Cornell Report Challenges Managers to Help Servers Boost Tips

A new report published by The Center for Hospitality Research at the Cornell Hotel School gives restaurant managers useful ideas to help their staff earn larger tips. “Savvy managers who share this information with their servers can reap paybacks in many ways,” said report author and Cornell professor Mike Lynn.

"Research and common sense suggest that good tips mean a satisfied staff, which leads to improved service and reduced staff turnover," Lynn said. "When tips rise, everyone benefits."

The report cites 14 proven ways for servers to bring in larger tips:
. Introduce themselves by name,
. Lean down next to the table when introducing themselves,
. Smile broadly,
. Wear unusual ornaments or items of clothing,
. Entertain customers with jokes or puzzles,
. Practice suggestive selling,
. Repeat customers' orders back to them,
. Touch customers briefly on the arm or shoulder,
. Forecast good weather,
. Write "Thank You" on the check,
. Draw pictures on the check,
. Use tip trays embossed with credit card logos,
. Call customers by name,
. Give customers after-dinner candies.

Lynn said that managers should encourage these behaviors and has written a training manual to help them do so. This manual, titled Mega Tips: Scientifically Tested Techniques to Increase Your Tips, is designed to inform servers about the psychology of tipping and specific techniques to increase tips. It is available free of charge from the Cornell Center for Hospitality Research via the CHR website. To access Mega Tips, please click on: http://www.hotelschool.cornell.edu/chr/research/tools.html.

To access the complete report for managers, titled Increasing Servers' Tips: What Managers Can Do and Why They Should Do It, please click on: http://www.hotelschool.cornell.edu/chr/research/centerreports.html.

ABOUT THE CENTER FOR HOSPITALITY RESEARCH
A unit of the Cornell School of Hotel Administration, The Center for Hospitality Research (CHR) sponsors groundbreaking research designed to improve practices in the hospitality industry. The CHR also publishes the award-winning hospitality journal, the Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly. Under the lead of CHR's 34 corporate supporters, experienced scholars work closely with business executives to discover new insights into strategic, managerial and operational issues. To learn more about CHR and its projects, visit http://www.chr.cornell.edu/.

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Date Listed: 2004-04-05

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