6 tips to get more tips!

As more people have less cash (it’s expected that only 5% of consumers in the UK will carry any as soon as 2025) there’s less opportunity to get tips simply by hoping people are keen to rid their pockets of loose change.

However, the good news for hospitality workers is that favourable new legislation and tipping services, such as TipBox, mean that it’s easy to earn tips digitally. More so, it’s worth keeping in mind the following, psychology based methods and ideas to encourage customers to do so…

1. Body language

Smiling is obvious, but positive body language and showing excitement when a customer comes in (remember they’ve chosen to buy from your shop!) truly makes a huge difference to their experience.

2. Make a connection

Once you’ve made a connection, an easy way to build rapport is to grab a customer’s name, and remember it (repeat it back to them straight away will help you remember!). Knowing your customer by name will build an ongoing connection to encourage customers to tip on an ongoing basis.

3. Use verbal mirroring

Repeating a customer’s order back to them can increase tips by 68%+, simply by showing competency and that you’re listening! Actions like this (otherwise known as verbal mirroring) is a proven way to build rapport, and in this setting is a great way to encourage more tips.

4. Complimenting customer orders

Another easy step in the order process to lead more tips? Give a small compliment on what your customer orders; whether it’s mentioning the coffee they’ve ordered is your favourite too or that their choice of sandwich was a good one – get those endorphins going and watch verbal approval turn into tips!

5. Give and get given

Why not encourage customers to collect a loyalty reward or leave samples out near where you collect tips? By giving people the feeling that they themselves are receiving something may well prompt them to leave a tip in return. 

6. Engage & Gamify

Finally, play around with how you enable customers to leave tips Things like choosing a good position for your collection point during the customer journey (i.e. make it easy post purchase when they’ve enjoyed your service) or having fun with the messaging around it (like using a chalk backboard to enable staff to keep things personal) make a big difference. 

Good hospitality is a wonderful thing to experience as a customer, and a wonderful thing to be part of as an employee. Using the above ideas will ensure your customers & your staff alike are being rewarded on both sides of the counter.

If you want to find out more about cashless tipping and how RWRD can help, get in touch with the team here.