Tips for Tony

As a way to help Tony become successful in his new job,

Tyler solicited advice

aka

'Tips for Tony'

from his coworkers.

He gave away prizes

- okay, a buck each -

to the top ten tipsters.

We blocked out the name of the contributors

and I read through them all

marking out all duplicate suggestions.

Several ideas led to further discussions...

Then I read through the submissions again

and noted the ones I thought were most valuable.

I'd marked twelve.

We talked some more

and from those twelve, Tony chose his top ten:

I've taken the liberty of changing some of the tips

slightly, as per our discussions

10.

Make sure guests have everything they'll need

before their food arrives;

no one likes to wait on a condiment.

9.

Nobody likes to pay good money

for a steak that wasn't prepared to their liking.

Make it easy for guests to let you know

if their's wasn't

even if, when they first checked, it appeared to be.

8.

Don't forget the kids when it comes to refills;

ask them if they need more drink.

Usually, kid cups are opaque,

so you can't gauge their beverage needs just by looking.

7.

Make certain that salads are dressed 'perfectly'

I like a lot of dressing on my salad.

Probably part of why I'm fat.

If it really needs more, I'll ask

but often, I would prefer more, but it's palatable as is

so I won't ask for more.

However, if a server were to ask

if I had the perfect amount of dressing,

it would make it easy for me to say, "Actually, I could use a bit more."

~

We're going for an awesome meal, not mediocre.

6.

Have personal knowledge of the food so you can offer suggestions.

Tony is on a pretty tight budget.

Just 'cause he's suddenly making a bunch of money

doesn't mean he's got a bunch of money to spend.

We've worked on his spending / saving plan together

and will tweak it as needed

but one of the things we built into the budget

was a fairly generous amount

to enable him to try several dishes

so he would be better equipped to do his job.

5.

Never let a drink glass get empty.

'specially water and tea.

I

for one

hate to be without water;

I'll still tip if I run out, but I'll do it begrudgingly.

Not every one feels the same, though;

this tipster said, "An empty glass could mean an empty tip jar!"

4.

As much as it is possible

meet guests needs before they have to ask.

3.

Suggest coffee when a guest orders dessert.

Just last night,

Tyler & I went out to eat.

We went to vote,

and figured we'd just make it a date :-)

Anyways.

we'd ordered this 2 for $20 deal

and I imagine the waitress thought

she had no opportunity to increase the ticket total

because an appetizer and dessert

(measly portions, I might add) were included.

BUT

I would have ordered coffee if she'd offered....

2.

Be happy to be at work and serve your customers cheerfully.

Bare minimum service often yields bare minimum tips.

1.

Send a message to your guests that they can relax,

that you are there to take care of anything they might need

while they are with you and they are free to enjoy their evening

and

Tyler and I came up with a bonus tip last night.

Rather than asking, "Can I get you anything else?"

which puts the burden of asking for something on the guest,

ask, "What can I bring you?"

This lets the customer know that you would like to bring them

something to make their visit more enjoyable,

they need only let you know what that something might be.

And if there's absolutely nothing that can be brought

well, then

they are probably thoroughly enjoying their evening / day

which is

precisely

the goal.

~

Many thanks to Tyler's friends for caring enough

to take the time and effort to offer Tips for Tony!!