Wednesday, March 20, 2013

More about making More Money

I want to elaborate on something I kind of glossed over yesterday. Waiting tables is a commission sales job. If you are honest with yourself you understand that the normal commission for a competent server at dinner is in the 15% to 18% range. For lunches it can be a little less.

What is a competent server?

People come into the restaurant wanting:

  • To be fed.
  • To be waited on and not have to take care of it themselves.
  • To have a good time.
A competent server easily takes care of the first two and is pleasant enough to influence the last. However, after you have met the first two the third can be out of your control. For 90% of the people you deal with, unless things get really screwed up and you fall down on one of the first two things, when the check comes they will perform some basic math and calculate your tip. Let me rephrase that.

For most people your tip will be based almost solely on the total of the check.

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2 comments:

  1. AnonymousMarch 26, 2013 at 9:21 AM

    Can't you influence the amount of the tip? With really good service or via regulars?

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  2. BmanMarch 26, 2013 at 9:25 AM

    Sure, but on average I think you'll find that most people just do the math pretty mindlessly. There are a few things that you can use with some people to raise the tip but I still think you are going to average 15 to 18 percent most nights.

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