Would you hire your last waiter or waitress?

@Vickie, thanks so much for pointing out the details on my header.  I am glad to know it shows up better!

@Erica, I agree.  I have thought about hiring some of the wait staff and bartenders in a Limited Service Referral Agreement.  You meet a lot of people that way, but I am not sure how many would list with them knowing they aren't selling real estate full time.

@Eileen, when I lived in several other countries, I was just a kid so I never thought about tipping in Vietnam or Korea.  It wasn't done at all in Iran.  There the practice was more like a bribe but that was more in government positions, not restaurants.

@Jose, I hope I don't end up ruining your dining experiences.  My wife wishes I didn't analyze people so much.  I think it is much more entertaining than watching a fish tank or an ant farm.

@Don, your welcome.  I try to give credit where it is due and your blog did put this one into motion.

@Cheryl, isn't is amazing that the restaurant managers don't realize this?  Talk about a job that gives you a chance to give yourself a raise that day and so many of the employees just don't get it.  They think their job consists of taking orders, delivering and refilling drinks, asking if you want desert, collecting the money; rinse & repeat).

@Claudette, some of the restaurants I worked at I made incredible money at.  I could make $100-$200 in a 4 - 6 hour shift and that was 25 years ago.

@Micheal, I bartended during college too and loved it.  I would make $100 - $200 a night in a bar instead of being like my friends spending $100 in a bar so I enjoyed the same environment and got paid to be there.

@Celeste, good insight.  I wish I could get 10-20 percent TIPS to sell a home so I would love to see a new model (grin). When I talk to buyers about incentives to have me work for less is pretty easy, because of long term referral business.  Let's make the math easy and assume a $100k listing at 3%.  If I was greedy and not capable/willing to negotiate a lower price I would gross $3,000 in commission and would get no referrals from the buyer.  If I negotiated and did my best to get the price down to $95,000, then I would only get $2,850 or $150 less.  My buyers should be thrilled and refer me another client that I would do the same thing for to make a $2,850 bonus for making less on the first home.  So Mr. and Mrs. Client, which do you think I would be willing to work harder for:  $3,000 or $5,700 ($2,850 + $2,850)?

@Michael, one way to "pre-qualify" your server is to tip them in advance if you are in need of better service.  I used to rip a 20 or a 100 dollar bill and give half up front the waiter/waitress and tell them if they did a good job, I would give them the other half.  That was always more effective than tipping the same amount after! 

I remember in the year that I closed just over $7 million in real estate that I couldn't do any more without hiring people or raising the price of the homes I catered to.  Back then, my average sales price was only $110K so I closed 64 homes.  Most of those homes were first time buyers and they ran me like crazy.  Since then, I concentrate more on trade up homes and my average sales price is now closer to $260,000 so now I only have to sell 27 homes to net the income! My net income is actually higher since I have less homes to advertise and less gas being burned!  Hours worked is actually lower too.

@Timothy, I know a group here in Boise that used to meet at the Outback Restaurant every Thursday night and routinely tipped very well.  The staff could actually auction off that shift if they couldn't cover it!  I miss the New Orleans East Restaurant in Louisville where you are from!  It was my favorite in the country!

@Brian, I am glad as a home inspector you understand this.  

I remember one home inspector in my area trying to convince my buyer to use a different type of loan to which my clients said "I respectfully listened to your advice and cordially choose to ignore it.  Now do the job I hired you for"!  I hope to never forget that quote as I get old!

@Terry, I give you credit for trying and now focusing on what your good at.

@Richie, I like your comment "Service sells and people buy"

@Joe, maybe that is a great lead in with new clients . . . "In order for me to exceed your expectations, would you mind taking a moment to outline yours?"

@Bryant, I should have guessed based on how you "serve" up your blogs.  I am honored to subscribe to your blog so people are still requesting your "section"!

@Joan, I have hired a few servers and sold even more of them homes. The good ones are a huge source of referrals since out of town people don't have a kitchen to go home to!  You can tell them you TIP even better when people tell me they learned about my services via yours!

My favorite TIP for bad service = "A Penny and a Midol".  

Translation = "No I didn't forget and here is why" (grin)