As many of my friends will confirm, I am reasonably predictable at restaurants.
I’ll spend some time scanning through the menu, genuinely looking for something different, but will end up settling for the steak. Fillet. Ideally, with a blue cheese sauce.
And hopefully, the food will all come out quickly, the steak will turn out to be as tasty as I had imagined it would be when I ordered it, and the conversation will be fun and entertaining – a fine evening.
That is, until the bill is called for. Now things get awkward.
Who is going to pay the bill? Or will we split it? And if we split it, well, let’s hope somebody has one of those restaurant bill apps because this can very easily get complicated. Should I pay more because I chose the (second) most expensive item on the menu? Or in fact, should I pay less because I didn’t have any wine? Should we just keep it simple and split evenly? What about asking for separate bills… get ready for a forced smile and a forced “No problem, Sir!” from our server.
Then comes the tip. As my friends will further attest, I am quite a generous person, but tipping is never simple for me. To make matters worse, the server has drawn a highlighter pen across their name and doodled a smiley face in a not-so-subtle attempt to draw attention to the bottom of the bill where it also happens to say, “Gratuity Not Included”. This is the Moment of Judgement.
10%? 15%? 20%? Should it be rounded up to the nearest ten pounds, or to the nearest five? I have no idea. What will the server think of me if I get it wrong? What will my friends think of me?
The truth is, paying is awkward – anywhere. In fact, asking for payment also creates an awkward moment. This is fine, and we all subconsciously accept it as long as everything else that has been experienced in the restaurant – or store – outweighs any disagreeable experience at the point of the payment transaction.
What should never happen, though, is that the lingering and lasting memory of a meal with friends or a shopping trip on a Saturday afternoon is how bad you felt when making payment.
In recent years, much has been said about how far electronic payments have progressed, and that they are now – by many measures – near frictionless. A quick fumble with the phone, tap and go. No more watching intently for who has your card and where they are taking it or signing a card payment slip. This technology is good for cashiers too, who can now take a back seat in the payment transaction and instead are able to spend more time talking, engaging and serving their customers.
Electronic payments have helped change attitudes and behaviour when it comes to payment transactions, which are now essentially self-service with minimal intervention needed from the retail staff.
Cash payment technology has also undergone many advances in recent years. Fully automated, highly reliable cash payment solutions such GLORY’s CASHINFINITYTM as have started to change customer expectations in much the same way as has been seen with electronic payments. The cashier no longer needs to be involved in the payment transaction, instead they can focus on delivering service and experience to their customer. Gone too, are the days of querying incorrect change or mistaking which denomination banknote was handed over. Easy, fast and 100% correct cash payments, each and every time.
Customer Experience is now getting a lot more focus from retailers, with huge investments in developing sophisticated and enticing in-store experiences. The customer’s memory should be about everything up to the point where they have to pay, because no amount of experience will ever make up for an awkward payment transaction.
Now, if only I can figure out how to tip properly…
