Tricks of the Tipping Trade: Incentivizing to Increase Your Tips
We’re going to talk about my favorite topic today: incentives. Not just any incentives though. The incentives that are experimental, and aren’t overused by all of corporate America. People are surprisingly complacent when it comes to finding ways to get better tips, so that’s what we’ll unpack today.
Tipping is hardly ever updated, but with increasing technology, we really should be easing that friction and taking advantage, rewarding both ourselves and our customers in a reciprocal relationship.
First, we all know what tipping is. But, tipping is different depending on where you visit. If you were to visit America, the unwritten rule is that you tip. As someone working behind the counter, say in a coffee shop, how is it that you earn these tips?
As an employee
We’ve all seen those tipping jars that have made us laugh, and probably pushed you to tip when you may not have otherwise. That’s the beauty of the method of getting someone to laugh. Tapping into humor is a great way to catch someone off guard. Tap into the things that people want to express themselves about.
Humor
This method takes the pressure off of the customer. They are caught off guard and this can reduce the friction of that feeling of this part of the transaction. I would give you some examples, but I’m not funny. Ask your funny friends.
Rivalry
This one I especially like, and am a sucker for. What better way to tap into someone’s emotions than a good ol’ fashioned rivalry? This works for just about any rivalry: sports, TV shows, movies. It would be done by having two jars — one with each team, show, etc.
My tip? Know who is frequenting your store, and use rivalries that they are likely to be involved with.
Technology
This one is especially experimental, and likely won’t be fruitful except that it will tap into a very specific niche. The best part? It’s sort of like investing, AND you can use rivalry in it.
Create QR codes for specific coins / tokens. Use bitcoin, or a cryptocurrency QR code wallet. The rivalry can be within which you use to tip in. Also, people involved in Bitcoin or crypto would jump at the opportunity to support a business utilizing the tech. There just may not be a ton of those people yet, depending on where you live.
To make up for this, those tips you can let sit, and they can fluctuate in value over time depending on the price of bitcoin or the cryptocurrency.
Reward system
This is a little more complex, but it pushes to incentivize more customers as well. On the theme of bitcoin and cryptocurrency, you could do some type of contest every day. I like this one because it pushes there to be more customers on that day.
You should probably save this method for your slowest days.
You could say, whichever coin / token has the highest value (including the price of the current coin / token and the amount tipped), will win. And all of those who tipped in said coin / token get that money split between themselves at the end of the work day.
All of those who tipped in the losing coins / tokens will not get their money back, and this will go to the employees. This way, you reward your employees, reward your customers, and reward the business as it promotes growth, not to mention the virality of doing something so unique.
On Medium tipping
Why do we tip all the time when getting coffee, but practically never when we receive a good read online? It could be because we’re not face to face with the person, so it removes that part of the experience. For me, I’ll just say this.
I like value for value. If you feel like I’m providing value, it makes sense to provide value back. That’s why I never understood people getting upset about paying $1–$5 for a useful app. If it has given them value and helped them, why not return the favor. That’s all I’ll say on that. I guess to be meta, the approach I’ve just taken is appealing to logic or reason, and humanizing me. Okay that’s meta enough. Either way, I appreciate ya even just taking the time to read :)
As an employer
In order to incentivize tipping, businesses could consider offering rewards for frequent customers who tip. For example, customers who tip a certain amount over a certain period of time could receive discounts on their orders, free gifts, or even exclusive access to products or services. Additionally, businesses can also offer loyalty points for each tip given.
This encourages customers to tip more often and encourages them to return to the business in the future. Additionally, businesses should consider utilizing digital tipping programs or apps that make it easier for customers to leave tips.
Finally, businesses should also promote tipping through their social media channels, as this can help to increase visibility and spread the word about the business’ tipping policy. By implementing these strategies, businesses can effectively incentivize tipping and keep customers coming back for more.
The biggest thing to watch out for here is your image. You do not want to be seen as a company that is constantly asking for money.
I had friends work for a company where the owners took all of the tips, AND paid them very little hourly. I stopped going there because of that. If you’re going to implement anything like the above, don’t take any tips from those who are working. I feel like you never should anyway, but that’s just me.
If there are issues of friendliness towards customers, an employer could put into place a reward system for the employee. There could be a reward system for employees who have received exemplary tips. This could include offering additional vacation time, special privileges, or a bonus for those who have achieved a certain amount of tips in a given period. It is important to recognize that tipping is a reflection of the quality of service and to encourage customers to provide feedback which can help to further incentivize those providing the service.
The employer-based incentive programs are a little bit more tricky because you don’t want to take advantage of your employees. If you educate them on these ideas and get their input, an implementation of this may be better well received instead of a ninja launch of the program.
In conclusion, incentivizing tipping can be a great way to show your appreciation for your customers and employees. By offering rewards, discounts, or even cash, you can create a culture of giving that will make employees feel valued and customers more likely to leave a tip. With the right incentives, your business can significantly increase its tipping rate and foster a more positive atmosphere in the restaurant.
