Tips: An Old and New Tradition
How tip-based pay would revolutionize service

Ever leave a tip? Sure you did. And most of the time you leave a tip, it’s based on the service or the quality that you perceive. But these days, tipping has changed. Everyone seems to have their hand out begging for more money. If you go into a Starbucks, there’s the plastic bin by the cash register that’s always filled to some degree with change and a few bucks. What the workers are saying is: “My company doesn’t pay me enough, so I need to beg you for more.”

Now I know this seems a bit harsh. But the bottom line is, the company that employs them is making huge profits while their front-line people practically starve. People on the front lines are always the lowest-paid. I wish I understood it. But I don’t. No, I’m not a socialist, but I am a pragmatist.

But suppose everybody on the front lines of service had to earn tips.

Ever go to an airport? If you check a bag, you go to a skycap. Skycaps work for tips. I know this, and I tip liberally as a result. The skycaps at my home airport in Charlotte, North Carolina are the best. They’re friendly. They’re helpful. And they don’t have a jar out. They do the same excellent job – whether they’re tipped or not.

But suppose everybody in the airport had to work for tips – people at the ticket counter, the flight attendants, and the people in baggage claim. At the end of a day, they’d go home with no money, griping about the lousy tippers at the airport, never thinking that maybe their poor attitude contributed to their negligible income.

At the root of a tip you’ll find friendliness, helpfulness and service. But you have to have the desire to serve and display the pride that goes along with giving great service.

The doorman at a hotel is friendly because he works on tips. The bellman is friendly because he works on tips. So why doesn’t the front desk clerk work on tips?

If you serve like you’re working for tips, your reward will be much more than financial. It will be personal fulfillment. That’s the tip you give yourself. But the best tip of all that you can give to others is a kind word of thanks, or a compliment. They love hearing it from customers because they probably never hear it from their boss.

Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible, and Customer Satisfaction is Worthless, Customer Loyalty is Priceless. He can be reached at 704/333-1112 or e-mail to salesman@gitomer.com.

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