:: Life on Planet Dan-E ::

:: Saturday, October 25, 2008 ::

:: Server Stories: PPA ::

Sometimes I wonder if I'm getting too proficient at this whole waiter thing. I've been doing well for myself and the house since I started working at The Steakhouse. I have a good work ethic and I'm a strong waiter, but it helps immensely that I work mostly good people who are willing to help each other out. Considering the circumstances of my last job search, I couldn't have been luckier.

Being a pool house, one of the ways that management tries to motivate the floor staff to increase sales is monthly competitions to see who has the highest PPA (Per Person Average). I've won every month since I started working there and I'm a very close second place this month so far.

Sometimes, there are tangible prizes, other times it's merely bragging rights. However, last week, the new GM made a point during a pre-shift to acknowledge three waiters: Rey, (one of the guys who trained me) the MILF, and me, for having the top three PPAs for the last two months.

(PPA is the average of how much every customer you wait on spends while dining at your table. Last month, the top three were around $80. That means on average, each diner spent roughly $80 on steaks, apps, wine, and booze. Among other things.)

Our prize was either a $200 gift card to eat at The Steakhouse or one of our sister restaurants, or a bottle of wine on our list. Being good waiters (i.e. drinkers), we naturally gravitated towards the wine. Rey took a nice Barolo while the MILF selected a great Super Tuscan. I picked out a big Amarone. I've never tried an Amarone and it was a bottle that we're trying to get rid of anyway so it was perfect.

We're not done yet, however. The GM's competition for the month of October isn't on PPAs. Rather, it's on Tip Percentages (who's receiving the highest percentages of tips based on your sales).

Guess who's in first?

Labels: alkie, server stories, wines

:: Miscellaneous Ramblings by Dan-E at 1:01 AM [+] :: | 0 comments
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