Like every job, being a bartender has its ups and downs. One day you can receive great respect from your guests and the other you find yourself in a position where no one seems to like you, even though you have given them all you got in you.

When we talk about customer service we obviously refer to it as the bartender or a waiter serving the guest. Yes, of course, what else could it be? I would say that great customer service comes from even better communication between the guest and the humble servant. To take one step deeper into it, what do we need to achieve great communication to have a successful customer experience? Mutual Respect.

Let’s go through the whole process. The guest walks into a bar and the bartender greets him and shows to the customer that he has been noticed and he is welcomed there (in this point greeting back would be appropriate). If the situation starts with either of two “sides” feeling that they aren’t worth a quick “Hello!, it sure isn’t the greatest of beginnings for a happy ending to the story.

Moving on. The guest sits down and it´s time to figure out what he would like to have. In the bartenders point of view there are many ways to do this. Even if the bar is packed and really busy, we as professionals should be able to overcome this and at least have time for: “- How can I help you?” or “- What would you like to have?” and show to the guest that he has our attention and respect to stop for a second to listen to his wishes. Here comes the tricky part. It isn’t in our power to tell if the person that just walked in has had a bad or a good day so far, if that person doesn’t happen to be our mother. We do learn to be pretty good with body language, but in this case I’m talking about a total stranger. So if this person answers to the bartender looking at his phone saying “- Beer and make it fast!” and after getting the beer doesn’t care to say thank you, it really doesn’t make him look like the coolest guy ever. From the guests side I would personally wish to get also his attention and a nice “- Could I get a beer, please?”  “- For sure you can Sir!” Maybe in this case the bartender would ask him if he has a certain type of beer that he prefers (okay he should do it anyway, but most probably this way the bartender would actually care). Who knows, maybe the guest and the bartender could have a quick chat about the beer selection and maybe the guest would try out something new and get a great experience finding a new favourite.

The evening goes on and hopefully the guest has enjoyed himself and feels like he has been taken care of properly. It’s time for him to go home or maybe to the next bar. The guest decides to ask for a check. Once again this can be done in multiple ways. If there is Mutual Respect around the nicest way is if the guest asks nicely “- Could I have the check, please?” or if the bartender seems really busy, maybe the guest would ask: “- Excuse me. When you have the time, could you give me the check please?” I wouldn’t see this situation ending in any other way than “- Yes Sir!” or “- Just a moment Sir, I’ll bring it to you in a second”

So, it seems that the guest and the bartender found a way to communicate in a way where both felt that they were respected mutually. The guest leaves the bar happy and the bartender feels like he succeeded with this guest and tries to do the same for all the others. Next week the guest returns with a few friends and the bartender welcomes them into the bar. This all happened because of Mutual Respect.

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