks are largely distributed among barback staff. Keeping the bar supplied, changing kegs, collecting dirty glasses, cleaning and scrubbing the bar and surrounding area, and replenishing the ice bins are all part of a normal barback’s job description.
Holding periodic employee training sessions allows your employees to practice current abilities while also learning new ones. Free-pour testing should be revisited regularly to ensure consistency in drinks and to better control expenses.
3. POS To Manage Customers
Some point-of-sale systems allow you to record notes about your customers’ preferences, dietary restrictions, and other pertinent information. Check to see whether the POS system at your bar or restaurant allows you to utilize these tools to create curated and personalized experiences. Training your bartenders on how to utilize the POS system and manage the cash is vital. They should also be aware of the regulations regarding complimentary drinks.
Not only behind the bar, but throughout your establishment, employees should be able to receive tips and other forms of money. Finding a mobile POS is the key to this. Any excellent point-of-sale system should aid in transaction efficiency. During a busy night, you don’t need your bartender to battle with the POS system or correct inaccurate chargers.
4. Prompt Service
When people come to your bar, they expect to have a good experience which is why you should not let them wait for longer periods. We know sometimes nights can get busier and you can not possibly serve all customers at the same time. However, make sure you have enough well-trained people to keep the beverages flowing and the food coming out of the kitchen. The importance of prompt service to any customer’s experience cannot be overstated.
It is necessary to keep your customers content with your services to keep your business afloat. Consistent growth requires brilliant service especially in today’s consumer-driven markets where demand for exceptional service is at an all-time high. Make sure to hire and train the bar staff well to avoid any mistakes that could cost you your reputation and survival in the industry.
