Steve DiGioia - Earn More Tips On Your Very Next Shift...Even If Youre a Bad Waiter

Copyright 2013 by Steve DiGioia

All rights reserved. No part of this book maybe reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronicform without permission.

First Edition: February 22, 2013

Printed in the United States of America

Smashwords Edition

ISBN-13: 978-0-9890702-2-5

This ebook is licensed for your personalenjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away toother people. If you would like to share this book with anotherperson, please purchase an additional copy for each reader. Ifyoure reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was notpurchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.comand purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard workof this author.

Dedicated to my wifeMadeline,

for enduring countless hours listening tothe complaints and frustrations from my many years as a hospitalitymanager, and for being the best wife I could have ever askedforshes a pretty good book editor as well.

And to the other two ladies in my life, mydaughters Annmarie & Christine. I could never ask for morejoy.

Why Did I Write This Book?

Why Should I Care If You Earn More Tips?

What I Will Not Teach You.

Magical Table Greeting.

Two Minutes or Two Bites.

Smile I Know You Can Do It.

So What Do You Recommend?

Is There Anything Else I May Get ForYou?

Get That Kid His Mac & Cheese First.

Im a Waiter, Not a Salesman.

Happy Birthday To You.

I Have My Own Stuff To Talk About.

Know Thy Substitutions.

Where Did I Leave That Thing?

My Busboy, My Partner.

Wheres The Nearest Bookstore?

Do They Really Need To Ask For It?

Now Get Outta My Way?

Take My Picture, Please.

Sell The Wine Everytime.

Goodnight My Guest.

Why Do I Keep Referring To The Customer AsGuest?

Do I Really Care About My Guest?

Its a Win Win Situation.

o ver the years Iveknown many waiters; most have had only one thing in mindto earnmore tips! They usually couldnt give a damn about the restaurantor company they worked for, just about their own pocket.

These waiters came in every possiblevariety; the hardworking, studious college kid that was very drivenand worked 6-days a week to put himself through school; thegravelly-voiced divorced mom of 4 grown kids that needed to pay herbills and get her life back on track; the hot chick that thoughther looks, and boobs, was her ticket to fame and fortune and thatbeing a waiter was only a temporary setback for her; and theoverweight nerdy-guy that really couldnt relate well with hiscustomers, continually came in late and never got a close shave butalways found time to play dungeons & dragons.

They all had one thing in common, they wanted toearn as much in tips on each shift as they possibly could! And whynot?

The college kid had textbooks that cost over $100each and dad didnt have the finances to pay for his collegearchitect classes. The gravelly-voiced mom was still smoking 2packs of cigarettes a day, buying her tabloid magazines and tryingto make the rent each month.

The hot chick was always hanging out in the newestand trendiest bars and clubs hoping to be spotted by some celebrityor talent scout, so she needed to be dressed in all the topdesigned duds.

The overweight nerdy-guy, well I didnt know whatthe heck he really needed the money for. I guess those video gamesand cheese puffs are getting too expensive.

Either way their main focus was on their needs inthe short term, never on the long term. They never thought of whatthey could do differently today to make their tomorrow better. And,of course, they couldnt care about the long term success of therestaurant either.

They didnt realize that if they took more than justa passing interest in being a better waiter, or bartender, thatthey will get to their REAL goal faster. The goal of earningmore tips.

Note: During this book I will usually referonly to waiters since this is my main focus but much of theinformation I will give you will just as easily pertain to abartender, as well, and a hostess; a busboy; a food runner. You getthe idea.

So after many years as a manager in the hospitalitybusiness, constantly teaching the companys S.O.P.s to the newrecruits, dolling out disciplinary forms, making sure you set thesilverware correctly, checking your salt and pepper shakers andcovering your butt when you screw-up or call out sick at the lastminute, I thought I will finally look at things from the waiterspoint of view.

How can you make more money in tips right away, andeven on your very next shift?

Question: So whats the main motive of awaiter?

Answer: Move them in and out and hope I get agood tip. But Im not gonna work too hard for that.

If I were a waiter, why would I care about thecompanys payroll? Why should I care about the chefs food cost?How am I supposed to remember all the specials we have today? Anddont even tell me that the newest hotshot manager wants to shrinkmy section from 6 tables down to 3. Of course I will get pissedoff, how am I supposed to make money with only 3 tables?

But you see Im a little sneaky, I have my ownmotive as well. I think I can kill two birds with one stone as theysay. I think Ive come up with a few sure-fire ways that any waitercan earn more tips, even if they are a bad waiterand still takecare of the interests of the company as well.

G ood question. As amanager of a hotel or restaurant, we dont pay your tips, thecustomer does. We pay you a small hourly wage and you keep the tipsyou earn. If you get stiffed thats not my problem, its yours.

The law in most states is that you as theserver must pay the tax on the tips you receive and areexpected to receive, whether you get stiffed or not. In manystates, the restaurant will make you pay the tax on tips you didntreceive, based on your total sales, and will even deduct it fromyour check.

So I do have certain paperwork I need to doto track all of this, but whether you get a 20% cash tip or 15% puton the check when the customer paid by credit card it is not myconcern.

Depending where in the country you work, thehourly rate of an a la carte waiter will vary greatly from aslittle as $2.00 per hour to maybe a little over $4.00. This isbecause our all-caring government allows a business that employstipped personnel to be paid less than the federal minimum wage.Theres much more that goes into this but since Im not versed intax-law mumbo jumbo, Ill leave that discussion to the experts.

So regardless, its in your best interest asa waiter to earn more tips. So how do you do this?

And why should I care?

I care because a waiter that is making agood living is usually a happy employee.

Happy employees usually do a better job.Employees that do a better job allow the business to be moresuccessful. Businesses that are more successful make more money,have a longer profitable business cycle and usually pay managerslike me more money as well.

So its a win-win situation for all. You asthe waiter get to make lasting memories for the customers that walkin our doors and we all get paid.

You as a waiter get to line your pocketswith cash and the business sees repeat guests. Repeat guests thatbring in their friends and family to eat and drink here too.