Tipping
How to increase your tip (I bet these work for increasing your bonus too).
| 17% | Wearing a Flower in Hair |
| 53% | Introducing Self by Name |
| 20% | Waiter Squatting Down Next to Table |
| 25% | Waitress Squatting Down Next to Table |
| 100% | Repeat Order Back to Customer |
| 140% | Smiling |
| 23% | Suggestive Selling (aka upselling) |
| 42% | Touching Customer, Study 1 |
| 27% | Touching Customer, Study 2 |
| 22% | Touching Customer, Study 3 |
| 28% | Touching Customer, Study 4 |
| 40% | Tell a Joke (to entertain customer) |
| 18% | Give a Puzzle (to entertain customer) |
| 18% | Forecast Good Weather |
| 13% | Writing “Thank You” on Check |
| - | Waiter drawing smiley face on Check |
| 18% | Waitress drawing smiley face on Check |
| 37% | Bartender drawing sun on Check |
| 25% | Restaurant, Using Tip Trays w/ Credit Card Insignia |
| 22% | Cafe, Using Tip Trays w/ Credit Card Insignia |
| 18% | Give Customer Candy, Study 1 |
| 21% | Give Customer Candy, Study 1 |
| 10% | Call Customer by Name |
Providing great service is not on this list because studies show measures of service quality as reported by customers is not particularly coorolated with the size of the tip left. Tips do not create a feedback loop that improves service.
There are experts out there on every aspect of commercial transactions. The expert on tipping, that odd epilog on transactions where the buyer gives a gift to the seller, is Michael Lynn a Cornell. The paper I read reports that 21 Billion dollars of tips are given every year in this country; which suggests to me that a huge proportion of the income at the low end of the income ladder is tips. That table is gleaned from his shareware (tips appreciated) pamphlet MegaTips.
Reading some of his work leads me to conclude tips are not a tool for rewarding the server. Buyers appear to be buying something with their tips. They appear to be buying a relationship with the server. If the buyer is convinced that the server likes them then the buyer will tip well.
The indusries efforts to change standards about tipping is a facinating example of how many players get involved when ever you try to shaping an exchange standard. Resturant owners and service personel would prefer that the “standard tip” be higher. I was taught as a child that the standard tip is 15%, but the industry is working to let it be known that the standard tip is 15% to 20%. Some segments of the population are said to be ignorate of this rule and the industry appears to be working on that.
The owner and server aren’t always on the same side about tipping standards. In many trades the tips are the server’s only take home pay; the base salary going taxes, medical, etc. Owners would like minimum wage laws to include tips. Recently Rick Santorium tried to stick a clause into the bankruptcy bill to force that upon states shortly after getting a big tip from a resturant chain.
I liked this paper that tries to draw connections between attributes of national character and variablity in tipping across nations. The conclusions strike me as tenuous, but they certainly are fun. Anxiety, status seeking, and masculine personality in your nation increases the level of tipping.
Personally I find tipping, and certain kinds of bonuses, to be very corrosive to professionalism.
I’m not aware of any software exchange protocols that include a tip phase. DNS has a way that the server can throw in some free extra answers to questions that he suspects that the client will desire. There must be some senarios where it would be useful for the client to toss in some extra gift as he’s closing the connection.
April 24th, 2005 at 10:25 am
I hate it when strangers touch me, any server doing this to me could pretty much count on a reduced tip (not that it would be conscious). But then, I also have a large personal space.
April 24th, 2005 at 10:59 am
Lance - Absolutely. I like to cring and say ‘We don’t touch in New England!”
Any of the above behaviors is amazingly irritating if they are arn’t authentic. - ben
ps. I forecast sunny days ahead!
April 26th, 2005 at 12:17 pm
My pet theory of the restaurant business: the best wait staff are those that appear to be the cool, smart, attractive kids (the ones who would never talk to you), and they act just like they are your pals. The more natural this seems, the better one considers the service.
April 29th, 2005 at 1:54 pm
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May 4th, 2005 at 11:22 am
[...] If you build it, get some users, etc. etc. it just cuts big holes in that cloud of doubt. I forecast good weather! This entry was posted on We [...]
October 9th, 2005 at 8:54 pm
“Give Customer Candy”
No, that is from the RESTAURANT. The wait staff didn’t buy that candy. So, this concept has NOTHING to do with tipping.
“Touching Customer”
I don’t like when someone I don’t know touches me. That’s just creepy. I agree with the poster that said they didn’t like to be touched.
“Waiter Squatting Down Next to Table”
Makes the waiter or waitress look TIRED and LAZY. Not very professional looking if you ask me.
“Wearing a Flower in Hair”
I could care less if the waitress is wearing a flower in her hair. If she gave me bad service, she’ll receive a bad tip whether or not she has a flower in her hair or not.
“Introducing Self by Name”
I could care less what their name is until the experience is over when I see it on the receipt. That makes me want to tip less for DELAYING MY ORDER.
“Restaurant, Using Tip Trays w/ Credit Card Insignia”
That’s the restauant’s policy more than likely. This has NOTHING to do with the service, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.
“Writing “Thank You” on Check
Waiter drawing smiley face on Check”
I could care less if someone does this. This still has NOTHING to do with the service.
“Tell a Joke (to entertain customer)”
The tip goes WAY DOWN if that server DELAYS my food from starting cooking or my drinks from coming to my table. That makes me want to STIFF the person for delaying my food to play around. You have a job, DO IT, I feel.
“Give a Puzzle (to entertain customer)”
I don’t want that or care about it. Has nothing to do with the service. If the server has to WASTE my time to explain the puzzle to me when I’m ready to leave, their tip WILL go down.
“Suggestive Selling (aka upselling)”
As long as it’s NOT pushy. If I say “NO”, then don’t ask me again. If the server does, their tip will go down for not respecting what I want. I am the customer, so if I don’t want a certain food, I don’t want it.
“Repeat Order Back to Customer”
Agree with this 100%. This way the order will HOPEFULLY come out CORRECT. I am ALL for this concept, very much so.
“Call Customer by Name”
I am not comfortable with them knowing my name if I don’t know them. It won’t count off for the tip, because it has NOTHING to do with the service.
“Forecast Good Weather”
Sure I may be in a better mood when it’s sunny, but even if it’s a pretty sunny day, if my order is TOTALLY wrong, I will still stiff if I don’t get an apology or if I get an apology, the tip WILL be lowered, GUARANTEED!
“Smiling”
Doesn’t make me tip more or less. It is MUCH MORE pleasant though to see someone smiling, OF COURSE.
May 3rd, 2007 at 11:29 am
I would just like to comment that in TRAINING for some jobs, you are told to squat at table, call customer by name , and many of the other things mentioned above. I agree at all times one should be professional and not act as if the customer is their friend unless of course they are and then one should always maintain professionalism. Thanks for reading and happy tipping. Try doing the job yourself and see why a server does appreciate the true meaning of tips. To Insure Proper Service. Thanks again.