I always joke that I don’t have a job; I have a bunch of stuff that needs to get done, and that I enjoy doing. There is something to be said about allowing the love of your work transcend your customer interactions. The result, in my experience, is that visible passion for one’s work transforms the meaningless supply-and-demand transaction into an artful (and appreciated) dialog.

Drinks at our bar take a little longer to produce. In an instant-gratification-oriented society, this creates a bit of a challenge to the traditional model. Yes, I can shake while I stir, and I can tweak the bar ergonomics to ensure that every motion is as efficient as it can be, but I cannot trim down the required shake/stir time or the time it takes to properly greet a customer. In this dance performance, urgency is apparent, but the urgency is directed toward a quality guest experience, as opposed to quantity output. Speed is confined within the parentheses of true service. I believe that this dance is intuitive to all of us as social, communal beings. We recognize what it means to be human when we see care being put into something. Care is a powerful Zen wand, partially because it cannot be faked. Suddenly, I am not just a means to an end sloshing a drink into a glass; I am a person who actually cares to make the customer experience positive. When you take time to care about customers, they care about you in return. They pay more attention to what you are doing, and acknowledge your dedication and hard work. Care functions as a reciprocal, service conduit that can buy valuable time without generating impatience.

Does this approach limit our sales on a nightly basis? Yes. Is this atmosphere going to appeal to everyone? Certainly not. We are invested in developing long-term relationships with our clientele through the delivery of a consistent, elevated service experience. We are fast but never furious, busy without being frantic, and jobless as opposed to unemployed. Cheers!

Share your thoughts on the importance of caring in the service environment!