As much as you might despise your current gig, looking for and starting work at a new bar, will almost always suck more (initially). In an existing bar with several tenured barkeeps on the schedule, some of the downsides a new gig present are: (a) squeaking out a living by bottom-feeding; working the seemingly least desirable (but available) shifts and (b) managing a royally life-invasive, frequently dynamic, week-to-week work schedule. Let’s face it: no one in their right mind actually wants to work Sundays. Religious zealots aside… most righteous adults have become well-accustomed to Sunday = FunDays and straight-up chilling. How the hell are you expected to earn a substantial living – for example – on a Monday closing or Tuesday opening shift? The short answer is rooted in consistency, personality, salesmanship, and time. I frequently earn far more on shifts no other bartender wants than I would on the weekends. In the phoneto above, is Monday night’s haul – a couple of dollars shy of $700.
So how, pray tell, is that even possible? The answer is multifaceted. It’s not difficult, but it does require a significant investment and some patience.
Schedule: Particularly in a new gig, you’re likely going to have to fight tooth-and-nail over the course of weeks/months or even years (in a well-established and trendy club for example) to earn regular shifts and/or the consistently profitable shifts. Hell, you may even have to wait 30 years for a “lifer” to retire or kick the bucket – no joke.
Almost no one gives up a good thing. Bartending is no exception. Just think about the ultimate bartending Halo Job we’ve all heard about – that union hotel bartender (think The Four Seasons) “saddled” with a $25 – $35/hr base salary, obscene tips, paid vacations, and mucho benefits. Those jobs are out there albeit few and far between and virtually never advertised.
The tenacity, patience, ass-kissing and consistent displays of skill, promptness, cleanliness, imagination, tolerance is are combinations of art/science that I cannot possibly begin to teach in a post let alone a book. Those values and skills begin at birth and are crafted throughout life. No matter which cards your dealt in life, what you can do to improve your odds is observing, learning, and making small adjustments along the way.
Without a consistent weekly shift, two or three, you’re likely to have an extremely challenging time making large sums of money bartending. What you’re after is building a rapport with your clients. The key to making money, the most important tip you can possibly glean from this post, is establishing and maintaining repeat business – getting people to like you, the bartender, not the bar.
Personality
Off the bat, consistently friendly, smiling, flirty, tolerant, knowledgeable, and crafty bartenders will make more money than those who are not. One caveat: again, really exceptionally attractive women – something I’ve been over a number of times.
Undoubtedly, there are going to to be some customers with whom you bond and often inexplicably, those who despise your presence. On the same token, the bartender next to you might have the completely relationship with those same customers – weird. But whatever… that’s life. There a bunch of less than memorable folks who fall somewhere into the ambivalence camp. Those folks may be there simply to hookup and really couldn’t care less about who you are or what else you do. You may have spent 10 minutes kindly talking up the differences between Whiskies and how Charcoal Filtering and hardwoods impart certain flavors. You may have recommended a classic Whistle Pig Old Fashioned or a Rittenhouse Sazerac only to have them blow you off the rest of the night. So be it.
What you want to do time and time again, is to try and win over every single customer with dignity, respect and humility. You want to take at least a minute or two to strike up an appropriate level of conversation of some sort – feel them out. Everyone’s different and you can’t simply treat folks like soulless transactions. They’re not going to bond with you nor come back and demand that you be there bartender – what you’re ultimately after.
If you can’t get to a customer immediately, you want to – at the very least – acknowledge their presence within a few seconds of them approaching the bar. If you’re in the middle of pouring a pitcher at service bar and it’s loud, eye contact and a simple finger (indicating a second or minute) could suffice. Otherwise, a “hey brother, welcome… be with you in just a sec” has a way of disarming folks and stroking their ego. Don’t ignore anyone – ever. Always greet folks on the way in and on the way out. Never drop a check without a “here ya go… thanks for coming” or “have a great night!” or whatever. AWD – always wipe down the bar. I have bad OCD. There’s never not a damp rag nearby that I can’t grab, clean up, re-position candles, BevNaps, coasters, etc. in preparation for my next customer.
The list goes on and on. Net-net, you’ve got to form a relationship with your Johns and Janes if you expect them to come back, spend money with you, and become your loyal customers.
Salesmanship
What the hell is this? One would think the bar owner or management would be well-equipped and experienced in promoting the place, right? Maybe. But really, that should be secondary to the desire or responsibility to promote yourself as opposed to the establishment. I’d argue that most of my earnings come from clients who come mostly to see me, not the bar in which I work. For this reason, some lifers/insiders/craftsmen/mixologists with several years on the job are feared by owners and management. Many of those folks have such a devoted following, that were they to quit or be fired, they could fairly easily command dozens or hundreds of their minions to follow them to the next bar. Quite often, these types of much-loved barkeeps have established social media platforms or even personal phone numbers and email addresses of their followers/clients.
I can’t tell you exactly what will work for you. However, I can tell you have I’ve managed to take completely crappy shifts – that no other bartender was willing to work – and turn them into some of the biggest money nights of the week. I’m not saying they’re the busiest nights of the week – far from it. I’m simply referring to the fact that I’ve drummed up a regular following and work those folks to the bone. I give them what they want – me. I bend over backwards to accommodate them even if I can’t service them the second they sit down. I greet, converse, listen intently, smile incessantly, and service their needs better than Tommy, Dick, and Jane at the next bar. I thank every singly customer for coming (before looking to see if they even tipped me) and make sure to invite them back again noting the shifts which I work.
But, how have I gotten them in the door in the first place? Well, that’s complicated. Obviously, there are many random, initial walk-ins which have nothing to do with my dastardly sales efforts. I embrace those folks and do everything in my power to make sure they’re experience that evening is nothing short of memorable.
Here’s my real secret however, to making a shit-ton of money on off-beat shifts: luring Hospitality employees. I’ve turned those shifts into the defacto neighborhood Bartender/Server/Manager nights. How’s that? Well, it starts with what I think is a personality trait that seems hard to ingrain in most folks: being way early to work. I’ve always been a huge fan of the belief that: (a) being on time = late (b) being 15 minutes early = on time. That said, I actually show up in the area at least 1 hour before my shift starts. I initially did it for reasons unrelated to recruiting – hunger. I hate being disturbed when I eat. Working 10 – 12 hour shifts, I get hungry. Similarly, I despise eating behind the bar or sneaking into the kitchen to inhale a Quesadilla in 30 seconds flat, as many other employees do. It makes me feel inhuman.
When (then) unwanted shifts were offered to me, I leapt at the chance with an enthusiastic “yes.” I’ve been through this situation before and knew that a consistent schedule was a far more important factor to making money than which particular shifts they were. What I would do with my hour of pre-shift down-time (and what I still do) is frequent many of the bars/restaurants surrounding mine. In NYC, and even more so in The West Village – where I currently work, seemingly every other door is a bar/restaurant. There are something like 14,000 – I think – on the island of Manhattan alone. I have a virtually unlimited supply of like-minded, excellent tipping, clients to tap. Before work, I walk in, sit at the bar, order a couple of drinks and something yummy from the kitchen. I’m not aggressive – nor do I represent any type of hardship (problem customer) for the barkeep. I’m uber patient. I don’t strafe a busy bartender, don’t wave, whistle, yell “hey” or “yo,” or make any kind of fuss. I don’t argue or make make stink-face when asked for a credit card and/or ID to hold a tab. Most importantly, I never cough up the fact that I’m bartender unless asked. Combined with normal (excessive for most) tipping – always in cash, within 2 visits, I’ve left them asking “who the hell is that guy?” … in a good way. It’s not much longer before I’ve befriended the bartenders and am getting them to invite themselves to come visit me when I’m working. Not surprisingly, they frequently do and return the favors I’ve dropped on them many times over. On any given of my “quiet” nights, I will easily have servers, bartenders and managers from easily 8 or 9 different neighborhood establishments – sometimes dozens of like-minded alkies and foodies. Just about all of those folks are just as overly-generous as I am when I go out. As you might imagine, I go out of my way to take extra care of these folks.
There are many other salesmanship and promotion tactics. I’m simply sharing with you one in particular which as worked quite well for me.
Time
Everything I’ve just mentioned takes time in order to see results. Everyone’s situation and personalities will be different. When I first got my crappy (but consistent) shifts, I wasn’t making half the money I am now. Some of us are more efficient at certain tasks than others. Some of us may need attitude or process adjustments. Yet others need to hone their craft and become better educated in the spirit, wine, beer or service fields. What took me a few months to ramp up may take someone else a few weeks. Be patience, consistent, and always be learning. Neither Jerry Thomas nor Sasha Petraske knew everything about bartending despite their legends and impact today.
