Imagine you are entertaining at a restaurant. You see five kids waiting for you. A mom pulls out a handful of singles, and each child is given one dollar. Does this affect or change your entertainment style?
Ten one dollar parent happened to me the other day, and I noticed my entertainment style changed.
I normally upsell a child on a better balloon design. Why make a sword when you can have a rider on a motorcycle. Detailed balloon figures, in my experience, create a more significant impact than a single one-balloon figure. Parents are impressed and request a business card. One of the main reasons I work at restaurants is to generate business for parties.
Restaurant entertainment is more than a pure money grab but a way to build an entertainment business and generate work.
The experience of kids clutching one-dollar bills leads to two outcomes — 1) I walk away with a dollar a child, or 2) an adult will hand me additional money.
Here are four signs the tip will be small:
- The kids are clustered in one area of the table, clutching one dollar.
- The adults are talking among themselves.
- The interaction between kids and adults is minimal.
- Adults avoid eye contact with me (the entertainer) and look a the kids.
If I notice an adult at the table is watching me while entertaining the kids–in my experience, this is the adult that will pad the one-dollar tips. When I finish entertaining at the table, I hand this person my business cards.
The logic behind this is,
From many phone conversations with parents booking events, I have learned that these people (grandparent, aunt, neighbor) suggest to the parents that they hire entertainment. In these incidents, outsiders are paying or splitting the bill for the entertainment. These were the people who padded the one-dollar tips.
If you are looking to increase your bookings, be observative when approaching a table of kids clutching one-dollar bills. Find the person watching you and hand them your card!
Have you had a good/bad experience with kids clutching one-dollar bills? Please share it with the group in the comment box below.
I have done events were I don’t ask for tips so if I get one it’s nice. sometimes the kids will come up to me and say does it cost anything and I say just a big smile or no but you have to come to my house and clean the windows. They get on line I make a balloon for them and no tip then 5 minutes later they come back with a tip for me then I think boy I should have not have judged…
One trick I use is to ask the first few kids what they want- which usually means a 1 or 2 balloon sculpture. With the last child, I recommend something fancier OR I ask to make “something special.” That’s the one I show off on.