Why Every Taproom Visit Needs a "Hello" and "Thank You"
Congratulations! Comparing taproom visits from 2017-2020 to 2021-2022, staff have gotten better at both welcoming guests upon entering and thanking them upon leaving.
As always, little actions like greeting guests serve as strong predictors for how engaging a visit will end up. Staff are an incredible 346% more likely to provide a high engagement visit when a visit begins with a welcoming gesture vs visit where a smile, “hello”, or such gesture doesn’t occur upon a guest entering.
Why a “hello”? It’s your team’s first chance to interact with a guest. Everyone wants to be acknowledged. Begin with a strong impression.
And this engagement translates to dollars.
Looking at 2021-2022 data, guests spend 11.5% more when their visit begins with a greeting upon entering. Additionally, they’re going to tip an average of 4% higher – a small percentage, but it adds up.
While I believe both hellos and goodbyes should be requirements, the financial impact of a goodbye has an implication not present with a hello. A greeting happens before the customer has made a purchase. Depending on the ordering experience, the timing of a “thank you” may be before or after the guest has paid for their visit. Because of this, it is possible that a “thank you” does not impact the total spend, while the act, or lack thereof, of a greeting will always influence total spend.
That being said, guests who receive a sincere “thank you” upon leaving the brewery spend 12.2% more than on visits when this doesn’t happen. They also leave tips 12.3% higher than on visits when this action doesn’t happen. Your guests should never leave without feeling appreciated.
And believe it or not, 1 out of 10 guests still leave a taproom without being thanked. You’re in the hospitality industry and leaving a guest not feeling appreciated isn’t optional. They’ll simply plan there next visit at the brewery down the street.
To further stress the importance of a sincere “thank you,” while it may not always influence the total spend and tip, guests who receive the action are more likely to perceive the visit as high engagement. Guests who receive a sincere “thank you” upon leaving are a wacky 1845% more like to perceive the visit as high engagement vs a visit when it doesn’t happen.
Let’s look at the potential combination of visits: no greeting/no “thank you”, no greeting/“thank you”, greeting, no “thank you”, greeting/”thank you”
No/No visits are the worst. The average No/No visit generates $43.99 vs the average Yes/Yes that generates $52.14 (a near 19% increase). If you had to pick between only greeting a guest upon entering vs thanking them at the end (which you should never consider this dilemma), humorously you should begin the visit with a greeting and leave off the thank you. You’ll see tabs 3.9% higher.
However, it’s Yes/Yes visits that you should always be after. Your staff will also see their tips increase by nearly 10% vs the dreaded no greeting, no “thank you” experiences. Why are we still stressing the importance of both actions? Because nearly 20% of taproom visits don’t include both. 1 out of 5 guests enter without being both welcomed and thanked.
So, what now?
Do not overwhelm your staff with a list of items to focus on. Encourage your taproom need to put extra effort on a single item at a time. This week, ask them to be a little bit more intentional about greeting guests upon entering. This may fall on your host, if applicable, or the first bartender/server point of contact.
Compare the average tab the week before you encouraged them to greet guests more intentionally vs the following. Next week, put the focus on being sure to offer guests a sincere “thank you.”
I look forward to hearing about your progress.
The data was collected froma set of 2244 unique taproom visits from April 1, 2021 to November 14, 2022 and 6362 unique taproom visits from February 10, 2017 to February 29, 2022. Each visit represents an average of 1.9 guests and the total spend includes tip.