Waitressing requires communication skills, good memory, balance, and the ability to handle difficult customers. Politeness, knowledge of the menu and drinks, and the ability to lift heavy trays are also important. Tips are a significant part of income.
The most important skill to have as a waitress is the ability to communicate with people in a friendly manner. You must also have a good memory so that you can remember orders and faces. Good balance and the ability to move quickly are other essential waitressing skills. In some cases, you may need to know how to prepare certain cocktails or drinks.
When you work as a waitress, in many cases your income comes from tips left by customers. You need to be friendly and helpful with customers to get them to leave tips. Having the ability to talk to people in the restaurant or bar and learning the names of frequent customers are two other important skills to have. Learning your customers’ names makes them more likely to come back to your restaurant.
Politeness is another essential skill for a cocktail server. Even if a customer is extremely rude to you, you should remain calm and polite to them. Since you are likely to be working with alcohol, you need to know how to handle situations where a customer has had too much to drink or when an underage customer wants to drink.
As a waitress, you also need to have good memory skills. Not only do you need to remember each customer’s drink order long enough to place it, but also who ordered what when delivering cocktails to avoid embarrassment. A good memory also helps to learn the names and faces of regular customers.
As part of the job, carrying trays of drinks to customers in an often crowded area, you need balance, strength and agility to work as a waitress. You want to avoid dropping the tray you’re carrying or spilling a drink on a customer. Trays of liquid-filled glasses can get very heavy; therefore, you must be able to lift a certain amount of weight. If serving food is part of the job, you’ll need to lift trays laden with plates and other dishes.
You also need to be familiar with your establishment’s alcoholic beverages and menu to work as a waitress. If a customer asks what’s in a drink or what’s in a food item, you should be able to tell them easily. In some restaurants, cocktail waitresses may also be responsible for obtaining simple drinks such as bottled beer, draft beer or wine. In other cases, you can mix cocktails yourself.
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