12 Scientifically Tested Ways to Earn More Tips
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Loading... - Oliver Holm
- 25 Jul 2022
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Logic says that the size of a server’s tip should be based on the quality of the service provided, but research shows that quality rarely has anything to do with it. As it turns out, other — seemingly irrelevant — factors make much more of a difference. This article will show you how to boost your take-home pay with a few tricks gleaned from behavioral research.
1. Introduce yourself
Customers tend to tip friendly servers more than they do less friendly servers. A proper introduction makes you seem polite and friendly and can boost your earnings. In a study of customers enjoying a Sunday brunch at Charley Brown’s Restaurant, simply saying “Good morning.
2. Use positive body language
One of the most effective ways to look friendly is to smile. It also increases tips. This was demonstrated at a cocktail lounge, where a large smile more than doubled a waitress’ average tips. Greater proximity is also associated with greater liking and, potentially, income. A study carried out where tipping is unusual because the service charge is included in the bill — found that standing closer to customers while taking the food order encouraged more tipping and boosted the average tip size. However, these results should be viewed with caution; different cultures have different attitudes to personal space and Southern Europeans generally maintain smaller personal spaces than do North Americans. A potentially less intrusive way to boost tips is by squatting down next to the table to take a customer’s order. Wait staff at two restaurants increased their tips from 15 percent of the bill to 18 percent when they squatted during their first visit to the table.
3. Employ the power of touch
Casually touching customers has been shown to increase the amount of money they spend, including on tips. In a study conducted at two restaurants, customers left a 12 percent tip when they were not touched, a 14 percent tip if they were touched once on the shoulder for about a second and a half, and a 17 percent tip if they were touched twice on the palm of the hand for about half a second each time. Another study carried out in a bar produced similar results: customers who were briefly touched on the arm by the waitress when she took their order were 2.5 times more likely to leave a tip. Casual touch increases the tips of both male and female servers, and often goes unnoticed.
4. Remember that presentation is everything
Presentation also makes a difference — for waitresses. In a study of restaurant customers, male patrons gave between 14.6 and 26.1 percent more to waitresses who wore red — a color that has been shown to increase the physical attractiveness of both women and men. Similarly, another study found that more men left tips if the waitress wore makeup, and that the tips were also larger. Red lipstick is especially effective.Wearing some kind of hair ornamentation, such as a flower or some kind of hair barrette,might be even more beneficial as it seems to increase tips from both men and women.
5. Repeat the order
A large body of research has shown that people like it when others subtly imitate them — so-called mimicry. At a restaurant — where tipping is not the norm — repeating a customer’s order was shown to boost both the number of people tipping and the size of the gratuity. When the waitress indicated that she understood the order and said something like “Coming up!” she was tipped 52 percent of the time, but when she repeated the order, 78 percent of her customers tipped her, and the average tip was double in size. Read More...
