Chamber Amplified
Each week Doug Jenkins of the Findlay-Hancock County Chamber of Commerce talks to industry experts to help local businesses find new ideas, operate more efficiently, and adapt to ever-changing conditions.
Chamber Amplified
Best Of Chamber Amplified: What Are You Supposed to Tip for Anymore?
Original episode: January 20, 2023
If you’ve ever had someone spin an iPad around and say “just a few questions,” and you weren’t sure what you were supposed to do next - this Best Of episode is your playbook.
Doug Jenkins is joined by Daniel Post Senning of the Emily Post Institute to break down how tipping etiquette has evolved, why it feels so confusing right now, and what’s actually expected in the most common situations like restaurants, coffee shops, takeout, delivery apps, and more.
This is a practical, judgment-free conversation that helps customers feel more confident, and gives business owners a few simple ways to make tipping feel more seamless while still supporting employees who depend on gratuities.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
- Where tipping is still essentially “part of the deal” (and why)
- The standard expectations for sit-down restaurant service
- How to think about tips for counter service (coffee shops, quick-service, retail)
- What’s reasonable for takeout / pickup orders
- How to handle tipping on DoorDash/Uber Eats when the app asks before service is delivered
- Why “gratitude” matters (and how that mindset reduces the awkwardness)
- Tips for business owners: how to set suggested tip options that don’t turn customers off
- Why a better tipping experience can help with customer satisfaction and employee retention
Guest:
Daniel Post Senning — Emily Post Institute
More resources: EmilyPost.com
Great for:
Customers who want clarity and confidence, and business owners who want to improve the checkout experience without losing the human element of service.
Chamber Amplified is produced by the Findlay-Hancock County Chamber of Commerce, featuring weekly conversations designed to help local businesses thrive.
Have a topic idea for a future episode?
📧 Doug Jenkins: djenkins@findlayhancockchamber.com
Music and sound effects obtained from https://www.zapsplat.com
Hey everybody, Doug Jenkins from the Findlay Hancock County Chamber of Commerce. One final best of episode for right now, and then we'll get into our new season of episodes starting next week. For this edition, we're going all the way back to January 20th of 2023, so like a couple of years ago at this point. Remember that was right around the pinnacle of what is going on with tipping? Why is everybody asking for a tip? Well, nothing's really changed in that department. So if you're going into the new year here and wondering what it is you're supposed to do when somebody spins the cash register around, or I guess it's an iPad, and they spin that around and say, We just have a few questions for you. Well, this is a good episode to tell you what to do, and if you're a business owner, how you can make that a little bit more seamless for your customers, and also make sure that you're still supporting your employees who are thriving on the tips. So we're going to be joined by Daniel Post Setting of the Emily Post Institute. We'll talk about why tipping has changed so much over the years, why it continues to be the way it is, and how you can make sure you're not always giving ten dollars even when you're just going to get a coffee or something like that. By the way, coming up uh in a few weeks, hard to believe, we're going to be rolling into our 200th episode of Chamber Amplified. Might have a few special things for that. But again, thank you for listening. Uh, for I guess we're going into our fourth year of the podcast, which is hard to believe. Uh, we appreciate you subscribing and spreading the word and leaving reviews. It all means a ton to us. Thank you so much for supporting the Findlay Hancock County Chamber of Commerce. Coming up next on Chamber Amplified.
Daniel Post Senning:In particular, these last couple years, where we we've experienced so much social change, so much change in our economy and the way we do business that Tip Think's been impacted by that. And I'm I'm not surprised that those questions linger as we change into new practices, and those are either maintained and sustained, or they fall back out of fashion as they lose their utility.
Doug Jenkins:Welcome to the show. I'm Doug Jenkins from the Findlay Hancock County Chamber of Commerce. On each episode of Chamber Amplified, we're examining issues impacting the local business community, whether it be in play recruitment, marketing, IT issues, really anything that could be impacting your business. Today we're going to delve into customer service a little bit and look at it from the standpoint of the customer. Our goal is to give our members tips each week on at least one way they can improve operations and thrive in the current business environment. So if you've been to practically any service-based business these days, there's a good chance you've run across this question. Did I used to tip for this? Here's the good news. It's not just you. In fact, the question about what to tip for these days has become so prevalent that CNN.com even write an article called Out of Control, No One Knows How Much to Tip. I think we've all been there. So today on the podcast, I'm joined by Daniel Post setting of the Emily Post Institute, and we talk about where you should still definitely tip, where it's really your call, and how businesses can actually make that process less daunting for customers. And for businesses, here's your incentive for doing that. Your customers will appreciate it. There's incentive number one. And two, you can actually help with employee satisfaction and retention. I'll tell you all about that coming up with Daniel. That's what we call a tease. You're going to have to listen for that one. Thanks again for tuning in. And remember, if you're listening on Apple Podcasts or Spotify to rate and review the show, it really helps spread the word. Now let's get into it. And welcoming into the podcast now, a Daniel Post setting of the Emily Post Institute. Dan, thanks for joining us today.
Speaker:That's a pleasure to be with you.
Doug Jenkins:So to get people familiar with the Emily Post Institute, first and foremost, before we get into talking about tipping and all the confusion there is in that world right now, uh tell us a little bit about uh everything you do in the world of etiquette.
Speaker:Good idea. Well, the the Emily Post Institute is a five-generation family business. The original Emily Post was my great-great-grandmother. She wrote her seminal book titled Etiquette in 1922. And when she first wrote it, they couldn't print it fast enough. She went through several updates, editions in her lifetime, um, and started the Emily Post Institute with her son to continue the publishing of Etiquette after she was gone. And for five generations now, the Post family has updated that book. We're currently up to our centennial edition uh for the hundred-year anniversary of the tradition in 2022.
Doug Jenkins:How much do you wish you could talk to her and be like and talk about where Etiquette is in 2023 compared to where she started and all the different uh interactions we have with people in in different ways? I think that would be an interesting conversation.
Speaker:It's such a great question. And in some ways, this will sound a little weird. I feel like I talk to her all the time. I spent so much time in her original material, and we're so fortunate as a family to have a lot of a lot of records, you know, her radio shows where she answered etiquette questions contemporaneously in her day. And um, she was a remarkable woman. She um uh grew up in Tuxedo Park, got exposed to the world of New York's best society, a term of art, hers, not mine. Um, but also had a had a keen understanding of the national audience that she wrote for. Her etiquette has always been democratic, it's always been forward-thinking and inclusive. And um, in her day, she was uh an advocate of youth culture, uh people treating each other with consideration, respect, and honesty, that that etiquette was fundamentally about how people treated each other, not a specific set of rules or a specific social code from a particular time or place. Um, and I think that that clarity of vision has made her advice really lasting, really durable. Um, so in some ways, I think that she would she would be excited about the the moment that we live in, but I think she was excited about the moment that she lived. I I think we're honoring her and her tradition. Um, and it would be a delight to be able to sit down and talk with her about it um a hundred years later.
Doug Jenkins:That's uh that's a very cool story. Uh and it really uh um tipping has been an American in American etiquette and culture for generations, which makes you guys uh an expert on this field. And the uh the CNN article I saw, and uh I I think uh is it your sister who was quoted in it or um uh very close, yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah, it was quoted. Um the title of the article was No One Knows How to Tip. And I just started laughing because as I told you before we started recording, I don't know how many people I talked to on a daily basis through the Chamber of Commerce in daily life on their Facebook posts. They just there's so many things that ask for tips now that everybody is a little confused to say the least.
Speaker:It's always been gray area. This is definitely a generational etiquette question. Each generation has their own version of it, but because it's discretionary, it's almost definitionally a place where people are being asked to make a choice or make choices. And that's not easy. There are some parameters, there are some guidelines. I think there's some things you can think about that are really helpful. But it's one of those places where there's not always an exact answer that that you can apply to every situation. So there will always be questions about it. And in particular, these last couple of years, where we we've experienced so much social change, so much change in our economy and the way we do business that Tip Think's been impacted by that. And I'm I'm not surprised that those questions linger as we change into new practices, and those are either maintained and sustained, or they fall back out of fashion as they lose their utility. Uh, people have to keep up. And there is no um credentialing body. I guess the Emily Post Institute is getting as close as you can to something like that. But um our our authority is limited to the good sense and goodwill of the people that we're talking with.
Doug Jenkins:I like the idea of a tipping credentialing body. That's uh that's not a bad idea. My favorite quote in the entire article was from a Cornell researcher who said, I don't know how much to tip and I study this, which uh kind of tells you where we're at. So let's just go back to the basics. Where should we bar non 100% tip?
Speaker:Well, so the the the place where the social contract is the strongest, where it's the so firm that you will likely find yourself in trouble if you don't observe it, even though it's not written down in any of the agreements. When you walk into a restaurant, when you sit down at a table and receive table service, you are you should be expecting and budgeting for a tip that's somewhere between 15 and 20%. And that is because the way we do table service is different than any other system that we have in our country for paying people for work that they do. The our servers and wait staff are not protected by the same minimum wage laws that protect other people. They have their own sets of minimum wage laws and standards and rules about how tips are distributed, shared, taxed. But because that system is so embedded, is such a such a big part of our service culture in this country, it is it is expected that people know when they avail themselves of those services that they should be anticipating and prepared to pay that tip of 15 to 20 percent. So we call that one discretionary, but it's much less so than any other kind of tipping that we we would talk about today.
Doug Jenkins:So those are uh the basics, that's the the standard that uh that really hasn't changed over the years. That's the the the wages are set forth. We kind of know what we're getting into there, but then we get uh the big technology boom. Uh everybody's got a square or something like that uh at the coffee shop or what have you, uh, maybe even the bookstore. Uh and uh and I think maybe they just default to uh allowing a tip on there, and that has really changed the dynamic. Uh the one I saw in the the the article that we were talking about that it was interesting was coffee shops. I guess I never really thought about that. They're already getting minimum wage or more as a barista. At the same time, I only order an Americano with cream, it's cheap anyway, so I'll throw a dollar tip on to begin with. But I can see if you're getting uh a six dollar iced coffee where you might balk a little bit.
Speaker:Absolutely. And and I'll I'll um uh sort of a little uh uh buyer beware caveat em tour. When I met my wife, she was working as a barista, working her way through grad school. So I I I I'm so sympathetic to people standing behind that counter. And um, I love my coffee. I'm not functional until I get it. Um and and those people are an important part of that system. And one of the reasons I I start from that personal place, both of the pleasure and the enjoyment that we receive as customers, and also the very human realities about the people that are providing that service and providing that experience, is that the the root of the word gratuity is the same as the root of the word gratitude, that ultimately tipping functions the best when we approach it as an opportunity, not an obligation. Whether it's a tip or a thank you note, the second you start saying to yourself in your mind, do I have to do this? What do I have to do here? It gets harder to do. It gets harder to find that spirit of generosity and gratitude that helps tipping and a tip function the way you would want it to function, as a gesture of appreciation, a way to show gratitude and respect and to do a little something for someone that you're not required to do, but um is so appreciated and can make both people feel so good if you're if you're able to approach it with that spirit. So that that is all by way of saying that you actually don't have to tip for counter service. It really is discretionary, it's up to you. And once upon a time, there was that tip jar that often sat on the counter that had the funny little note on it. And it, you know, someone would seed it with a little money at the start of the day. Um, and and when they turn that screen around, this is one of those places where technology, I think, impacts us psychologically and it has the suggested amounts. I think that's where people run into the that moment of awkwardness or confusion. They're looking at this person, they want to feel that gratitude, they want to feel that appreciation, and yet it almost feels like they're being suggested or pushed in a direction that's maybe further than they would want to go, or isn't exactly the way that they were thinking about it. And what I like to tell people is it's okay. That moment is it, it doesn't need to feel awkward. You can make any choice that makes sense for you, your budget, how you're feeling in that moment. And for most people, it's a little bit like you. There's something they want to do. They've got a a calculation in their mind. I do this every day. I know these people, this is what I do with them. Or my coffee costs this much, and usually that leaves me with an extra 30 cents. So I leave that. Or whatever that that calculation is, I like to encourage people to feel comfortable. And there is almost always an option when that screen turns around that is other, or you set the amount or your choice, and feel free. Use that. Use it if it's two cents different than the one that is being suggested. If that will make you feel better about it, and let you smile and thank the person genuinely when you do it. I to me, that's where tipping really starts to work well. And I think where knowing what you're doing can help you find that that good feeling that's really what you want to be investing in.
Doug Jenkins:I actually feel better already, having you having said that. I uh the one that I always get confused on, and you just answered my question, is if I go pick up an order, it's it's customary to tip a delivery driver because going back to what you said, that's gratitude. You've made my life easier. I don't have to go out to get something. So here's something for the trouble. That makes sense. When I go pick something up, and then I'm and there will always be the tip line. Even before the uh the touch screens and everything on the receipt that you sign, there would be the tip line. And I'm always thinking, do I do 15 to 20% here, or is what it is? But I I I think you just described it, you know, a dollar or two is just fine if you're doing the pickup.
Speaker:It it really is. And and there are sort of more common percentages these days. I think many people have gotten used to thinking about 10% on a delivery order or a a takeout order from a place that also provides sit-down service that isn't exclusively serving takeout. Um, but again, though that's a sort of a guideline that people will keep in their mind. And it it's it's not quite the same as that 15 to 20 percent when you're talking about sit-down table service.
Doug Jenkins:I finally have the answer to this question that I've had my entire adult life. So we are we're making progress here. Along with the technology, though, and I just I heard heard this question posed on a different podcast this morning. Shout out Ryan Rosillo podcast on the DoorDash or Uber Eats or whatever. When you order, there's the option to tip your driver through there before service is rendered. And I never really thought about it. I always just tip through it. But then if they forget your drink or something like that, they've already been given a tip. Is there a way to navigate this?
Speaker:There, well, there absolutely is. And this is one of those places technology giveth and technology taketh away. For the for several of those services, and most of the major ones, you have an option to add that tip after the order has been delivered. Now, the the little reminder is don't forget. Oftentimes, you know, you got that hot food, it's so delicious, you're back in your room, you're eating. Um, it it the tip isn't about guaranteeing that service, it's not about paying for it. You tip a valet when they bring your car back, not when you drop it off. The idea is that it's thanks for the service rendered, not a down payment on better service. Um, if it's easier, for many people it is, they know they're gonna tip a 10% or whatever it's gonna be. Go ahead and add it, then you don't need to open the app up again. But there's oftentimes the option to wait until after the delivery has happened. And it's also okay to tip with cash. Not everybody carries cash. If you're looking for the etiquette tips that often come along with tipping, one of them is um particularly if you know you're gonna be in situations where where tipping happens or happens more frequently, for example, when traveling, carrying some small denominations of bills with you so that you can tip for the hotel staff that take care of your room each night if you're getting that kind of cleaning service, or even for something like a bellhop or a doorman, it can be really nice to have that available. It can open up whole doors and worlds of service.
Doug Jenkins:So, all of that said, I want to turn around and look at it from the business side of things here for uh for our Chamber of Commerce members who who may have the tipping option on their payment system and might be uh outside of that that normal tipping um business that that we've talked about. Are there ways that businesses can help customers navigate this and not feel this anxiety? Or is that maybe outside the realm of things they need to worry about?
Speaker:No, what one of the things that I would strongly recommend as part of your customer service, I think it can be tempting to include much higher amounts as those suggested tips. And I think that that can oftentimes work against you. If you set those amounts too high, it can have someone turn off the whole experience, that moment of awkwardness we were talking about. Or even if they've got to look for a secondary click instead of the obvious, oh, they're suggesting 10, 15, 20, 25%. I was thinking more like a dollar or two. That's like 7%. Now I've got to find the, you know, change amount or other. And anybody who does web design or software engineering will tell you the more clicks someone has to do to make something happen, the less likely it is to occur. Include an option in that suggested tip amount that's realistic, that's reasonable. Um, and I and I think you're gonna do you're gonna do better both in terms of the customer service experience, but maybe even do better in terms of the tips that people receive.
Doug Jenkins:That's good. I mean, that's a big benefit for not only the business, but also their employees too. And we're always looking at ways, especially businesses in the service industry are looking at ways to retain employees right now. So if they can make that a little bit more seamless, that probably goes a long way.
Speaker:Absolutely. And the other suggestion is don't don't um forget that that that cash tip jar on the counter as well. It's another way to give people options if that's what they're familiar with, if that's what they're used to, if someone is still not tapping their wallet on the reader but is exchanging um exchanging physical cash, having that tip jar can also be another way to encourage that or get people thinking about it.
Doug Jenkins:Very good. Dan, I appreciate your time today. If people want to learn more about the Emily Post Institute or uh take a deep dive on tipping, that type of thing. What's the best way to find more information?
Speaker:EmilyPost.com is the center of our world. You can find more information there about just about everything we do. Very good. Thanks for joining us today. Cheers. It's good to be with you.
Doug Jenkins:Thanks again to Dan for joining us. You can see a link to all of his information in the show notes for this episode. I also have the original CNN article linked in the show notes as well if you want to read up on that. It's really interesting. There are a lot of people who put time and research into this subject. Personally, I'm just happy to know what to do with pickup orders from now on. That's good news to have. That's going to do it for this week's episode. I hope you learned a little something to help run your business a little bit better today. If you have any interesting ideas for topics that we should cover, just send me an email, djenkins at finleyhancockchamber.com. Remember, if you're listening on our website, that's great, but you can make it even more convenient on yourself. You can have every episode of Chamber Amplified delivered straight to your phone. Just search for us in your favorite podcast player again, Chamber Amplified, is what you'll be searching for. Thanks again for listening, and we'll see you next time on Chamber Amplified from the Findlay Hancock County Chamber of Commerce.
