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7 Expert Tips for Creating a Great Beer Experience for Your Customers

Today there are over 15 million restaurants and bars in the world. Add in the booming winery and brewery industries, and the average consumer is over-saturated with choices when looking to grab a drink.

With so many options available, hospitality businesses are hard-pressed to elevate the experience they are providing guests. What’s the solution? Doug Miller, a lecturer at Cornell University’s Hotel School with over thirty years of experience in the industry, offers his best-practice tips for running a successful beverage program and enhancing the overall customer experience.

Consider your audience. Different people have different expectations. It’s important to understand who your customer base is, and where their interests lie. If you’re opening a new business, do some research. Visit successful businesses nearby, sit at the bar, and observe. Ask yourself, “What is the atmosphere? How are the customers responding to it? What’s on the food and beverage menus? What’s on tap? What are people ordering? What size pour is preferred?” If you’re an existing business looking to take it to the next level, do the research again. Study the differences between how your business operates versus the successful ones around you. Compare those to your ideal, and determine ways to bridge the gap.

Be strategic. Armed with information about your target customers, choices must be made. If you have a tap beer program, will you offer beer tastings? If you do offer tastings, you can work the cost of the tastings into your pricing model. Is your audience beer-centric? If so, maybe you don’t need to offer as many options for the wine lover. If not, you may need to consider alternative beverage offerings. Does your target audience enjoy craft, imported or domestic beer? Is there a popular beer being produced locally? A common mistake businesses make is putting thought into creating a local food menu, but then offering no locally sourced beer or other beverages to accompany it. If the local element is important, then it should be represented in all aspects of the menu and business.

Also consider how your beverage program complements your food offering (if you have one). If you’re serving seafood, are you offering a wheat beer or white wine to accompany it? If you’re serving red meat, do you have an ale or Cabernet Sauvignon on the menu? Some businesses may choose to forgo a food offering altogether. If you’re choosing to not serve food, consider your business hours and location. Do your hours of operation cater to an after-dinner crowd? Is the location near popular restaurants?

Cultivate an atmosphere. Atmosphere is one of the most essential components of any business. A beer program can be wildly impressive, but if the atmosphere doesn’t appeal to the clientele, the business will struggle.

Sit down at the bar and imagine the ideal experience of your clientele. Ask yourself questions. Is the bar and glassware clean? Is the lighting soft and inviting? Does the decor fit the vibe? What music is playing, and at what volume? Is it easy to carry on conversation? Should there be a television, and how often should it be on? If it’s not on, can it be covered or moved out of sight? Is there adequate seating for singles, couples and groups? Are there smells coming from the kitchen? Is there a draft from the front door? Is there space for bartenders to move behind the bar, and servers to move around the tables? Are the seats comfortable? Is there a place to hang a jacket or purse? Is a server readily available? Considering the customer experience from start to finish is an opportunity to spot aspects that may not be up to par.

Be efficient. Establish a strategy for success. Perhaps most vital to this is equipping your service team with the knowledge they need to serve any customer. Take time to ensure they understand the customer experience they should cultivate. Consider creating cards on each beverage so that your servers can access detailed information on the history of a specific beer, including alcohol content, IBUs, OGs or FGs as needed. Encourage them to be proactive in offering a second drink to guests — a best practice is to ask “What would you like to select next?”, not “Do you want another?”

Engage your audience. The most critical element of a successful business is the customer experience. And while menu options and atmosphere can be major players in creating a good experience, the make-it-or-break-it factor is service.

The service industry can be challenging; you are serving a diverse clientele, with different needs and differing expectations. Some beer enthusiasts may expect a comprehensive history of their beverage from their server, while others may want no engagement while they enjoy a drink. Some guests may lack enthusiasm or interest in beer altogether, and be present out of necessity for a friend or group. Regardless, it is important to create an exceptional experience for each customer, and recognize their individual needs. Service is a delicate balance of managing expectations and trying to meet the needs of the guest. An establishment should consider how they can improve the experience for their clientele and make their visit memorable.

The best possible experience can make many forms; for some, it will be engaging with the server over the intricacies of their beverage, while for others, it may be minimal yet efficient communication. Asking simple questions such as “Why did you choose this beer?” or “What brings you out today?” can offer insight into the guest’s beer knowledge and expectations. The answer may have to do with the brand, hops, alcohol content or simply the name sounding good. Any information can help servers to determine the level at which to engage the customer.

Pro tip — don’t leave the engagement to just the bartenders and servers! A manager’s place is also engaging with guests. Don’t waste time retroactively trying to handle online perception in an office during open hours. The best time to manage perception is on the floor as it’s developing.

Don’t make assumptions. The biggest mistake a service team can make is to assume anything about a customer. A guest may not be there for beer or wine. Men don’t always prefer beer, and women aren’t always wine. Neither beverage should be considered classier than the other; the same descriptors are used for both pallets, and the tongue has a similar experience – bitter, sweet, salty, sour or umami. A glass should be provided for either beverage; similar to wine, the full experience of beer comes from pouring it into a glass (not frozen; even chilled is not usually worth the fridge space) and allowing the guest to enjoy the aroma of the beer. Don’t expect every guest to be familiar with beer or wine, and don’t insult their understanding, either. Make every attempt to engage the customer on their preferred level, and avoid creating any sense of chagrin or discomfort.

Be decisive. With so many considerations available, it’s easy to become overwhelmed and struggle with decision-making. The same atmosphere doesn’t appeal to everyone. You can only have so many items on a menu to appeal to your clientele, and an over-saturated beer selection will not accomplish any goals. To be successful, you must determine your business strategy, research your target audience, and then make decisions that align accordingly. A beer menu doesn’t need to be huge; it can offer only 6-7 beers, given they are chosen with the clientele in mind. Purchasing too much beer runs the risk of it going out of date in the storeroom — the average shelf life of an IPA is around 60-90 days. Some beer styles can have a longer shelf life, but for most beers styles, fresher is better. Tap lines should be cleaned every other week, and no business wants to waste money on a keg that won’t sell. It’s impossible to carry every type of beer, so don’t complicate your business by trying to establish a menu for all (but do offer that level of service).

At the end of the day, an enjoyable customer experience comes down to three themes: the environment, the service, and the engagement. Devoting time to regularly developing and re-evaluating your business plan, menu, atmosphere and service team is essential to creating the optimal experience that will bring your customers back over and over again.

To learn more about creating the optimal beer program, check out the Beer Essentials certificate program authored by Doug Miller.

Douglass Miller
Douglass Miller, lecturer at the School of Hotel Administration (SHA).
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Advice from the Real Estate Roundtable: Real Knowledge, Real Experience

The commercial real estate industry can feel opaque and even intimidating to outsiders and newcomers. Armed with a bit of practical guidance and the right analytical tools, however, anyone can learn to navigate real estate investment and development.

To learn more about the integral components of commercial real estate, eCornell hosted a special roundtable event with lecturer Jeanne Varney, professor Jan deRoos and lecturer Brad Wellstead from Cornell’s SC Johnson College of Business. Here’s what they had to say.

What are the risks associated with real estate development?

Varney: Real estate development is a time-intensive process. It’s years of planning and construction. The designers, general contractors, architects, and engineers all have to work together to get everything finished. There’s the cost of capital itself, and the financing. Then there are unforeseen conditions, like market dynamics. There are also risks related to liquidity.

Wellstead: In the beginning, the primary risks concern the development. Next, there are schedule, budget, and quality issues to consider. Then, there are risks concerning the internal factors of the development team. There are external risk factors too.

So, from an investment standpoint, why is commercial real estate thought of as relatively sound?

deRoos: If you’ve completed your foundational work correctly, a good asset in a good market with good political support and good financing can produce solid returns for a long time. The retail industry is a recent example of how the world can change: it slowly changes, then all of a sudden there’s a tipping point.

Let’s talk about property prices and how to negotiate when properties are sold.

deRoos: Property pricing is based on expectations of what will happen in the future. It’s the intersection of two things: the cash flow that one can derive from an asset and how the capital markets treat those cash flows. When negotiating a price between a buyer and seller, first you’ll negotiate price. Once you have a tentative agreement, the focus turns to the balance sheet.

deRoos: The first rule of real estate is never fall in love with something that doesn’t love you back. That requires you to know the price at which you could sell it to the market. If it’s worth more to you than it is to the market, you hold it. If it’s worth more to the market than it is to you, sell it. The best asset management discipline is to do that rigorously on an ongoing basis.

Wellstead: It’s important to determine if you are in this for a quick turnaround, which in real estate might be two to three years, or twenty years. This decision influences how you manage that asset.

deRoos: Some create a lot of wealth for themselves by being flippers, and some create a lot of wealth as operators. A flipper is concerned about creating value and exiting at the right time. An operator is focused on leasing activity, taking care of tenants, and enhancing the property value.

Switching gears, what are the most important things to focus on when raising debt capital?

deRoos: You need to maximize your proceeds. In U.S. real estate, non-recourse means that the lender’s only recourse is to foreclose on real estate if you default. You get a free option to sell the real estate to the lender for the remaining balance, which is a bit cynical, but it’s also a very real option. You really need to limit your recourse as much as possible when you borrow.

Why is it more advantageous to raise debt capital over equity capital? What’s the variation in risk?

deRoos: Debt is cheap. Think of it this way: I want to buy something for $100. I have $30 of my own money. I need to raise $70. If I bring in a partner, they want to help me drive the bus. If I bring in a lender, they have their hands pretty far off the wheel of the bus. A lender is much less expensive.

Why is raising equity capital so hard?

deRoos: The hardest thing in life is asking someone to be your life partner. The second hardest thing you’re going to do in life is to ask someone for money. Investors are giving up liquidity. It’s really hard to get your money out. Investors give up control. They have to trust you to do the right thing to produce returns for them. You need to make that attractive by putting a structure in place that gives you all of the returns after I pay debt until you achieve a certain required rate of return, and then I get paid handsomely. It’s called a promote structure, used very commonly in private equity.

What about investment strategy advice? How do you know whether you’re making a good investment?

deRoos: Figure out how you add value and then add value to it. Ask yourself the following: “How will I add value? Do I know design? Do I have unique access to money? Do I have unique relationships with tenants? What is my value-add?” Then partner up with other people who can bring another piece to the table and do the things that really add value.

Finally, let’s discuss the economics of sustainable development.

Varney: There are growing legislative requirements when it comes to sustainable development. There’s a much greater level of education with all of the service providers, architects, engineers, designers, or manufacturers. Some municipalities even have requirements for building certifications like Green Globes or LEED certifications. They have expediting permitting processes for projects that are sustainable. There’s even a growing field for green lending.

More efficient equipment translates into less energy costs, so hopefully higher profitability, or more reliable debt service. There’s also solid research that shows sustainable buildings have higher leasing occupancy rates and higher leasing rate rental rates. Healthier indoor environments means less toxins and more efficient equipment. A LEED certified building is a higher quality building. We call it a halo effect or a positive reflection on the company.

For more information on real estate and investments, check out eCornell’s certificate programs designed by deRoos, Varney and Wellstead, including Commercial Real Estate and Hotel Real Estate, or watch the full Cornell Keynote, A Real Estate Roundtable, here.