Okay, yesterday I said we’d talk about the best tool any bartender can have in their arsenal, so here goes…….
It’s the art of listening. Simple.
The people who sit at your bar are by nature, social able creatures. If they only wanted to talk to each other, they’d sit at a table. Sure, they’re there to see you, talk to you, but not to listen to you prattle on about everything. You must listen to everyone, find out what they want to talk about, what their interests are. AND, (notice this is a big “and“) since no on this earth knows everything, (and I've met plenty who think they do) don’t pretend that you do, you’ll just come across as phony. A conversation is an activity that involves all parties, not just the bartender rambling on. Ask questions, after all, every conversation is a learning opportunity, it’s a give and take, an exchange of information.
Let’s use last night as an example….two gentlemen came in, and after perusing the bottles on the back of the bar, both ordered Dewar's scotch on the rocks, pretty generic. After ordering, they realized that at the other end of the bar, we have about 30 different varieties of scotch. This piqued their interest…so I handed them the list of all the scotch we carry. After listening for a few minutes I realized that these gentlemen were scotch connoisseurs.
Quite frankly, I don’t know shit about scotch, (other than the fact that I don’t care for it) but these guys did. So I took the opportunity to ask few questions and listen to what they had to say. They were a wealth of information! And now I know a lot more about scotch, than I did two days ago. Had I pretended to know something I didn’t, these two would have seen through me in a New York minute.
People love to share what they know! Learn to love to listen! It’s one of the best educations you give yourself. Life is a never ending process of learning!
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