Tipping is a form of recognition—a way for customers to say, “Thank you” to service providers. Tipping, in most settings, is voluntary and left to the customer’s discretion.
Even so, many restaurant servers feel entitled to 15 percent or more from every table they wait on. Likewise, bellmen and skycaps feel they’re entitled to $2.00 or more per bag they handle. I’ve even been presented with charge slips asking me to tip, total and sign when I simply purchased two bags of whole bean coffee.
It’s easy to choose the path of least resistance and avoid confrontation—or, worse, retaliation—by rewarding indifferent (or non-existent) service with a tip. Americans are confronted with tip jars wherever we go. In most quick service restaurants, a tip jar is conspicuously placed near the register in hopes of capturing the remaining 90 cents of your $8.10 burrito. (Never mind that the employee who prepared your burrito may not have smiled or in any way expressed genuine interest in serving you.)
For employees in tip positions who demonize customers who don’t tip to their satisfaction and bemoan their compensation structure (generally a minimum hourly rate that, when combined with tip earnings, meets or exceeds the prevailing minimum wage), recognize that you’re no different than any other entrepreneur. Ultimately, you will be paid what your worth. If you’re unhappy with that arrangement, you have options.
Stories abound of hotel doorman and restaurant servers who make 20, 50, or even 100 percent more than their peers. To discover how they make more, all you have to do is identify what inspires you to increase the gratuities you offer to such employees.
What are the attributes, for example, of a restaurant server that inspire a 20 percent tip?
Here are a few from my list:
- Smile
- Eye contact
- Energy in voice
- Attentiveness without being intrusive
- Sense of humor
- Anticipate needs
- Sense of urgency
- Follow-up
Your list may look different than mine. That’s why the highest paid restaurant servers are adept at reading their customers and detecting which groups prefer chatty versus discrete table service in addition to other service preferences.
I recall a conversation with a Las Vegas taxi driver in which I suggested that he could increase his gratuities 20 percent by simply opening and closing the sliding van door for his passengers. Read about it here: An experiment in customer service
Tipped employees are no more entitled to 100 percent tipping compliance by customers than I’m guaranteed 100 percent sales by prospective customers.
As an entrepreneur, I recognize that there are no sure things. No prospective customer is obligated to take my call, let alone hire me and pay me money. I bet for every 20 contacts I initiate, I book a single event. At the risk of sounding like renowned sales trainer, Tom Hopkins, each of those 19 “Nos” brought me one step closer to that single “Yes!”
It’s the same with tipped employees, only their odds of success are much better. For example, for every 20 taxis ordered, a hotel doorman can expect to be tipped by at least half of the guests. So, while I’m rewarded for my efforts 5 percent of the time, the doorman’s rewarded 10 times as often!
Perhaps it is I who should shake my fist and shout, “There’s no justice!”
But, alas, after five years in business, I’ve tempered my expectations. I recognize that batting 1000 is a fantasy. One summer during my youth, George Brett of the Kansas City Royals went 4-for-4 in a game against Toronto, raising his season batting average to .400 (meaning he got a hit four out of every 10 times at bat). This was such a significant achievement that the game was halted while fans gave Brett a standing ovation as he waved from second base.
It’s okay to bat under 1000. Expect it. Don’t allow the inevitable setbacks to derail your success at work.
Look at it another way: What’s your mood worth to you? If you were under-tipped, what amount of money would justify altering your mood from positive to negative? From upbeat to downtrodden? From happy to sad? From optimistic to pessimistic? From outgoing to withdrawn? From engaged to disengaged?
Let’s say a waiter provides adequate service to a couple whose check totals $50.00 and who leave a minimal 10 percent gratuity of $5.00. This waiter, after discovering the amount of the tip, is now free to choose his response. If he becomes angry, bitter, or resentful toward the couple, he has allowed his disposition to be adversely affected for $2.50—the difference between a low 10% tip and a standard 15% tip.
And because human beings are emotional creatures, it’s natural to allow our resentment and negativity to spill over into our interactions with other employees and customers. When this occurs, we undermine those relationships and sabotage our success as one “bad table” turns into a shift filled with “bad tables.”
Let’s make a pact: I commit to not allow my 19 “Nos” to influence the quality of service I provide to my 20th prospective customer. And you must commit to not allow $2.50 (or whatever the number is) to dictate your behavior, undermine your relationships, and sabotage your success at work.
Deal?
I welcome all questions, comments, bouquets, and brickbats.
