WHAT MAKES A FLAIRBAR WORK? (Part 3)

Good question… in the last two months we took a closer look at how some establishments have accomplished this. A recipe for success that we are now sharing with you.

Lets recap… which brings us to our “5 steps towards a successful Flairbar”. Take this very seriously or it will come back and make things tremendously difficult for you later. First you have a great location and put the right people in the right places and then you can work on these…

5 STEPS TOWARDS A SUCCESFUL FLAIRBAR

Picking up where we left off last month on our Forth Step… “Solid, Efficient Working Flair & Good Drinks”. What I hate to see is a new Flair bartender taking way too long to make a drink because his/her Flair sequences are way too long. Keep your working Flair short and sweet and don’t sacrifice service for entertainment. Remember to use Flair for entertaining your guests more then to put the focus on you. Sometimes we underestimate how important it is to take care of our guests. There are many areas and topics of guest service but the short and sweet version is “Make your guests feel special and appreciated and they will keep coming back to you rather then someone else”.

The second part of this is “Good Drinks”. What makes a good drink? Is it the taste, color, aroma, consistency, originality, price… maybe. What I suggest is stand out from your competition even more and give the Flair bartenders the freedom to do more. Let them come up with a specialty drink menu. Trust them, they probably know what they are doing. Flair Bartenders care a great deal about their craft and part of that is making good quality drinks. Let your cocktails stand out at your establishment by not only the way they are made but what they are as well. Offer your guests something else that no one else can. If they like it they will be back for more and guess what… they can only get it at your venue. Mixology and Flair bartending are going together more hand in hand lately (pardon the pun) so why not showcase that aspect of Flair bartending as well?

That brings us to our last and Fifth Step…“Networking”. You never know who is sitting at your bar at any given time. Talk to your guests and find out who they are. Get to know them and what they do. Give them your cell number (we will get into that in a future issue) . Perhaps you have a regular who sells real estate and another one of your regulars is looking to buy a house. They can both benefit from talking to each other… so do just that. Introduce them to one another and get them talking. If you can help someone in ways others can’t or wouldn’t take the time out to normally, they will genuinely be thankful for it and build a trust and friendship that could grow into other things as well. “If your guests believe you truly care about them and not just there money, they will keep coming back because they feel accepted and appreciated”. They might even be able to help you later on or tell there friends about you and that may spark something as well. Worse case they will be repeat guests at your bar and repeat revenue.

Don’t forget to go to other establishments and forms of business to network and promote as well. A great tool for this is business cards saying where you work and “Free Drink” or “No Cover” cards that you can pass out to potential guests to get them in the door… and once there in the door you should be a good enough bartender to keep them coming back for more. Now you have a whole new clientele to network with. Eventually you will know at least one person when someone needs something… and the cycle just continues and gets bigger along the way.

We will wrap up “What Makes a Flairbar Work?” with that. We can’t give away too many secrets too soon. Until then soak in the knowledge and use it. What will it cost you? A little bit of time and effort… just think of the potential rewards. If you are interested in Flair Bartending and would like to know more about our services you can check out www.barwars.info and to learn more about our sport of Flair Bartending check out the official monthly magazine of our sport www.flairbar.com .

To Flair & Friends,

-ROB HUSTED-