Training tips for top pints
Make sure your staff are trained to appreciate beer, market it to your customers and serve top-quality pints by:
1. Arranging a staff visit to your local brewery. Staff can see the production process at first hand and learn the difference between types and styles of beer.
2. Holding an informal staff tasting whenever you introduce a new beer into the pub. Staff can learn about its manufacture, how to keep it and serve it, what tastes and flavours customers can expect from it and what foods it complements.
3. Always ask your supplier to provide tasting notes for their products and then test your staff on them offer a small prize to make it worth their while.
4. Invite an expert in to your pub, for example the head brewer from your local brewery, to run a beer-tasting event for staff and customers.
5. Offer your team basic training in cellar management and beer service (see box, right). Contact organisations like the BII or Cask Marque for advice on formal qualifications you might find useful. Many brewers now offer advice, material and in-pub courses to ensure the perfect serve.
6. Train your staff to ask customers what they thought of their pints. New ideas for products or possible problems with your cellar or service are almost always picked up by the customer first
7. Ask your supplier to send you branded glassware for the beers they supply and train barstaff to always use the correct branded glassware for each beer. Research shows that consumers will pay more and buy more if a product is well-presented.
8. And finally, remember that the customer is always right even when you suspect they are wrong! Ask your team to operate a "no questions asked" replacement policy if the customer doesn't like the beer, simply offer them a new pint.
