It Starts with a Hello: The Crucial Role of a Timely Greeting in the Taproom
In today’s craft beverage landscape, success isn’t just about expanding your audience; it's also about maximizing the value of your current customers. By encouraging higher tabs, generating bigger tips, and increasing visit frequency, your staff are your greatest assets. They have the ability to elevate a taproom visit from average to exceptional. One of the first steps your staff can take to create a memorable experience is by greeting guests.
There are certain little aspects that play a big role in successful taproom visits, and first impressions are crucial. In fact, a previous study on the top 5 factors driving high-engagement visits found that acknowledging guests promptly upon arrival ranked #3 on the list.
While being greeted within 1 minute versus 3 minutes may not seem like a big deal to the guest in the moment, that initial greeting often sets the tone for the rest of the visit. For today’s study, we examined how taproom guests responded to the question, “How long after approaching the bar were you greeted?” When a guest is greeted in less than 1 minute, they are 46% more likely to perceive their overall visit as high engagement. If the greeting takes more than 3 minutes, that likelihood drops to just 14%.
Guests who are greeted in less than a minute are 229% more likely to perceive their visit as highly engaging compared to those greeted after 3 minutes.
This validates Paco Underhill’s take in Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping. Underhill writes, “When people wait up to about a minute and a half, their sense of how much time has elapsed is fairly accurate. Anything over ninety or so seconds, however, and their sense of time distorts—if you ask how long they’ve been waiting, their honest answer will usually be a very exaggerated one. If they’ve waited two minutes, they’ll say it has been three or four.”
Not only are these guests more likely to have a more engaging experience, but they’re also more likely to return sooner. Guests greeted within 1 minute are 48% more likely to return within a week than those greeted after 3 minutes. Looking at the two weeks following the initial visit, guests greeted promptly are still 35% more likely to return.
Greeting a guest in a timely manner increases their lifetime value.
And those guests who aren’t acknowledged for 3 or more minutes? They’re 142% more likely to not recommend/return based on that experience
Your training tip of the day:
Always, always, always greet your guest upon arrival.
You don’t need to have a beer in their hands right away, but after they approach the bar or are seated at a table, take a moment to acknowledge them.
Got a line of 20 deep on a busy Saturday? A simple, “Hey there, we appreciate you being with us today. We’ll be with you shortly” goes a long way. Let them know you care. Acknowledgment is essential.
Bonus selling point for your staff: Tips will be higher.
The data was collected from a set of 1326 unique taproom visits from November 16, 2022 to February 27, 2024. Each tab represents 2 guests and includes tax and tip.