E28 - A Perfect Match: Venue and Mobile Bar Relationships

Imagine if you could be the #1 go-to recommended mobile bar business for venues in your area. In this episode, Sarah is talking with Amanda, the owner of a North Texas Venue, founder of two local networking groups, and co-host over at Behind the Party. Amanda is sharing all the dos (and don'ts) of creating a positive and long-lasting relationship with venues in your area.
Amanda's passion is in supporting and educating those around her. When she's not at Hawthorn Hills Ranch prepping for an event you can frequently find her volunteering with the local chamber, speaking at community high schools or colleges, or cheering on her family from the sidelines.
Join us as Sarah and Amanda lay the framework for reaching out, landing on the preferred vendor list, and putting your best foot forward on the day of an event.

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JOIN THE MOBILE BAR ACADEMY
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Transcript

Sarah: Today on the podcast, I'm here with Amanda Allison. She's the owner of Hawthorne Hills and also part of the duo from Behind the Party. I am so excited to talk to you today, Allison, because venues are a very big part of the mobile bar world. We literally can't do our job without them, we get a lot of questions about them, and who better to ask than someone who owns a venue? So welcome to the show. 

Amanda: Thank you. I am so excited. I agree with you. I'm actually on the opposite end where I feel like as venues there's so much we can learn and get to know about the mobile bar business that could benefit our clients. So I think this is gonna be fantastic and mutually educational, I hope, for both sides of our event industry. 

Sarah: You listened to the podcast episode we did about liquor laws and mobile bars. It is the number one question we get specifically from aspiring mobile bar owners who are just getting started because there's a lot of confusion around liquor laws. There's even a lot of confusion between caterers and mobile bartenders because caterers are often like, “How are you doing what you're doing?” There's this very clear delineation between the sale of alcohol and the sale of services. Most mobile bar owners just sell their services and non-alcoholic beverages and they don't sell alcohol. 

In my experience, not only do mobile bars get this a little bit mixed up in their understanding, but so do venues. We were just talking about the vast array of policies and understanding of actual liquor laws. You're down in Texas and you were just sharing that the closer you are to the city, the more buttoned-up it is, but then the further from the city that you tend to get people to loosen the rains a little bit. Where did you learn about the liquor laws? 

Amanda: I have a little bit of a different background. I guess my first experience was when I started in events in 2009 in college, and I was event staff and working with the caterer directly.

I grew into a bartending position from there. At first, I had a very narrow scope and vision. I was in college, so I also wasn't interested in the laws. I was like, “Tell me what to do. I can do it. It's gonna be fun.” That is where I got my first experience with: these are the rules,

they're set in stone, here we go. In that situation, everything came through the venue, which was a university, and the caterers, there was no outside bartending allowed, period, that was that. 

Then as I grew to love events more and branched out, I quickly learned that's not the case everywhere and every venue is a little bit different. I started with this, in the box, black and white, “Nope, it's either built-in or you don't have it,” to learning much more. Especially as I went on to graduate school and business. I am one of the many people who thought there was only one option for years, and then I learned there are many more options.

Personally, I think there are benefits to both, but as a small business owner, I'm a huge advocate for other small businesses, and that's harder to do when you are stuck in a corporate environment where you use what they have and usually they make a lot of money off of it. They don't allow you to bring in those other small businesses. I'm lucky to have landed in a position where we do get to work with and support other small businesses every week, which is fantastic. 

It was a lot of research and a learning curve, talking to other people in the industry. I know you've had Don with HD Liquid Catering on before. He is one of our favorite people.

He and Heather are fantastic. When we first started going down this route in 2014 or 2015 with the venue, I first met him. He was a big educator and walked us through all the different situations. I remember right when the venue opened its doors, in 2016 for our first wedding, because we built from the ground up, He said, “Just know as you change your rules, that's okay because you're gonna figure out what you like, and what you don't like and what works and doesn't work.” 

Just having someone who specializes, especially in our area, and knows things inside and out could be a resource. To send us over different licensing and rules was fantastic. That's really where my education on that side came from. My manager, Jenna, who's my co-host on Behind The Party, actually had bar management experience with wedding venues, so when she joined our team a couple of years ago, she was already up on the know-how. She's constantly giving our team tips, updates, reminders, and those questions that most venues don't know. They don't have any reason to research it, to begin with, so it's a lot. 

You mentioned in your licensing and legality episode how reading tax code is not fun, it's not easy to understand and I laughed when you said that because it's a thousand percent true and I like that you mentioned a lot of people look for loopholes, but that’s not the case. There are no loopholes and I'm the same way. If it's not clearly allowed in there, it's not allowed.

You're setting yourself up for issues if you try to create your own loophole. I think that at least in our area for venues when they're a little bit looser on the rules than they should be is where they're setting themselves up for hardships down the road, or really big potential issues.

Sarah: Yeah, that leads in nicely with the next question that I was going to ask you. First, I want to say that Don is a wealth of knowledge and information, and he's just so generous with it, so we're huge Don Branzuela fans. The second thing that you're leading into here is the liability and risk associated with alcohol. I think oftentimes it's underestimated by the venue, the level of liability that the venue has when alcohol is involved. Even if they didn't purchase the alcohol or they didn't serve the alcohol. At what point was it made clear to you the level of liability that you had when alcohol was present?

Amanda: Honestly, just having been in the industry for so long, that was never a question in my mind, I knew from the very beginning. However, I do see venue owners posting, especially in the forums and the Facebook groups where we're all trying to help each other out, that they actually don’t know what to do and they are just going through the motions. Well-versed venue owners who have been there and done that jump on and say, “No, you have to make sure because the liability risk is really high.” 

We had an insurance agent come and speak to a group of us here in North Texas a couple of years ago, and the way she explained it was visually a little bit easier to understand. For us, how it works in Texas at least, is that there's the couple who is hosting the event, the bartending company who is serving, whether they have a liquor license themselves, or the couple supplied it. Then there's the venue and there's no direct route where it goes only to one person if something happened. It's like a layer being peeled off an onion, everyone is going to be affected.

Making sure that we are all educated and prepared and set up to provide the best and avoid and minimize any issues is the most important, so we focus on that. We do still get surprised bartending companies when asked for their insurance, and then it's almost an educational suggestion where I’m handing them a contact to reach out to.

Unfortunately, some people are passionate about starting a business, but they haven't taken the time to look into the legality and make sure that not only is their business going to be able to grow and be successful, but that they're taking care of themselves and their clients. I think that's important, especially when we're dealing with alcohol with large groups of people. 

Sarah: Yeah, because alcohol's a controlled substance. We take that for granted because it's legal, right? However, it's also a controlled substance and there is a ton of liability that comes with that. Of all the people who have risk, the venue is number one, over the mobile bar, and the host. When I say that, people are oftentimes surprised, but the fact is that if someone's gonna sue you, they want compensation. 

Unless that couple or the mobile bar company is sitting on massive amounts of wealth, the venue has the asset. The venue has land, the venue, in these real estate days, a million dollars is easily sitting there in assets, right? If their goal is to be compensated for whatever it is they're suing for it, they're gonna go after the person who has the biggest potential to pay them, which is the venue.

To your point, one of the best ways that everyone can help protect each other is in these collaborative scenarios because when we work together, we're partnering in an experience for the client to ensure that everybody is aligned and protected. There's a set expectation of how to proceed and succeed.

For you, as a venue, what do you look for in a mobile bar partner? 

Amanda: There are a couple of main things. First, we consider the basics: are they insured, are they licensed? Does everyone on their team have their certification? That sounds silly, but we still even get couples who say things like, “My friend is TABC, he's got a license, and he's fine.”

I'm like, “No.” There's a huge difference between a $9 course they took online and actually being a business that is prepared, insured and knows what they're doing. 

That's our basics, if we have those, then we can move forward. If those aren't in place, then there is a pause button hit on the conversation until they're able to get that footing, especially if it's a newer business. We then have them circle back to us with those items. Once they are insured and they're ready to rock, then we have a face-to-face meeting, and beforehand we'll send them what our venue rules are for our couples, they are very particular. 

For example, we do not allow shots or straight liquor. This includes, they can’t be poured doubles, and they can’t have something neat. Guests will be like, “That’s fine, I just want a splash of water, like literally two drops,” and you’re like, “No, that’s not how it works.”

As a venue, we want to make sure that the bartending company knows our expectations so that they can not only follow them and our cup will be covered and everything's set, but also so we start our relationship off on a positive, beneficial footing. I think it's unfair to expect any bar company to know how to make you happy as a client or a venue if you don't tell them exactly what you expect of them.

I met with a new bartending company this morning, they're a year old today, so this is perfect timing. We like to do face-to-face meetings with our mobile bar companies, so we'll have them come to the venue so they can see our space, see where our bar is, our setup, our outdoor areas, and different fun things. 

For example, we keep a jockey box and an ice machine on site so it makes it easy for them. Then we talk about their services, their why, their personality, and their missions and values. I know as a mobile bar you're gonna serve drinks, but as a business owner, I know there's much more to their story and their branding than,” Here's your beer.”

Clients may not see that, but we absolutely do. So getting to know their personalities and what makes them excited about events and how we can help support them and make the process easier is what that conversation looks like for us that day. 

The company I met with today, they have a trailer, they will come into the building, but they're also looking to do more outdoor setups. They want to do craft cocktails and more hands-on things to create an experience, which is fantastic. We got to talk about what that would look like here and what a normal wedding day looks like here, versus a weekday corporate event that might want to have a bar set up. Just seeing how the two mesh together is really fun. We think that vendors and businesses are people first and foremost, so getting to know each other is very important because there's a lot of trust that comes along with liability.

Sarah: There is, and I love that you asked them for their mission, vision and values. Just last week, in my group program for newbie mobile bar owners, that's what we did. We have them working on identifying their mission, vision, and values, which new business owners skip a lot.

If you don't outline those things, it's really hard for you to communicate who you are, what you do, and who you serve. I love that you ask those questions. 

One of the other things I talk about in my programs is how to speak the love language of venue owners because you're not going to talk to a venue owner the same way you're gonna talk to a bride, or even the same way you talk to an event planner. After all, you have different goals, you have different needs from a mobile bar than an event planner does.

What are some of the things that mobile bar owners could say to you or points they could touch on that are essentially your love language? What do you want them to know about you as a venue owner? What's important to you? 

Amanda: So the cheat sheet to pull on our heartstrings is this, if you can tell us that you understand the importance of loading in and loading out and what that looks like logistically, we're excited because we work a lot behind the scenes. The last thing we need is to recommend a mobile bar company to a couple, they show up right when the ceremony's starting, they pull up right where the bride's about to walk down the aisle and start unloading everything loudly, and when they leave they leave a mess for the couple at the end of the night.

I've had that happen and it's heartbreaking and nobody wants that. So when a bartending company says, ”We like to know when their ceremony starts because we're gonna be here an hour before, we're gonna have everything set up, we're gonna have our vehicle pulled and parked, and make sure everything's looking beautiful for their day,” I'm already happy. I'm like, “Okay, you actually care about the guest and the client experience and so do I.” So we're clicking already. 

When they ask, “What do you expect us to take care of before we leave?” That tells me that you actually respect our property, which is nice. We have a back cocktail area and it’s wedged between a hill and a fence. We've had vendors in the past decide to fit their van into this space. I think they went through the flower beds to just load out the back door. We do have a loading area. We have lots of entry points, so it wasn't necessary, but just knowing that vendors want to take care of our facility is key, because, at the end of the day, that's my service, making sure there are no mud tire tracks straight through their cocktail ceremony site. That and a vendor is not gonna back into any of our buildings.

Things like that are important to me, just knowing that they care is fantastic. If they bring me a copy of their COI, I'm giddy because they have things together. They know what they're doing. They're professionals. If they also bring me something to provide to my client, like a rack card with some pricing information and their website, that makes my job easier, and it takes the relationship naturally to the next step. We don't have this awkward lull of, “So do you have information for me?” I just feel like you already have your life put together and you're ready to do an event with us next week if you needed to. I love all of that. 

The fastest way to get on a vendor list would be to meet and make connections with venue management and owners. It is very difficult to do that. I feel like sometimes a lot of networking events, especially in DFW, you're driving an hour to get anywhere. 

As a venue rep, it's difficult for us to make those meetings because we have to meet with our couples in our facility. So if there is a networking luncheon an hour away and then we're there for an hour and a half and then we have to drive an hour back, most of our day is gone. So we don't get to go to many networking events, which really does limit a bartending company’s opportunity to introduce themselves and say hi to us. 

I will say it is extremely rare that I will have a bartending company reach out to me and say, “Hi, here's who we are. This is what we do. We're insured. We wanna talk to you more about who we are.”

Sarah: Wait, hold up. I'm sorry. I don't wanna interrupt people, but I'm floored right now. I'm absolutely floored and here's why. 

In our programs, the first thing in my cold outreach strategy is to make a list of venues in your local area. For example, in the Dallas Fort Worth area where you are, we have a spreadsheet that has 80 mobile bars on it. There are so many, so I would expect you to be hearing from one a week. In our cold outreach strategy, we recommend reaching out to venues via email first. 

Now, most of the time, these emails go unanswered. We actually just had a group call right before I hopped on here, and DeAnn, one of our chief members, who is crushing it by the way. Her goal was $25,000 in sales in the first quarter and she's booked over $100,000 in sales in the first quarter, and she was sharing her strategy, which mirrors our cold outreach strategy. 

You reach out to the venue with an email, probably gonna go unanswered. There are a few other steps that we have there. Then she follows up with an in-person visit. She just brings them rack cards, a little bit of something, like “I don't wanna bother you. I just wanna leave this here,” most of the time people are actually happy to see her and talk to her. And you're telling me people don't even reach out by email? 

Amanda: No. I will say in the last year, I think I've had two introduce themselves to us. We have a third one that we just started talking to, but they didn't reach out to us. A planner for a networking event asked if she could connect us so that they could be the business for the networking event. So I reached out to them. 

It’s unfortunate because I see, just like I'm sure everyone does, posts in Facebook groups all the time where people are angry because they're not on a venue's preferred lists. Especially when it comes to bartending in our area, having a closed list where they only allow one or two companies. 

I've already talked about my personal beliefs on supporting small businesses, but at the same time, venues do have to be very particular on the liability side of things. So having a list of bartending companies is very common in our area. For us, what that looks like is, if you wanna get on that list, I need all of your insurance and TABC on file. We need you to sign my vendor rules so I know you actually read 'em and I wanna meet you. 

That's honestly how easy it is to start that relationship with us. This will be the first time in over a year we've added anybody to that list. Just because no one has reached out to us. I do think, a lot of time, emails do go unanswered both ways, and that is very frustrating. I love that you're saying, “Don't give up, reach back out. Go for it”, because you're right, sometimes we are busy. 

Other times we'll have people email us outside of our system. On our website, if you fill out a contact form, my whole team gets that. If I'm busy or if I'm out of the office for the week, then Jenna's gonna hop in there and say, “Hey, nice to meet you. She’s gone, let me help out.” So we see it and then it's really like having a naggy mom saying, “Hey, you didn't respond to this email four days ago. What's going on with that? Come on now.” We do that because we know we get busy and the last thing we wanna do is to miss meeting a new connection. 

If you email me directly, there is a chance that it's gonna get filtered out, and that's unfortunate. I would even say if they email directly, maybe hop on their website and see if there's a different pathway. 

Another thing that always gets our team's attention is social media interactions. If they get on there, and you emailed us and then we see that you're liking and commenting on our posts, and then you're you send us a message saying, “I love your space, I sent an email last week and I'm just so excited to chat more. Can I come by with, a coffee?” Odds are someone is going to reply and say, “Yes, absolutely. Let's do this.” 

So I would encourage everyone to do exactly what you're saying because unfortunately there are just times when venues are just busy. I know bartending companies are busy too. We've all got clients and we're all trying to do all the things.

Being a business owner means you’re not only wearing multiple hats, but you are going nonstop from the time you wake up to when you lay back down. I just don't think there's enough time in the day. However, as a venue owner, if you can take a moment to send that five-minute email and then follow up on it, it could start a really great relationship for you, the venue, and future clients and events. 

I think people assume they're not gonna get a response from the company. The company I met with today, said the exact same thing. He said, “I emailed 15 people and you're the only one who's responded back to me so far.”  Yeah, and that kind of stinks. 

Sarah: It does, I can see it from the venue standpoint too. The way I teach is, “Look, you're one of 80 mobile bars in the area. The venue's getting hit up all the time. So if they don't respond to you, take that next step to stand out.” 

The next step in my cold outreach strategy, which you validated for me, is to go and follow them on all their social media platforms and don't just follow them, engage, the whole purpose of the strategy is not to just get on their preferred vendor list, It's to build a connection and a relationship with them. Now you guys are members of the same community. And you get the opportunity to be around each other and know each other even if you don't work together right now.

This is a long-game strategy and you're just trying to be known in your industry. I also teach that your primary clients are the vendors and the event planners. We call you the amplifiers because you don't just have one event, you have a hundred events. 

Even though every one of your clients may not want that same mobile bar, there are options, and every mobile bar is a little different. A client is gonna connect and resonate with different bars differently. I'm just blown away that the first part where I say, “They get 80 people emailing them,” is wrong. It's wrong. I've been giving false information.

The other thing that I think might change the way I teach this is that I tell people specifically not to use your contact form on your website because I don't want people annoyed with the mobile bars for entering their lead funnel. A lot of times that contact form is going straight into your lead funnel and then your proposal system and nobody wants fake leads. Are you saying that you think it might be better to use the contact form?

Amanda: Oh yeah. For us specifically, I will say that we are very partnership-focused. We put all of our vendors into the same program as we do our clients because our goal is that this relationship works out great and we get to keep working together. We get to help each other grow and support each other in the venue, on social media, networking, and all the things. 

By having our vendors in there, we get to see we worked with them last month and we already have their COI and we’re like, “See y'all soon.” It’s awesome and it's all very streamlined. We also have a vendor kit that we send to every vendor that comes to our venue if they give us their email address. It has a cute little map and diagram, FAQs about us, and it's a one-stop shop for behind-the-scenes and everything you need to know. So that way, you don't have to waste your time emailing me back and forth a hundred times. You can just pop this open and be like, “Oh yeah, they have ice. We're good. Cool.” So we like it. 

Sarah: I'm in love with you. You are literally a dream vendor. I have this passion project. I'm not taking action on it, but it's called Vendor Sage and it is a piece of software that vendors can collaborate with information on venues because venues, historically in my experience, are so shitty at providing information on their vendor venue. 

“I don't know where to park. I don't know if you have an ice machine. I don't know what the rules and expectations are. I don't know what your load in load out policies are,” and you just basically hand it all to them. You just did all the work that we are usually spending years trying to do. 

Almost every mobile bar company I know has an internal system where they're like, “This is the venue and this is everything we learned about working there. So the next time we don't have to start from scratch.” Ugh. What a dream. 

Amanda: I have the rare experience of seeing both sides of it. I also have a rental business, and we do the same thing on that end. Where it's like Excel sheets and every year their rules change or they build something new and you're like, “Oh, no, wait, hang on, things are not like they were before.” So it is difficult. 

We're located 10 minutes from the biggest Embassy Suites in North Texas, outside of Dallas, so I'm not out in the country, it's not like people aren't reaching out to me because I'm an hour's drive from everything. There are a lot of venues in North Texas right now, which is fantastic because we all have our own style. 

I think it's easy to miss some, which is why networking events can be a great resource, and using that to meet other connections is fantastic. I'm not far away. I know of five bartending companies that are within 10 minutes of me and they've never reached out to me. I don't know if we don't align with their vision for couples, I have no clue, but I get so excited when a vendor does introduce themselves, so I wouldn't necessarily change the way you're teaching it because reaching out via email directly is fine. 

If they don't reply then maybe pop into that one in and just be like, “I just wanted to introduce myself. I didn't know if that went to spam.” Like here I am. It never bothers me when people do that. Now, if you blow me up and you send me three emails in one day, I might be like, “Sis, we gotta talk. I got things happening.” However, reaching out to follow up is never a bad thing.

Sarah: Yeah, no, people don't do it enough. There's a difference here that I teach, if it's a cold outreach, you weren't invited into their box or their space, so we need to have a different level of restraint. We also see this, and you probably see this too on the venue side, where

couples reach out and then they ghost you. 

Oftentimes business owners are like, “I don't know. I feel like one follow-up, and if they love me then they'll book me. If they don't, then whatever.” And I'm like, “No. They’ve got a lot of decisions to make. We have got to follow up. They dropped into your inbox, they invited you into their space. We can be a little bit more aggressive in how we are following up because they probably just want more information or more time. Maybe they got your quote while they were dropping their kids off at school. Who knows?” 

But yes, if you are a cold outreach we definitely wanna practice a little bit more restraint in how we are approaching people.

Tell me about a time that a mobile bar absolutely dazzled you and what it was that they did. 

Amanda: Okay. I'm glad you asked this because I was just thinking about this. There's a particular company, the first time they introduced themselves, they reached out and they, not only introduced themselves but said, “We would love the opportunity to come and join you and your team for lunch or dinner and have a cute little mocktail class as we get to know each other more.” 

They didn't just wanna meet us, they wanted to make it fun and my team just ate it up. They were like, “Yeah, let's do this. This is cool,” and they did. They came and they made a little mocktail, almost like a flight. It was like, “Here's this, that, and the other, and here's something you need to know about chilling beverages.” So my team learned something, they had fun and they didn't stop talking about it. 

Not only did they not stop talking about it and start referring them to our couples, but they also started telling all of our couples, “You should ask them to do it for your bridal shower or your bachelorette party. It's so much fun.” They actually started offering another service just to meet and get inquiries on couples just because my team just kept telling everybody about 'em. 

Then every time they come, they'll even text, our venue manager's number, and they'll be like, “Hey, do you want me to bring you a frap or a Coke Zero?” They figured out what her drink was, they have it on file somehow and they're like, “Hey, so excited to see you tomorrow. I'm bringing you a Coke Zero. Are you gonna be working?” So just making this like a friend-level commitment is great. 

A lot of times what I hear in our networking group, of just venue owners in North Texas, we meet once a quarter and it's very helpful for us, the bar is a big topic because of the liability, but also because guests and clients get really weird with the bar during the night. One of the things we were talking about is venue owners in general are tired, especially over the last couple of years. 

They're tired of people pushing their roles and asking them, “Why do we have to do that? Why can't we do what we want? Why do we have to have insurance?” They're exhausted, and the thought of starting over in a new relationship with a new company sounds exhausting because of the ones who didn't have things all put together and ready to start from a legal standpoint of their business. I can absolutely understand why mobile bars might feel exhausted or like I'm trying, but they're not letting me in. 

I would just say to keep in mind that they were probably burned by somebody and they're tired. So think of a way that matches your personality in your branding to give them a different experience. Everybody says, “We're a bar company. We want your business. Here's my hourly rate,” but I think some venues, especially the small owned venues, are so tired that if you make them feel special, and that you also want to help their business grow and thrive, they're going to eat that up and love it. 

So whether it's, “Hey, we love doing craft cocktails, we'd love to make you mocktails for lunch one day and introduce ourselves,” or if it's, “We wanna be part of a shoot you have coming up so we can really get to know you and work with you in a non-stressful environment.” Whatever it looks like, I would encourage you to get creative and show the fun side of your business because that's going to make you stand out from all these other companies as well.

Sarah: Oh my gosh, I love this. First of all, kudos to that mobile bar company. Cause that is probably one of the best things that I've heard, and they really embrace the purpose here of what we teach with the cold outreach program is that we're building a network. We're not selling, that's not the point. 

You don't want to drop into somebody's email and say, “Can you add me to your preferred vendor list?” You don’t know them, and they don't know you, why would you just say, “Sure, let me add you to my preferred vendor list because I don't have anyone else that's on it.” You're building a relationship, a connection, and a reputation.

Remembering the favorite drink that's part of what I call a maintenance program. There are two important aspects, there are actually three, but the first two of a good strategy are to be known, they need to know who you are and to be remembered. Especially after Covid, we didn't know who was still around, who was still a business, who had folded or moved on or sold their business. 

It was very easy to just feel like we were starting from scratch. I hate that. We're starting from scratch and now we need to figure out who's still around. If you can be proactive in staying at the forefront of people's minds it makes your life so much easier be remembered. These are relationships and we wanna continue to nurture those just as much as we're posting on Instagram, if not more, right? Relationships are gonna be more valuable than even having a big follower count on social media. 

Okay, so we got your dazzled story. Now share with us a nightmare story.

Amanda: There are a lot of bar nightmares scenarios. Honestly, the worst-case scenario for a venue is they allow you to come in their doors, whether that was an easy process because they haven't set strict rules yet, or if it was difficult and you earned that and you've been building this relationship if you finally get there and you are disrespectful of the rules and the policies that are in place and with the venue team. 

I think that's just the worst-case situation. We have had bartending companies who come in and, we'll gently remind them, “Hey, you can't pour shots here. I don't know if your boss told you, but that's a big no-no here. We'll get in huge trouble. The security officer will shut things down for the day. Let's not do that,” and then you continue to do it. 

That's absolutely awful because now you've put us in this situation where we have to tell the couple that they need to intervene because they ultimately hired you and they need to make sure you're following the rules or else their bar is gonna be shut down or the security officer can shut things down completely. We don't want either one of those things to happen.

We have had situations where bartenders are drinking heavily as they're serving. They're not doing it out in the open, but they're just sneaking away and we'll have either a team member catch them or we had a mother of a groom come up to us and say, “I just went out to my car and the bartender's out there drinking out of one of our bottles of whiskey what do we do?”

We've had the craziest things and I just think it's very important to be professional and to make sure that you are not only being respectful to the guests but also to the venue and their team. Ultimately, I'm not at every event, I just don't have enough hours in my day, I do rely on what my team and the couple communicate about everything that happened. 

So if they are sending me emails and my team's saying, “This was a nightmare, Amanda, they were drinking outside. They weren't following the rules. They were handing out just bottles of liquor to everyone,” which has also happened before. Not good at all. 

We did have one situation where they were heavily drinking, they were an hour late and drinking during the night and we didn't know it till the end. Afterward, they were texting the bride and our venue line on a group chat and it was not making any sense at all. Then they started sending harassing messages to both the bride and the venue because neither one of us was following them back in liking their stories on social media. 

It escalated very quickly. I would really recommend that if you're sending someone to represent your business to a venue, you make sure that they know what you expect of them and what that venue's rules are. Your sheet of, “here's the venue, here's how to load in, load out, they have ice, they don't,” is extremely helpful, and, they should absolutely utilize it. I know it takes lots of time on the backend to build that and to figure it out as you go, but I would definitely recommend you do. 

If you do have a newer team member, even if they tell you they have lots of bar experience, please don't send them solo on to an event. We get that a lot. Then they'll tell us, “Yeah, I've only done this once before and I know how to open beer bottles.” Then our team is having to full barback here and you don't know how to serve any of it. They're like, “Do I chill red wine? What do I do with this?”

And we're like, “oh no.” I know that sometimes you hire people and they're not always forthcoming with their experience. So if you are trusting someone to represent your business, please don't send them solo their first time. Make sure that they're prepared, and that your business name is upholding its standards. 

That particular scenario was where the bartender didn't know what they were doing. The owner we've known for years, so we were like, “Hey, this is what happened,” and of course, he was mortified and he was like, “They were referred from someone else. They told me they had experience. I am so sorry, what can I do?” That relationship was good, but it's because he had spent the time to get to know us, and we knew him. 

If that had been a new bartending company, they wouldn't be referred to another couple because that's a gamble, and not just for liability reasons, but when we recommend a vendor to our couple, there's a certain level of expectations they have that we've already vetted these people and that they're going to give a great service. When they don't they're mad at us. They're not necessarily, just not happy with the service, but they're also mad that we recommended them in the first place. It's this very tricky line. Don't drink on the job, please. It's not fun. 

Sarah: What a glorious list of suggestions. I highly recommend everybody take notes and make sure that they implement each and every one of these things because one of the things that I share with people is that oftentimes venues and the guests of venues don't know the difference. 

I'm not talking about the client because the client knows that you recommended this person, then they hired, but then there are 150 other guests and they assume the bar is the venue and the venue is the bar, and it is one entity. If you can't demonstrate the ability to protect the venue's reputation when you are on-site, then you are compromising not only your own business but that of the venue. 

We need to make sure as mobile bar owners, that we are being good stewards of the venue's reputation as well as our own. If you can do that, you will be best friends because it is very important. We see guests more than any other vendor; the caterer, the photographer, and the guests are visiting us 5, 6, or 10 times a night, right? We are the most visible extension of a venue, and if we can't be good stewards of that relationship, then we compromise both businesses.

Amanda: Absolutely, and unfortunately, I think it's situations that are occurring from people who don't see that value and try to do that, at least in our area, more venues are not as open and willing to speak with new companies, which is understandable, but also unfortunate for those that do provide an amazing service, and do deserve the opportunity to prove that. You're not just hurting yourself, but you're hurting other businesses in your industry. That's just a bummer because you live and you learn and that's where rules come from. 

Sarah: Yes. Oh my gosh. There's been so much value in this episode. I think this will be an amazing one for our community, potentially even for the venue community. For anyone who's listening, if you're in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, please take all of her suggestions and maybe even drop her an introduction email. Offer to do the bar at her open house, come and give cocktails to her staff and also make sure to go and follow her podcast, Behind The Party. She shares a massive wealth of information about events from behind the scenes. You’ll learn a lot from her. Amanda, it has been such a pleasure and an honor to have you on the podcast. 

Amanda: Thank you so much. I loved every minute of it and getting to speak with you and learning more about the bar side is super beneficial and I can't wait to go share it with all my venue friends.