Management of time comes easily to some, but for most of us,there never seems to be enough time. Mundane tasks such as cleaning and restocking leach precious time out of our, already, hectic work day. It never fails that a customer will demand your attention when you are really busy. You may find yourself slammed, barely able to keep up and the customer keeps waving you over to engage you in conversation. Being rude is not an option as this is a paying customer. How should you handle this situation?

First, be honest. The best way to get someone to understand your situation is to tell them, point blank, that you are too busy to chit chat. Let them know that if you have a free moment, you will finish the conversation later. If they are just looking for validation or conversation, enlist the nearest customer for help. You might say “I don’t know what to tell you, let’s ask So and So” invite the other to participate in the conversation, then nonchalantly walk away. For most patrons, this will suffice, but there are few people that will keep bugging you. Being rude and hurting the customer’s feelings is seldom a wise choice. As you well know, hurt feelings and alcohol do not mix well.

Just keep explaining that you have a lot of work to do, even though it may not look like it or seem that there would be. If it gets really difficult then find out what the bar rules are about talking to customers. Does the owner allow this, encourage or discourage it. If you know the bar policy, then you can tell the customer the bar policy about talking to customers.

Keep in mind, that an overly talkative customer can, also, mean an over-served customer. Do you know the rules regarding refusing service. Do you have an up to date and Responsible service of alcohol certificate. If not see the RSA online course