Top 5 Characteristics of High Engagement Taproom Visits

When working with breweries nationwide, we collect data that helps better the level of service and build more meaningful connections. Through this, we wanted to see what the top contributing factors to experiences where taproom staff truly wow the guest. Upon analyzing high engagement experiences, we discovered 5 behaviors that are found in over 96% of these visits.

Higher engagement, deeper connections, higher tabs. These are 3 things we all strive for. It’s easy to generally state these goals, but what attributes are most common in high engagement taproom visits?

Let’s count them down:

#5: Engaging in conversation

• Did the staff engage in conversation with the guest?

• We see this happen on 96.5% of high engagement visits. And to save a few words, we will begin referring to these as HEVs.

#4: A smile, “hello,”, or other welcoming gesture

• Did a brewery employee greet the guest with a smile, “hello,” or other welcoming gesture upon entering?

• We see this happen on 96.7% of HEVs. We also see guests receive the same welcome upon approaching the bar on 99% of HEVs.

#3: Acknowledging guests in a timely manner

• How long after approaching the bar were you greeted?

• On HEVs, guests are greeted within 3 minutes on 97.6% of visits, with 80% occurring within the first 60 seconds.

#2: Thank You

• Did you receive a sincere “thank you” upon leaving the brewery?

• On HEVs, the guest receives a “thank you” on 99.3% of visits

(drum roll)

#1: Ability to answer questions in a knowledgeable manner

• Was the staff able to answer questions in a knowledgeable manner?

• Staff are able to answer questions in a knowledgeable manner on 99.5% of HEVs.

Deep Dive:

I was curious and wanted to see how the above HEVs from 2021-2022 compared to visits from 2017-2020.

We saw a positive increase in nearly every behavior. The only actions that went down, slightly, were offering recommendations (-3.9%), suggesting a flight (-10.7%), and offering a physical menu (-12.2%).

Summary:

Looking at the top 5 attributes of high engagement visits, the ability to answer questions in a knowledgeable manner is present in nearly 100% of them. The other 4 items on this list all are in relation to hospitality and building relationships with guests. At the end of the day, you and your team need to be both personable and possess the ability to educate your guests.

A fun callout:

Staff were 8.3% more likely to encourage beer to go over 2021-2022 than 2017-2020. Excited to see this!

The data was collected for a set of 968 unique taproom visits from April 1, 2021 to November 14, 2022 and 2796 unique taproom visits from February 10, 2017 to February 29, 2022, where the guest classified the level of engagement as high.