An Introduction To Bartender vs. Customer

As an exceptional bartender, you always want to provide good customer service – but you will run into some issues. Your goal is to use your critical thinking skills (soft skills), and either solve the problem, suggest an alternative, or come up with a “pat” answer.

Q. Will this section help me get a bartending job?

A. Absolutely. This is a fun section, and you’re going to learn how to respond to real-life difficult situations and customer service problems that pop up for any bartender.

Q. Will the interviewer ask me about any of these situations involving customers?

A. Again, absolutely. An interviewer could take one, or many, of the questions/scenarios that we’re going to go over in these 4 lessons in this section and turn them into an interview question. I’ll do my best to provide solutions and answers to all of these situations.

It’s a give and take. You do your best to provide a great customer experience – but you MUST help the bar owner stay profitable. And out of legal troubles. There are going to be situations where you have to make a hard choice: Give the customer what they want – or follow house policy. I’m going to do my very best to prepare you for these situations.

Important: Many interviewers will ask questions about some of these scenarios. For example, “Tell me, Mark, what would you do when a customer returns to the bar with his drink and says that there is no alcohol in it?” You better have an appropriate answer, and I’ll hook you up here with an answer to this question – and more.

Yes, Customers Can Sometimes Be a Pain In the….

This section, “Bartender vs. Customer,” is one of the most important sections in the entire course. And, I know that many of you have skipped ahead to this section because it’s so interesting. And, many times, just plain funny.

This is where I lay out some of the most common questions and scenarios that working bartenders run across. Some of this stuff is very serious, but most of things I discuss will make you laugh – or ask, “What is this customer thinking?”

This section has four lessons:

• This Introduction Lesson
• Mind-Boggling Questions Your Customers Will Ask
• Common Scenarios (And Solutions)
• Things Bartenders Should Never Do Or Say

I know that some of you have run across YouTube videos, or read some articles on other websites, about funny or disturbing customer/bartender interactions. I watch them also. They’re interesting and funny, I must admit.

But what they’re lacking is solutions to these issues and situations. That’s where I come in. In the next three lessons, I’m going to provide you with:

• Common questions or scenarios you will run across during your shift
• Why that customer is asking that question
• How you SHOULD respond to the question/scenario
• Things you should never do or say