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Looking to elevate your cocktail game, streamline your bar operations, or simply unlock the secrets of the perfect pour? You've come to the right place!
At Überbartools™, we're passionate about all things bar-related, and we're dedicated to sharing our knowledge and insights with you.
CONSISTENCY: IS YOUR BAR MISSING THE MOST IMPORTANT INGREDIENT?
Behind every great bar there are great brands, great bartenders and great tools – the perfect combination for delivering liquid gold to thirsty guests. But, when the competition is literally only a few steps down the road, quality, value and consistency (QVC) become the real metrics to use when measuring success. Unfortunately, as a business it is a lot easier to stock the bar with top-shelf product than it is to deliver top-notch QVC.
Quality and value are both driven by related factors, yet contrary to popular thinking, consistency is not something that automatically occurs from success in these two areas. Instead, consistency is something that much be practiced and earned until a staff member holds the ability to replicate an exact outcome every time, regardless of either quality or value.
In a mixed drink, success in consistency requires a correctly portioned amount of alcohol to be delivered, without wastage, into its final serve – no variation in volume, taste, or appearance. Of course, this is often something that is easier said than done.
We’ve all returned to a bar and ordered a repeat drink that tasted completely different to when it was previously consumed.
This common occurrence begs the question: how can two drinks, made by the same bartender with identical ingredients taste so different?
It is the pouring paradox; great spirits brands are manufactured consistently, yet at the point of serve if the spirits are not poured by a bartender using proper measuring and pouring tools, then certainty changes and consistency is no longer guaranteed.
More than just an annoyance, unwittingly this same inconsistency affects venue profits. When customers (even subconsciously) don’t know what to expect from the next order they tend to migrate away from a prepared, mixed alcoholic beverage on to the certainty of a bottled drink alternative – which are almost always sold at lower price points with a lower margin. It is a sad truth known as ‘category swapping’ and is a constant that could have been avoided.
As a business outcome, consistency becomes an important pivot around which quality and value live, and something a reputation depends on.
With increased inconsistency comes poor quality and a greater loss in value - the failure to make the few-hundred-dollar investment in accurate bar tools has then allowed for a far more detrimental impact than many publicans or managers imagine.
CANDOR OR CANDY
Checking in with your customers is a valuable part of the business cycle. Through surveys, social media, or even word of mouth, it is important to gather feedback properly… and ask for it correctly.
We’ve all likely been surveyed incorrectly before, asked to weight in even though the questions provided were so leading or sugar-coated that it was impossible to generate honest feedback.
Though these types of prompts can certainly produce ego-boosting results, they ignore general areas of concern — the very aspect that makes asking for customer response wholly beneficial.
Without uncovering points to focus and improve on, any survey losses its true insight, the type of information your staff needs to know in order to learn and progress.
Asking customers for help requires the implication that we intend to respect their time by ensuring their answers always lead to a payoff, be it improved service, an enhanced product or a better experience ahead.
Asking the no-holds-barred questions, especially publically, takes guts – but becoming vulnerable, stirring the dust, and opening up to the hard truths will lead to the benefits customers ultimately desire.
Ask how you can better your business, not what a favourite product or experience was, opt for candor over candy!
Candor is that ability to look honestly at your business’s reflection, to see not only areas of light, but also those that shadows cast across the mirror of your customer’s involvement.
Hospitality is about learning and delivering quickly, even if that means sometimes uncovering areas of your business that you would rather hide - it is much better to jump off a cliff and unpack a parachute on the way down then it is to unexpectedly fall later.
FROM PHONE RESERVATION TO RAVING FAN... FOLLOW THIS SCRIPT AND LEAD YOURSELF TO CUSTOMER LOYALTY
In a world where communication is increasingly disconnected, hospitality remains inherently human. At a number of points, our industry has the opportunity to provide real interactions that can turn into remembered experiences within guest’s hearts.
This personal nature, expressed through everything from first-impressions to final goodbyes, can potentially become another competitive advantage for your venue; as long as you manage to convey it authentically.
Ironically, this same warmth, responsiveness and care can be projected even before a customer meets your staff face-to-face. Follow this script below to transform an unknown visitor into an instant raving fan – all before they actually arrive at your venue. Sound impossible? Give the role-play below a try!
Phone rings in a restaurant…
Staff Member: Good afternoon… this is [NAME OF VENUE]
Guest: Hi I’d like to make a reservation for… at… on…
Staff Member: Certainly Sir/Ma’am, it will be our pleasure. May l ask if this is your first time joining us or are you a returning guest?
If he or she is a first-time guest…
Staff Member: We are looking forward to welcoming you and your friends, and we’re looking forward to providing a wonderful evening.
Is there anything specific you’d like us to take care of before you arrive, say a special occasion?
The conversation continues shortly thereafter.
This is a the first big step towards an ultimately happy, or daresay ecstatic, guest— one who is looking forward to a new experience and is confident in the knowledge that their friends will be happy with the choice of venue selected.
From here manually input the details gathered on your reservation system, noting NEW GUEST and special requirements (if any).
With this system, needs and expectations of the group are assessed, and staff members are aware of potential areas to go above and beyond— all before the evening begins.
Follow through ensures when the guests arrive, whoever welcomes them will be able to maintain expectations and extend the personal connection established at the very first touch point.
If the person calling is a returning guest, make use of the same system by pulling up the guest’s history (if on file). Continue by noting anything relevant and informing front of house staff to look for further opportunities to add nice touches or a friendly flourishes to the visit.
There are so many more extra touches your staff members can add throughout the evening to enhance guest experience, critical of course that each team member in your chain of service is willing to pay attention and provide the same level of care.
This level of consideration is usually provided at top tier venues. The creation of higher customer service standards particularly when not initially expected can really resonate with guests and can easily (and almost effortlessly) become the difference between sending off a one-time diner and welcoming back a life-long regular.
NEVER HIRE THE WRONG PEOPLE AGAIN... THE 4 C'S TO EMPLOYMENT SUCCESS
In an industry with such a high turnover rate, staffing changes are a constant consideration for any bar manager. Make the right decision and your team’s lives becomes easier, their morale becomes higher, and their work becomes more profitable – but make the wrong decision, and everything can turn around in an instant.
When a dutiful hire turns out to be a dud, recovering is exhausting — especially if it was your job to vet them in the first place.
It can be challenging to develop a system for evaluating potential hires, more so when staff is needed and options are slim. Managing a hospitality team is about selecting diverse people to fill diverse roles, each often requiring a completely different skill set.
The key to selecting a team member, partner, associate, supplier or whoever, is to pay attention and ask the right big-picture questions.
Don’t get snowed by someone who is just a smooth talker if you are hiring for organizational skills. Don’t be fooled by a great look or presence when you are hiring for back of house. Take the time to make sure what you see can match up with what you really need.
Some years ago l read a short article that challenged the reader to apply a scientific thought process to the suitability of an individual for a role or position.
It’s easy to think you do this already, but in the moment so much of what you set out to evaluate can be easily be forgotten.
Understanding the need for a process allowed me to look beyond the first impressions (and beyond what I thought of as standard “interview” success) to really make sure I had gathered enough initial information to clarify common success factors.
What do you really need to hit on in order to make role selection possible? The answer can be boiled down to the 4C’s…
The 4C’s
- Capacity
Does the person have the knowledge, intellectual skills and experience for the job, position?
- Compatibility
Does the person have the personality, character traits to fit into the organisation?
- Commitment
Does the person have the enthusiasm for the role long term, is there a burning desire to succeed, what is their need and or needs?
- Capability
Does this person have the ability to grow, learn, follow, lead, innovate, apply, assist and build?
Expanding each of the 4C’s into questions specific to the position being considered allowed me to build a clearer picture of what I wanted to see in an ideal applicant.
Running through what you hope to hear from a future hire will allow you to build a clearer picture of who the right person for your job is.
Next time you are hiring, ask the right questions and make sure the contender fits into your 4C’s. With a bit of extra insight you will be one step closer to hiring your next rock star team member.
WHAT'S NOT MEASURED IS NOT VALUED
The old adage what's not measured is not valued!
This blog is not about comparing the merits of style, art, and experience of free pouring bartenders; but rather the acknowledgement that without measurement, there's no accountability, without accountability, profitability and consistency will surely suffer.
Über recommends always measuring or portion controlling spirits, wine, beer and sparkling wines! See our selection of accurate and cost effective pouring and measuring tools... Click here
One can tell a lot about a business by the activities and actions that are valued; as value determines where focus goes.
Business budgets and projections are judgments based on some form of calculation... lowering the gap between goal and reality requires measurement with arising actions.
There isn't a sports star, business person, doctor, scientist, plumber, architect, politician, exam, race or just about any form of performance activity that's not measured... the exception is what happens behind a bar.
Profit is the ultimate indicator of success in business (NGO's accepted)... The insurance policy one takes to protect profits comes down to the investment one makes in training with the commensurate tools to pour and measure alcohol, accurately and consistently. Über has a range of pouring and measuring tools to assist bars increase profitability, consistency and reduce over-pouring and waste. Click here
The prize for making profit is the chance to come back tomorrow to do it again. The penalty on the other hand: the doors shut!
If you want to quickly increase profits, improve drink quality and consistency whilst reducing unnecessary alcohol wastage one of Über’s tailored pouring solutions will solve your problems full stop... More information Click here
THE BACK BAR PRICING PYRAMID
Many bars and restaurants are not properly setup to maximize guest up sell.
It's important to set up a back bar to accommodate multi-tier pricing across categories.
One of the most efficient ways to set up a back bar is using a Back Bar Pricing Pyramid or Bar Grid.
In a nutshell the cheapest brands start at the bottom of a shelf whilst more expensive brands are graduated upwards.
A great example of well set up Back Bar is local Sydney icon Smoking Panda with a 6 tier pricing pyramid for their pricing structure ($9, $10, $11, $12, $15, $25).
The grid is replicated twice to allow for 2 teams of bartenders to operate behind a speed rail/back bar duality – in other words the back bar is mirrored twice so that bar tenders literally turn around to access the choice/brand required. No crossover nor wasted operational time during peak service times.
A great back bar creates a visually enticing liquor “palette” so that inquisitive guests can relax and then “initiate” bar tender conversations by asking questions.
Download here your complimentary Bar Grid work sheets.
BEWARE AIR JOBS: VERBAL WANNABES
Ever been seduced by promises that vanish before the words ever hit the air?
Then folks beware the Air Job!
What’s an Air Job: an individual who with seething conviction expresses love, or makes some type of promise to commit, act, or reciprocate, yet when it comes to the crunch, nothing ever happens!
Air Jobs work for you, are customers, are service provider, are friends, are associates… inevitably these people just want something from you or importantly want something more for themselves, unrelated to your needs or outcomes!
At some point intention must turn into physical action or commitment… otherwise one’s credibility is at stake... an old tailor once said: the cloth we cut our promises from results from the outcomes we sew!
Recognizing the Air Job, avoids disappointments, wannabes and time wasters from taking focus away from the people, relationships and actions that do really matter!
WHEN SERVICE ISN'T A DIFFERENTIATOR… WHAT'S NEXT
Once upon a time... service was thought of as the great differentiator between businesses!
Now when transparency, customer ratings, competition is everywhere, NO business cannot afford to offer anything less than great customer service.
Yet, great service has become a commodity!
When everyone’s offering great service, do your guests then value or consider your service as a differentiator?
This week l had the experience of going to a local motor registry office… prior experiences were an experience in helplessness and humiliation as a public
(potentate) servant threw my "wait" around.
Things have since changed, today customers have the option of rating their service experience at an exit rating machine.
The arising question: when great service is no longer a differentiator what can one implement as a competitive counter move… the answer
Delivering Exceptional Experiences!
Everything can be copied yet within the 4 walls of a business one can create and own a unique customer’s experience that delivers exception and in the process success. Try it!
Shattering the Glass Myth: 3 Flaws that no one talks about
There isn't a bar or restaurant that doesn't use glass of some type to serve alcoholic beverages.
Glass is our trusty partner... the reliable vessel we hope to repeatedly serve and consistently deliver portion control for beverages... or so we think!
In many instances glass is more an act of faith, equivalent to the expectation that a grocer’s scale or petrol pump is accurate and the value we've paid for is what we’re really receiving.
The glass myth is not a question of glass importers or distributors deliberately misleading the hospitality industry, it's more about under-educating users. The outcome of the issues is that millions of restaurants and bars are unwittingly over-serving/ over pouring alcohol, collectively costing billions of $... yet no one says a word!
THE 3 FLAWS
- Act of Faith - The volumes you think you’re buying are approximates
- Factory marked plimsoll lines or volume level measures on beer and wine glassware are mainly guesses.
- That Oz and/or Metric conversions are rounded up or down.
Every mL or fraction of an Oz over served may cost little on a serve by serve basis yet multiplied tens of thousands of times weekly, monthly and yearly… it adds up!
ACT OF FAITH
Glass is made in large moulds, whereby thick molten glass is high pressured into a mould…during this process the glass will unevenly fill the mould’s internal cavity due to the manufacturing process. At times, there will be fairly large discrepancies in volumes representing 3-5% difference in the advertised volume designation attached to that glass!
To see the results of this issue line up 10-12 of the same volume glasses made by the same manufacturer… check bowl thicknesses at the bottom of each bowl, glass heights and glass diameters... see any differences?
Of course every production run will produce differences or tolerances within each batch and different production runs.
Whilst statistical averages from the manufacturer may indicate volume conformity over millions and millions of units, as we know from the “Claw of Averages”... the greater the number of glass units tested the lower the volume variations appear to be however, the small amount of glass units used in a bar or restaurant the difference in volume inaccuracy increases as the quantity of glass is comparably low.
PLIMSOLL LINES MARKINGS
A line measure means that a glass has a designation line, marked somewhere on the bowl of the glass to approximate where the desired or designated volume level is. Every market has different volume requirements and therefore the lines should be adjusted up or down, by the manufacturer however that may not always be the case.
Above or below the line… Depending where a server stands in comparison to the glass, the line of the glass will appear differently (this is called parallax error)... stand at the same height as the glass and the volume line will probably correspond to the marked line. Look down on the glass or look up at the glass and the line appears different. When one pours into a glass slowly and deliberately a server can hit the line... but given the speed bars and restaurants run at how practical is that! Throw into the equation parallax error... then you’ve got a potential over-pouring issue!
VOLUME CONVERSIONS
Glass made in Europe is mainly designed to suit metric volumes, local jurisdiction... send the same glasses to the US or Canada the volumes are approximated into Oz, of course there is a difference between US and Canadian Oz’s.
The US use US Oz and in Canada, Imperial Oz’s... each with minor differences 1 Oz/3 0mL approx… in real terms US Ounce is 29.57mL and Canadian Ounce is 29.41mL. Glasses made in the US are made to US volume amounts, converted into mL’s.
So depending on which country the glass is made there will be differences in the actual advertised volumes due to metric/ounce conversions.
WHY IS UNDER EDUCATION GOOD FOR YOU?
When the customer (you) doesn’t understand the ramifications of inaccurate glasses to profitability and consistency on the bottom line, then distributor/manufacturers will never be held to account. They’ll continue doing what they’ve always done… you!
When customers demand better, at some point of time manufacturers will listen and do!
SO WHAT TO DO?
- Speak to your distributor.
- Measure and account for beer, wine and spirits shortages against POS records/inventory control, when you’re trying to find where possible discrepancies live, and inaccurate glassware may be the culprit.
- Buy an accurate measure or pour test kit to randomly check glassware volumes delivery by delivery for consistency… then decide what tolerance levels you’ll accept... reject glasses that do not conform or if you can increase your selling prices accordingly.
Oh yes one more thing!
Want to save a buck or two and buy cheaply made glasses... then consider this: what may be saved in upfront costs, may be lost quickly as these glasses tend to be made to a price not made for accuracy.
Ultimately you pay for what you get!
ASIAN TIGERS: THE GREAT GRANDCHILDREN OF PROHIBITION ROAR!
There’s a quiet revolution, it’s a silent tsunami of talent gathering force and if not careful will sweep the arrogant and complacent away!
What we’re referring to is the explosion of knowledgeable bartenders from all parts of South East Asia (SEA), now seeking greater experience and new homes in the developed cocktail markets of the world.
Photo credit: Antonio Lai - Quinary Hong Kong
Significant investment by liquor companies over the last 5-8 years in training, outreach, competition and ambassadors has transformed the marketplace to equip a new breed of passionate SEA bartenders with knowledge and skills... what they now seek is wider experience, maybe at your expense!
Sadly many SEA countries are poor… bartending, mixology and cocktail culture has been for many a way out of poverty and hardship as individuals leap frog futures with no horizons, to land on professions with endless opportunity!
Successful SEA bartenders build and support their families and local communities... funding education, housing and other worthy endeavours, with their success brings hope, safety and smiles to those at home!
Unencumbered by arrogance, a poor work ethic, lack of respect, this cohort appreciates everything. It may very well be that Asian culture is better suited to providing superior hospitality experiences to help, serve and transform thirsty and hungry guests sitting patiently throughout the developed world!
Powered by emotional and economic drivers that many western bartenders fail to understand… the new breed are eager for success; ready for the challenges and rewards that hospitality brings!
The future impact on bartenders in other countries is yet to be felt! But let's be very clear, complacency will be rocked as the competition gets decidedly harder, more willing and infinitely more flexible!
Locals not at the top of their game may one day be felled by the Great Grandchildren of Prohibition; beware the crouching tigers ready to pounce!
KITCHENS VS BARS: THE STORY OF WATCHED VS WASTED
The kitchen and bar, in a modern hospitality business, operationally speaking pull in different directions, creating a paradigm rather than a clearly defined singularity of purpose and outcome!
This paradigm we refer to is a tug of war created unknowingly between the Kitchen/Bar.
The contrast boils down to:
“What’s WATCHED in the kitchen tends to be WASTED in the bar”.
The WATCH versus WASTE paradigm pivots around 2 different philosophies each altering individual operational imperatives, training and arising metrics.
Kitchens are tremendously expensive enterprises, with tight margins. Produce, protein and labour costs are finely balanced in an economic pas de deux, whereby the slightest hiccup, mis-costing, mis-portioning may very well blow any profit on a meal out of the water!
Bars seemingly operate differently: what costs so little per serve/shot is sold at very high multiples, requiring far less time and energy to produce a profitable result.
Given the economics, management is very focused on closely watching what’s valued the most… things which are undervalued are more likely to be taken for granted and wasted!
The issues between the Kitchen and Bar Operations can be broadly contained to 6 key differences:
- Chefs tend to be formally trained (scientifically) at culinary schools, whereas bar/beverage people tend to learn on the job.
- Structure, measurement, precision are vital to operating a profitable kitchen. Consistency is the outcome sought... yet flip this to a bar and measurement is not critical, drink balance and inconsistency is rife.
- Bars can be notoriously lax compared to strict chef imposed process and controls. A lobster tail goes missing in the kitchen and a wild chef is on the hunt... a bottle of booze goes missing there’s a grunt or huh!
- Kitchens invest in tools which save, assist and control; whereas bar spending is confined to guest facing serve ware. Bar consumables are not compared, cross checked for value, quality and performance; whereas in the kitchen, kitchen consumables are.
- Chefs do inventory daily or multi-times a week, in well run bars this may be done weekly, mostly monthly (if at all).
- Accountability in the kitchen is extremely high... every scrap, drop, grain is watched and accounted for, whereas it’s more laissez faire behind the bar.
If you are an independent or multi-unit operator the news is not all bad as there are specialist inventory control companies such Barmetrics and Bevinco offering intensive on-going management control systems to help.
Compare your kitchen and bar operations... once the analysis is done, it makes sense to impose kitchen discipline in your bar. Try it... what do you have to lose, other than money, inventory and reputation!
5 FATAL FLAWS THAT US CHAIN OPERATORS DON'T ALWAYS GET
The closing of Target recently in Canada is just the most recent example of a US based chain misunderstanding the size, value or opportunity of a foreign market!
Ironically a foreign hospitality operator has a far better chance of operating profitably in the US, than the same US Company trying to operate in a foreign market.
The issues for US Chain Operators can be narrowed down to 5 Fatal Flaws:
1. A Buck is not worth a Dollar
It’s surprising how many people overlook that a US $1 may be worth more or less in another market. A US $10 cocktail in Canada must sell for 25% more purely based on exchange rate values, assuming Canadian input costs and gross margins are the same as the US, which they’re not.
2. Perceived and Received Value
Perceived value in one market may be considered fantastic, yet in another the Received value may be considered meagre. There's a very fine line distinguishing Perceived and Received value.
3. Cost blow-outs compare A.L.Ps (Alcohol, Labour, Produce)
Alcohol - is far cheaper per Oz or mL in the US than almost any other major market in the world... how easy to assume that the cost of alcohol in Canada is the same as that in the US or the UK.
Labour - many US hospitality businesses pay minimum hourly rates yet the costs of the same labour in another country such as Australia, Germany etc. can be 2-5 times more expensive.
Produce - costs are considerably lower in the US compared to other markets... a starter valued at US$9.95 may have to sell for CAN $14.95 just to maintain the same value, margins based on local cost conditions.
4. Unrealistic mandated COGs
Higher COGs outside the US drive operators in other markets to be continuously cost vigilant, looking to drive operational/cost improvement.
In the US a 20% COGs is nominated as the benchmark for managing spirit costs, however in another market that same cost could be 25% or more.
In Australia with double the costs of alcohol with similar retail price points as the US, how can alcohol mandated COGs also be 20%
The answer here is pretty scary, US operators operate on super normal margins i.e. low costs and relatively high price points. For averages to fall down to a 20% COGs , would indicate that either heavy discounting via give-aways, over-pouring, floor tips, or worse are occurring ... these losses are hard to see when hidden in the valley between large profits and low costs.
To uncover untoward losses in the US, we’d suggest reducing COGs mandates to 15-17%, whilst many will baulk at the number, the truth would quickly reveal itself.
To better understand averaging issues, sending businesses broke read "The Claw of Averages" blog here.
5. Ignorance is Arrogance
A failure to do due diligence at the deepest level can account for most of the major blow-outs that either better planning and tighter operational mandates would have eliminated.
International hotel groups tend to find domestic partners when opening in new markets, nevertheless whilst this helps, it may not overcome some of the difficulties flagged above.
Some years ago a US Nightclub Operator opened a large property from scratch in a new country using a local partner, discovering after signing the deal that Alcohol and Labour costs were double that of the US, ouch... the question was asked “How do you guys make money in…?”
There's are no easy ways out of opening up outside the US… suffice to say understanding the 5 Fatal Flaws is a great start to not getting caught.