Which are the strategies that any bartender should know to keep customers entertained?

The professional bartending strategy is today one of the most sought after for many reasons. Contrary to what was previously believed that the bartender does not earn much money. That it is an overvalued profession, today that concept of bartending has changed.

The best strategies require that the bartender is able to recognize certain behaviors and skills to use properly and that is the topic of this article.

Today the bartender is much more than the person behind the bar serving customers and smiling. The bartender is today a born seller of his bar and the products they offer. He or she is the face of the bar.

But it is also the one that offers customers a unique experience. Not only by preparing their favorite cocktails and drinks but also by providing the best customer service. But the bartender today also has another connotation and that is that he has become a true entertainer of customers. Especially when he is working in private events such as a wedding for example.

Skills required

Bartenders now require countless skills and abilities in order to stand out from the crowd. Today many even dedicate themselves to Bartender flair skills. Which has basically become an art of juggling with bottles and other elements. Those are exercised with high precision by the most professional bartenders in the world.

Part of the job of a bartender is to have direct contact with the customers. Not only by serving drinks and cocktails. Also by having conversations with them and even once in a while, giving them an advice. However, for some new bartenders, those who probably just started to work on a mobile bar. Even for some experimented bartenders, having to deal with these social aspects might be a little hard.

Having conversations with different guests can be difficult sometimes Especially if the bartender is introvert by nature. However, is important to understand that if you manage this part of the job properly. It will be a key element to your success.

Therefore, it doesn’t matter if you are a natural extrovert or the complete opposite. If you are working as a bartender for hire or every night at a bar. We will give you some tips that will help you to improve your conversational skills but also on how to keep your customers entertained and happy.

Always ask questions:

We all know that people always love not only to talk about themselves. Also to talk about their feelings and what they love. You can have a lot of topics in your head to talk about but the best thing you can do is to ask questions to your customers to get to know them a little better. Because that’s the only way you can learn about them and their interests, hobbies and everything else.

Your conversations need to be light-hearted:

Even when sometimes subjects like politics or religion are great for having debates with others. A bartender needs to stay away from those controversial topics. Just try to talk to your guests about stress-free stuff. So to keep your customers entertained avoid topics like religion but engage with them in conversations about movies, sports, music, and those kinds of things. Also, you can always talk about current events (as long as they aren’t controversial) and about what they do (their job and hobbies).

Let your customers start talking first:

You don’t need to think about a topic if you let the customer start talking first. Because they are going to pick what are you going to talk about. If you do that, you need to make the right questions to keep the conversation going. Also, try not to ask questions with YES or NO answers because if you want to build a long conversation and let them direct it, you need to encourage them to talk longer.

You need to be aware when you have to leave a guest alone:

Some customers just don’t want to engage in a conversation. Sometimes they just don’t want to be at home or they just want to watch a game in someplace else so is important that you identify those people as much as you identify the ones who do want to engage in a conversation with you.

Give always an excellent service to your customers:

Beyond keeping them entertained with interesting conversations you always have to focus on attending and serving your customers in the best way is possible. So, it’s important that you don’t forget to keep an eye on the bar because you are having an interesting conversation. Attending the bar is first.

Dynamism, proactivity and creativity are esencial with Bartender flair skills too

Creativity is what facilitates the magic in the cocktail bar. A good bartender knows how to create true works of art with their ingredients, making beverages that are irresistible to the palate and the eye.

They even know how to use them when offering also food, to achieve the best and more perfect pairings. In addition, he is a dynamic person who adapts to the rhythm of every single customer to enter the bar. Know when a customer is willing to wait for a cocktail and when not.

Knowledge about administration skills is a plus

Any bartender have to know how to manage the resources of the Bar or Restaurant where they work, know and manage the stock well, know how to adapt that to the budget, proactively order the replacement of products, and many other things.

Your job is to enchant your customers. You can’t forget that wherever he is working it is still a business. Where numbers are very important. A good or good bartender understands these processes and works hand in hand with the rest of the team so everyone should win.

With all these characteristics, the bartender is an ideal character for the Marketing plan, be it the bar, lounge or restaurant and even a private event.

Empathy and charm are the cherry on top

He is a person with a great capacity to serve customers, communicate with them, know exactly what they want and make their drinks in a spectacular way to leave them speechless and wanting to come back to the bar as soon as possible.

Today’s customers expect to live experiences in the restaurant, be surprised, feel special and of course have interesting things to use on social networks or a bartender is the perfect person to satisfy all these needs, using that “power” to please and enchant customers.

Mixology and Social Media

Just do a simple search on Facebook or Instagram and we will find millions of posts. Cocktails are one of the favorite products for customers when it comes to sharing on their social networks and that is where the bartender and his art have a special value. And there are so many things behind the bar that can be interesting content for restaurant marketing!

The history of the recipes, the show of the preparation, the surprising and showy results, and of course: the personality of the artist. Therefore, including posts, stories, videos, lives, inviting countless gastronomic influencers. Also a lot of events related to this part of the business. It will be very positive for the digital reputation of the restaurant.

The bartending skill is always interested in the details

The bar is the stage of the bartender, the place where he performs his staging and where the eyes of the spectators-clients are nailed. What does this mean? Well, an essential characteristic of our or our best bartender is the care to the extreme of the details.

You must know how to handle all your implements and ingredients in an orderly and meticulous way. So that everything is sparkling. The bar is usually a small space and “everything is seen”, so it is important to always take care of the smallest detail.

Questions and Answers

Remember that making your customers happy and providing entertainment. This will make your job so much easier and you can be sure that tips will increase and you will have faithful customers forever.