Bartending Blog

Economists Think Bartenders Stink. That is Great News Pittsburgh Bartenders

October 29th, 2008

About two weeks ago an amazing blog piece from a totally unexpected source entitled Why Are Bartenders so Rude? drew a huge response from its readers.

Why is this so surprising and why is it good news for Pittsburgh bartenders?

The blog is a serious economic commentary written by PHD’s (in this case a Professor of Economics). The post drove dramatically more comments than any other piece in this serious blog for weeks before or after. It seems people who like to read and comment on complex economic issues would rather speak about drinking and bartenders.

The comments were startling. The writer described how he recently spent a fair amount of time bar hopping with friends. Again and again the bartenders were rude and the bar service was lousy. He couldn’t understand it.

37 comments followed. A lot of these economic readers and commentators agreed. They discussed bartending customer service in the language of economics. Some suggested, like good economists, that the writer should “vote with his feet” and leave the places with poor customer service.

A former club owner and bartender added comments. (Who would think that club owners and bartenders are well versed in complex economic concepts?).

So what could be the good news?

Lets face it. Most bartenders forget about good customer service. They go about their business and often ignore customers, especially new customers. So many of the writers above suggested that the only time good customer service occurs is when the customers become regulars.

Hey guys, make it your business to make all new customers feel welcome. You couldn’t do anything smarter. So many customers feel the exact same thing as the unhappy commentators in the blog piece above. They want ONE nice place in which to hang out. Make sure your bar is it.

Become the one nice place. Build your customer base. Increase your regulars. Make customers feel comfortable.

I know so many bartenders at so many unassuming bars around the country that make so much money!!!! These are not the “coolest” “hottest” clubs by any stretch of the imagination. They don’t gain press, and they aren’t the slickest places in any city. Meanwhile the good/smart bartenders in all those places with big loyal followings make more money than the cool club bartenders.

Why? They have tons of happy comfortable regulars that tip them like crazy. The bartenders were just a little bit friendlier, a little bit nicer and converted a lot of customers into regulars.

Its actually easy, as the economists explained to us earlier. Most bartenders are rude.   Make sure you turn your bartending shifts into the ones that make new customers feel comfortable.

Read Comments (1)

Tiffany the experienced Bartender knows more than French scientists!!

October 17th, 2008

This one is for all the bartenders and bar managers and owners that want to increase sales.

Back in July, a published study by French Scientists found that increasing the volume and speed of music in a bar increased the rate of alcohol consumption. Customers were drinking more and faster.

Hundreds of news articles and blogs around the world reported on this

We have known this for years. Its industry lore. But we were curious. When did bar owners and managers first learn this and when did they first start putting it in practice?

We talked to experienced bartenders and owner/managers all over.  Most of them knew about this. Nobody could tell us when he or she learned it. Then we ran into Tiffany.

Tiffany works at an Irish sports bar in Arlington, Va. She has twenty years of experience. She told us exactly when she first learned and experienced how loud music makes customers drink faster.

In 1993 as a beginning bartender at TGIF’s in Philadelphia, Tiffany saw Friday’s suddenly make huge changes to the bar and bar lounge.  They removed some stools from the bar forcing more customers to stand.  They removed tables with seating and replaced them with stand-up small bar tables just big enough to hold a couple of drinks and appetizers. Starting around 4 PM they began to dim the lights and continued it through the night.

Then they started to work on the music.  Again at 4 in the late afternoon  they changed the music from mellower easy listening to louder faster top 40 songs. Over the night the music would get progressively louder and faster.

What happened? Tiffany and the rest of the bartenders started ringing up more sales and much better tips. She laughed when she told me this story. She said none of her co-workers changed a thing with regard to customer service. They simply benefited from the changes instituted by experienced restaurateurs.

Now, if it comes to increasing sales whom are you going to listen to; famous French academic social scientists or Tiffany the experienced bartender. I’d go with Tiffany any day of the week.

Read Comments (0)

Bartending Customer Service–Burgh Babe Brandy Nailed It

October 14th, 2008

The most important class in our bartending school deals with customer service.  If you’re good at this it makes up for so many other areas.  Master these skills and it doesn’t matter if you don’t know the ingredients of 150 obscure shooters.

A couple of years ago a fun, highly acclaimed, charming website arose right out of Pittsburgh.  It starred the creative skills of a group of clever ladies from the Burgh who wrote about the wonders of cocktails and cocktailing.   Ladies United for the Preservation of Endagered Cocktails, LUPEC was a site that won web awards for its wit, entertainment, and style. It seems to have stopped updating around 2006. In 2003, Lupec member Brandy wrote a great piece on bartending customer service. We couldn’t say it any better. We might cover about 100 specific points when we discuss the specifics of good customer service. Brandy, summarized these points and nailed it with her article entitled How to be a really Excellent Bartender

She summarized it with 5 points:

Attentiveness

Get to know your customers. Treat them well. Know their regular orders. But don’t go overboard. No “Overbearing Chattiness”. Hey. Some customers want their solitude, some of the time.

Knowledge

She doesn’t expect a bartender at a shot and beer joint to know how to pour pink ladies….but she does expect that bartender to know every single beer you guys are carrying. If its fancy place, or as Brandy calls it “hoity toity”…you better know everything on your cocktail menu…and then more! Lots more!

Personality

Brandy knows this is important. She adds some interesting comments about bartenders she knows. Hey, you don’t have to be the most outgoing person in the world. On the other hand, you better have things to say. Read Brandy’s comments. Then attend some of our classes. We will reference a group of topics that you can speak about and topics you should never mention. In the Burgh…you better know about the Steelers and the Penguins!!!!

Cleanliness

We are so glad Brandy mentioned this. We reference it all the time. Bartenders often forget this. Ugh. It is so easy to gross out customers. Beware!!!

Preparation

Depending on the type of bar, customers, and most popular drinks, the things you need to do to prepare for customers will vary. Bartenders, if you work in a place that serves a lot of wine over an evening and you don’t uncork a lot of bottles beforehand….you’ll have big problems, get behind, be in the weeds, and suffer the wrath of customers and management. As the cub scouts say….be prepared.

If you really want to be a great bartender and be entertained in the process, go to the source herself. The Burgh’s own Brandy, really nailed it on good bartending habits.

Read Comments (1)

Get a career in two weeks of training

October 10th, 2008

There was a great article this week about a grad from one of our sister schools.  The article is called Pour Me Another and it describes how it takes two weeks to acquire a skill you can use forever.

That is exactly what Brett, the Spring 2008 grad from our sister bartending school in Northern Virginia said.

We follow a very similar program in Pittsburgh. You’ll see how the April 2008 grad tried a number of initial jobs before he found one that worked for him. Not unusual. In fact he is already a bar manager. Fast work. You’ll also note he received a lot of job leads directly from the school.

That is how we work. Both schools constantly contact a couple of thousand regional bars, clubs, hotels, restaurants, etc. in their market regions. We make more effort to turn up more leads than most other sources combined.

To get back to what Brett said….”If you’re outgoing, friendly and have a genuine smile, conversational skills and openness to a variety of people, take a look at bar school.”

Read Comments (0)

Pittsburgh Realtors and Mortgage Brokers–Have you tried bartending?

October 7th, 2008

For over two decades every time we see the real estate markets crash our schools see a lot of realtors and mortgage brokers.  It makes a lot of sense.  Bartending enables you to make daily money.  It takes the place of commission income when that dries up.

Once they have taken the course and gotten bartending jobs, we invariably hear this feedback;  I sold a house (to/for) a customer at my bar.

One of the neat tricks about being a bartender is that you very quickly become “best friends” with your customers.  Okay, not necessarily BFF’s texting and talking all the time, but customers and especially regulars get to like and “trust” their bartenders very quickly.  Serve up a couple of beers, a gin and tonic, or a well aged scotch to a customer across the bar….and suddenly they like you.

Realtors know that one of the biggest hurdles is winning the trust factor from customers, whether it is buyers or sellers.  Realtors compete for this in the professional environment and look for all sorts of different ways to network and connect with potential customers.

Bartending is an easy way to do that, and “here is the kicker”…you are making money while you are networking; earning tips while getting to know your regulars.

Once realtors get comfortable behind the bar, sooner or later the conversation might turn to real estate, homes, the neighborhood or community, work, etc…..and a bartender with his realtor card available can quickly make a customer aware of your real estate expertise.

We usually suggest realtors get bartending jobs in either upscale restaurants or bars, bars frequented by young working professionals, or upscale to medium restaurants in your target communities or neighborhoods.

When push comes to shove, the best tips I ever made came from serving up a few tall cool ones to customers that later became my real estate customers.   

Read Comments (4)

Part time Night Jobs–They help you get ahead

October 3rd, 2008

We just got this call from Eddie.  Eddie took our bartending classes in 2006.  Shortly afterwards he picked up first one and then a second bartending job.  His first was in a restaurant that was more restaurant than bar.  Lot of service bartending with just a little bartending at the bar.  The second was in a long time very active bar/restaurant/sports bar.  He got some excellent gigs there.

But its been two years.  Eddie is 28 and just bought his first house.  Congrats Eddie.  He wants to bartend again to make that extra money to get him over the hump of higher house payments.  He has  steady job.  He has gotten promotions.  He is definitely moving ahead.

Eddie is scheduling to come in and take a free refresher class.  Hey, anyone can pour beer.  Eddie wants to get his mixed drinks down again.  A couple of sessions in our realistic bar set-up, a refresher with regard to our methods that help him remember the recipes, and some practise again at being an effective two handed bartender, and Eddie can be out there making that good night and weekend extra money.

Its a coup.  Eddie took our program once.  He can come back for free refresher classes and get up dated job leads.  We have over 25 hard active job leads in the Pittsburgh region right now.

Oh….and by the way….Eddie got a good deal on the house.  Its below 2005  prices. 

Good work Eddie.  We look forward to seeing you again. 

Read Comments (0)

Can Bartenders Contribute to Pittsburgh

September 29th, 2008

In small and larger ways bartenders contribute to the fabric of a community.  Pittsburgh bartenders are like all others.  We have our part in making Pittsburgh a better city.  This blog is an effort to (okay–we gotta be transparent)  promote our school;  describe the job of bartending, focus on bars, restaurants, clubs, etc. within the region, and reveal job opportunities for grads and potential students.  Beyond that there is a rich world in which bartenders make their contributions. 

In terms of doing this we are going to mention some of the blogs that enrich the Burgh scene.  They describe uniquely Pittsburgh activities, Burgh folks, quirks and funny aspects of our way of life, and neat events around town.  Some of them are very personal and could be written from anywhere but intertwine their perspectives with life here, and others focus on Pittsburgh.  We’ll be adding some of these and others to a blog roll that will include local blogs of interest, bartending sites, restaurant/food beverage/club/and alcohol sites, and finally an eclectic mix of other interesting sites.

So here are some of the local blogs that have caught our eye:

Have a good sandwichby one of the co founders of the Pittsburgh bloggers (of which we are members). If you want to find out about different perspectives in Pittsburgh you should start here, and you might as well include the founder’s blog.

I’m not sure what a the perspective of a a Pittsburgh mom and her baby have to do with bartending….but we think its fun to read!

A must read for locals is The burgh blog by Pittgirl. She and her blog have been around for a while and they get around. Its good reading.

If you want to get a feel from some people engrossed in the business of promoting Pittsburgh and its businesses spend time at I heart Pgh. Great reading.

It appears we will be losing a lot of activity from Pittsblog. This writer will be winding down activity on this blog while busy elsewhere…but for a review of several years from Burgh perspectives, it can’t be beat.

Hopefully we will be enriching the scene with comments by and about local and other bartenders.

Read Comments (0)

Nude Bartender Gets Arrested–She didn’t learn that here!!

September 26th, 2008

Earlier this week, Janet Brannon was arrested at the Cabin Tavern in Delhi, Illinois.  She was serving stiff drinks in the buff in this small bar in Southern Illinois.  Police walked in for a standard check…..and bingo….they were pretty surprised to say the least.  Check out the story here.

She got out of jail on $8,000 bail. A few days later the bar was shut down for 30 days, fined $500, and lost its liquor license. Duhhh!!!!!!

We definitely don’t teach that in our customer service classes.

Read Comments (0)

How to Become a Great Bartender

September 25th, 2008

We aren’t going to lie to you and suggest that bartending school will turn you into a great bartender overnight.  That doesn’t happen at this school.   It doesn’t happen at colleges, doesn’t happen when you go to school to learn auto mechanics, and doesn’t happen after you get out of Harvard Medical School.  I deffo wouldn’t want a new grad from Harvard Med school to perform brain surgery on me….no matter how much I may need it.

Experience really works.  Watch others.  Trade stories with other bartenders.  Ask other bartenders how they would handle situations.  Practice, practice, practice.

We also know there is a world of great information out there.  Its especially available throughout the web.  Our goal is to collect as much great information as possible and pass most of it on to our students and a large part of it on to readers.

We’re starting a blog roll with sites that offer excellent tips and insights into the industry.  Here is one we found that offers the insights from someone with decades of experience in the food and beverage industry.  We’ve been reading through posts and comments.  Its getting a lot of commentary from others with lots of experience.  Try out                     http://waiterextraordinaire.blogspot.com/ .  The author, Steve Nicolle has over 25 years in the industry, has worked throughout the front of the house, teaches bartending, and describes the ins and outs of great customer service.  It applys equally well behind the bar, serving tables, or for being the manager.

Evolving from a bartender to a great bartender takes years of work, as with any work or profession.  Lots of luck ….and make those tips!!!!! 

Read Comments (1)

Hospitality Jobs in Pittsburgh–Start with Bartending

September 23rd, 2008

We just spoke with Meghan, a former grad, who developed from bartender to manager, to employer of bartenders.  Now she has a new exciting career in the hospitality industry.  Fortunately for us and for our grads she still hires graduates of the Pittsburgh Bartender School.

Meghan has a great career story and a neat profession.  We have seen this kind of career development again and again over many years.  It is always rewarding.

A few years ago she enrolled in the school looking to develop a skill and get work.  Immediately upon graduating she picked up a job directly off our job leads list in the Pittsburgh area.  She definitely made the most of it.

She took a job bartending at an American Legion Hall.  Yah.  We know.  Not many of you might think about this as an exciting bartending job.  But wait a second.  See how Meghan made the most of it.

Within a very short period Meghan’s skills and talents became apparent.  She started managing the American Legion Hall and became responsible for the many events they threw.  Not only was she bartending and managing, she was hiring bartenders to staff big parties.

Meghan found something she enjoyed and was talented at.  After a couple of years she enrolled in college level courses at the  Pittsburgh Technical School. She majored in business and hospitality. Within 2 years she had an Associates Degree.

While there she picked up a working internship. It turned out to be with one of Pittsburgh’s conference and event centers. Boy did she do well.

Meghan is now the operations manager. What a great job. They run events on a regular basis. It could be a corporate training session. It could be a wedding or a party. Meghan has to handle a myriad of details to get everything running for a wide variety of clients and needs. She hires caterers. Yup. She still hires bartenders. She has to oversee the set up and breakdown of the facility on a regular basis. When she is doing her job…..she turns satisfied customers into repeat users of the facility.  She is definitely winning a lot of friends and admirers.

A few years ago Meghan was trying to figure out what to do and how to get there. She took our bartending program. In a short 40 hours of hands on training she learned a myriad of drinks, customer service, and how to work her way through the big hospitality industry. Now she is a pro.

Congratulations Meghan.

Read Comments (1)