3 ways to earn more tips in restaurants
It's no secret to your servers that the best way to earn tips is to provide outstanding service. But as a restaurant owner, you can help them earn more by implementing new strategies in your establishment.
How can you earn more tips? What are the new habits of your customers? What tools will make your waiters' lives easier?
In this article, find 3 tips to increase tips in restaurants. We'll let you choose your favourite one or introduce all three in your restaurant for the most motivated among you.
1. Work on customer relations
The quickest way to earn more tips in a restaurant is to be warmer, smile and give better advice. To initiate the first contact with the customer, introduce yourself. According to a Southern California College study, introducing yourself by your first name earns a higher tip (23.5%) than introducing yourself without saying your first name (15%).
Don't try a sales approach, only recommending expensive dishes.
Customers will appreciate your honesty, authenticity and the following behaviour:
Anticipate the customer's needs
Be responsive
Return to the customer after the service to ensure that everything is going well
Apologize if there are any delays or problems
2. Offer to pay the tip by credit card
To earn more tips in restaurants, you need to adapt to your customers' new habits. In 2021, people were using less and less cash for their daily expenses. According to a recent CSA study, the lack of change is the main obstacle for 35% of respondents, and 71% would like to leave a dematerialized tip.
To satisfy this demand, we advise you to offer an alternative tip paid by credit card to your customers.
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3. Use an atypical piggy bank
Make it a game
To encourage young (and old) people to leave a tip, why not place a "thieving cat" money box at the edge of your counter? The coin will be withdrawn automatically by the cat in the box, for a guaranteed surprise effect.
Start a debate
Arnold Schwarzenegger vs. Sylvester Stallone, Ronaldo vs. Messi: place two piggy banks and let your customers debate by tipping on the side of their answer.
Trying jokes
"On a scale of €1 to €10, how good-looking are you?"
"Every time you don't leave a tip, a child gets a mullet."
If your customers are sensitive to this type of humour, they will probably be more inclined to leave a tip than if they were faced with a neutral piggy bank. Try this in moderation, and in a suitable restaurant, of course.
