I am a pretty good server. No, I don’t always get everything right. No, I can’t make the food come out fast. Yes, I drop plates sometimes.
The reason why I make such good tips is the fact that I do things differently from most servers. Here are my secrets to being a good server.
1) I love being a server. When you love what you do, it rarely feels like work. I love meeting new people and being a part of their lives for the 35 minutes that they are at my table. I consider it an honor that they would have me as a part of their life, even for just a moment.
2) I greet them promptly when they are at the door. When someone walks in, I drop whatever I’m doing to make sure to greet them with a sincere smile and welcome them. When they sit down I introduce myself and I tell them that my mission is to ensure that they have an awesome meal. I also tell them that I PROMISE that they are going to walk out of the restaurant smiling.
3) I’m not serving a meal, I’m offering them an experience with me. During this experience I am humble and I am attentive. I am not chatty. I don’t offer up personal stories about my life. This experience is about the customer being catered to. My goal is to create an experience that they will smile about later as they are going to sleep and I hope that they will compare every server they have after me to ME.
4) I give them what they don’t get at home. In order to be an excellent server, you have to realize that people come out so they’ll have a different experience than they do at home. At home people complain, they don’t smile. They don’t say thank you. They don’t receive encouragement or praise for who they are. I offer them all of this at once and most of my customers leave BEAMING because I acknowledged them in a good way. I celebrate them. When does anyone get celebrated in life? I acknowledge their good looks or their love or their ability to hold them family together. SOMETHING is good about them that no one points out- I do. Oh yeah, when I do, I am being sincere. Sincerity is important.
5) I fall in love with them. Yes, I fall in love with each and every customer. I look them in the eye and smile sincerely and they KNOW i really care about their meal and who they are as a person. My energy is evident and they FEEL it- every single time.
6) I put on a show. Most people are so tired from working that they can not make it out to be entertained. No one ever gets a personal performance in their homes so when they sit at my table, I turn on my theatrics and I go a little over the top- sometimes playing the role of a super humble servant bowing to the floor, or being an actress and announcing the arrival of their food with a song or even just doing a little thank you dance.
7) I am as pretty as I can be. I saved this for last because most waitresses don’t get this part. Studies have shown that attractive people tend to get more out of life merely because people like looking at them. Each time I go to work, I make sure I look as pretty as I can and I smell good. I wear a full face of makeup, highlighting my best features and I SMILE, sincerely, because I really am glad they came and I want them to come back.