Spirits training: Pub case study

"We serve a small but quality range and try to focus on an offer that can be made well by an experienced bartender to a new recruit," says Ria Dannan, training and recruitment manager for the group, which operates 20 pubs in London and the South East.

"As with all our products, we like our staff to know enough to make recommendations and have a bit of banter with a customer about what we sell. Often, this is about offering tastes or it can be as simple as saying that they love it themselves."

Training is done in-house with assistance from suppliers.

In their first week of work, staff are partnered with a buddy, a more experienced bartender. They are also given a training pack featuring information on spirits and the basics of their job.

New recruits will also attend a day-long training course within their first month, called The Geronimo Way. Included in the final test are questions on spirits service.

The training continues on an ongoing basis. Fifteen-minute 'Sunday Communion' training sessions on Geronimo's busiest day of the week task staff with tasting new and unusual products. A recent example saw the team pair rums with sticky toffee pudding in a bid to drive sales of rum as an after-dinner spirit.

Staff are invited to join the monthly tasting evenings of the 'Geronimo Love Inn Club'. These often include spirits tastings.

Dannan says the best way to engage staff is to give them incentives and to make training enjoyable. "What really works is when the staff get freebies - it's a surefire way to make sure they will recommend that product across the bar," she says.

"Having fun with products and the confidence to recommend something is the best way to be interactive with your customers."