Staff training that establishes trust between guest and server

When Alicia Rogers was serving at age 20, a table asked her what White Zinfandel they served. She froze—she had no idea.

That moment of freezing was critical because it was right then that the guest lost trust in Alicia.

That trust is so important—if you feel like you're in capable hands while dining at a bar or restaurant, you can relax and let the drink/meal sort of wash over you. You can focus on your friends and family. But if you don't have that trust, you've just got more work to do.

In the years since that moment, Alicia—now a manager—developed a number of tricks and strategies to make sure guests would trust her and her staff. Read on to see what they are.

List your specials in a separate section of your menu, and instruct servers and bartenders to literally point guests to that section when they drop menus. They should say something like “you’ll find our specials in this section” and tap that section of the menu while saying it. It’s a good way to help folks make a decision quickly.
Commit to memory 1-2 beers from each common beer style. What are 2 IPAs? What are 2 Hazy IPAs? What lagers do you have? If you're able to name one, that can
If that’s too much, use the rule of 3. Instruct servers to be able to name 1. a beer that recently tapped, 2. a beer that’s selling well, and 3. a beer they like. This proves to customers that you know your stuff.
Keep a whiteboard in the server station where you can list things that are new, etc.
Hold a staff meeting when the cocktail menu turns over so you can go over it, provide tasters, etc.
If a customer’s having trouble, ask them what they like when they go to other restaurants. If they’re able to describe it, the server will hopefully connect the dots to something similar on your menu.

Check out the interview clip for more:

Sign up for the Brave New Bar weekly newsletter