A little story from last night.
I went to my usual watering hole twice last night - before and after a movie.
Before the movie, the bartender was just fine - kept small talk, kept us in
drink (I was with a friend), all was well. She got tipped accordingly.
The second time was completely different. I couldn't get a refill to save my
life. I barely got a "hello" out of her when I went back, much less a "how
was the movie?" or anything else. It's not that she was busy - there were
maybe 9 people in the place (Sundays are notoriously slow for her). She spent
the entire time I was in there down at the far end of the bar, flirting with
whoever was down there. Now, that's her business - but honestly, not keeping
up social pretenses, and more importantly, not paying attention to customer
service when it's easy and apparent to all are pretty bad ways to screw up.
She got a $1 tip on my tab (don't remember how much it was), and I sure as
hell won't be going back for awhile, if ever.
You don't have to fawn over your regulars, but make sure they feel welcome,
appreciated, and that they get served properly.