Drinking with Strangers
This past weekend, my family and I took our first overnight getaway in fifteen months. In selecting our destination, it had to meet the following criteria.
State Park nearby
Small town
Brewery close by
And while not included on my list, you wouldn’t believe how hard it is to find a place to stay in an area that meets those requirements. The world is beginning to creep towards a new-new normal, and we’re all craving adventure. One thing I didn’t realize was how much I missed talking to strangers.
Over the pandemic, I’ve built friendships based on Zoom and separated by thousands of miles. These conversations filled the social void; however, despite acknowledging how much I missed seeing people face to face, I failed to realize the extent.
As brewery owners and managers, you were forced to find new ways to engage with your guests to maintain their relationships (and ultimately their dollar). You never stopped being experts at talking to strangers. Nothing against you, but your interactions with guests are only a small portion of the interactions taking place at your taproom. The more spontaneous and organic encounters are those happening between your guests. You were interacting out of necessity.
It was unnecessary interactions that weren’t happening.
I don’t know about you, but much of the past year I actively avoided talking to strangers. An awkward experience at the grocery store? Nope, not happening, my mask and 6 feet of distance will keep me safe. That potential opportunity, as a guest, to ask someone else how their beer is? Nah, the excessive space between us prevents us from even considering this. We have grown to dare I say, appreciate the isolation from people we don’t know. But is this good for business?
No.
During our getaway to Sperryville, Virginia, my wife, son, and I met another family who had experienced a near identical pandemic. Few friends, few family, lots of remote working, non-existent travel. Yet here we were in the middle of nowhere, at a beautiful brewery, enjoying beers outdoors - together. Sure, we had some distance between us, but the conversations we had were both validating and comforting. We shared challenges from the past year, strategies for success, and thoughts on the path moving forward. This sounds awfully like some of the best conversations I’ve had with many of you through the pandemic, but these conversations weren’t about business, they were about us as people. I felt human again.
You’ve done a fantastic job of maintain your relationships with guests to survive, but how is your brewery re-facilitating connections between guests? The pandemic essentially removed the communal aspect of visiting a taproom. By safely encouraging and facilitating these conversations between strangers, you can better create an overall welcoming environment.
How can you do this?
By design - Offer places to sit closer together – With most states no longer having any social distancing requirements in place, you now can bring back your German beer hall tables, cram 20 willing guests at the same table, and hope they strike up a few conversations. Once you reopen your bar seating, the act of “forcing” people to sit side by side will bring back a sense of normalcy. People are craving interaction and more communal seating will allow your guests to better connect.
By default – During the pandemic, the average party size was 3.02 guests. In “normal” times before March 2020, the average brewery visit represented 3.21 guests. A minor difference, but this results in about 20 extra people for every 100 parties. People will be a tad more likely to bump into one another.
By engaging with multiple guests are once – I say all the time that you should treat each guest as a unique experience; however, as masters behind the bar, you’re fully capable of greeting and conversing with multiple guests at the same time. Facilitate conversations between guests over their love for beer or other general interests. Introduce them to one another (“Paul, have you met Kiesha before?”). Be a host. Be an entertainer. Create that Cheers vibe and get the whole place excited to be in your presence!
By hosting social events – Hosting an event can create interactions between guests in a couple different ways. Events often draw larger crowds, and larger crowds result in a greater probability of strangers bumping into each other. Events also can be social by design. Trivia night? Game nights? Live music? Post-pandemic speed dating? Dare I say beer fests? These events encourage interaction and/or conversation.
Why will it benefit you to encourage relationships between your guests?
Larger parties hang out longer. The more people involved in a conversation, the more time they will spend in your taproom.
2. Larger parties spend more. The larger the party, the more time they spend, and the more beer they buy. The data below represents the number of guests in a party that came together. However, I believe the same impact occurs when guests form unexpected parties with fellow taproom goers.
3. Conversation. When your guests talk to one another, they’re going to talk at least a bit about your brewery. Let them bond of a shared love of beer.
4. Memories. Your guests will appreciate the memories they create in your taproom. These positive experiences will encourage them to recommend your brewery and return sooner.
It is already your goal to create a positive and welcoming space. This starts at the top, runs through your staff, and radiates on to everyone who encounters your brand. Let this continue to radiate from guest to guest. Taprooms provide a community where not only do your guests form a relationship with the brewery staff, but also with one another over the shared love they have for what you’ve successfully created.
By creating friendships between your guests, you are facilitating an added level of stickiness for your taproom. People like to buy beer from people they like, and arguably more important, they like to drink it with people they enjoy spending time with.
I’m looking forward to getting back out there even more and bonding with even more strangers. Although I’m not quite ready to let someone else take a sip from my beer…