Bottle Service Can Make Clubs And Communities Safer

We live in a litigious society. In some cases it is hard to believe any court would entertain them let alone award someone a settlement.  As an example, from the website “Howstuffworks.com” by Clint Pumphrey, he cites a case from 2009 in which a woman, who was 20 years old at the time, was served alcohol at a bar and grill in Bluffton, South Carolina. The young woman was intoxicated and shortly after leaving the bar, she lost control of her car and rolled it (she was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident). Due to her injuries she is paraplegic. The woman sued the bar and grill for not verifying her age and ensuring she was not already inebriated. She also sued the SCDOT claiming that there was a defect in the shoulder of the road they were responsible for maintaining.  After doing some searching on court records, it appears the lawsuits were dismissed. I feel for the young woman who now has to live her life in paralysis, but she refused to take responsibility for her own actions which caused her injuries. This case was a win for the bar owner, but if you own a nightclub or bar can you afford to take a chance that you might not be the next defendant?  What happens if someone has too much to drink, leaves your establishment, has an accident and injures someone else, will you be held responsible? It could happen. According to a USA TODAY article dated November 28, 2012 by Larry Copeland, a young couple in Charlotte North Carolina was critically injured and their unborn child killed when their car was struck by an intoxicated driver. The driver had left a Restaurant and Bar and had been served at least ten drinks, according to the report. A jury awarded the couple 1.7 million dollars against the restaurant. My heart goes out to these victims, no one wants to see another person killed or injured. Bottle Service paired with bottle locks for alcohol is an offering you should consider starting in your nightclub to help you avoid being a party to such lawsuits.
     

Bottle Service varies in how it works from club to club, but the general idea is that you offer a V.I.P. reservation to a party and they receive special treatment from your nightclub. This may include a special table or a room with a view of the club dance floor. It should also include a dedicated server who will bring mixers and a bottle or two of a top shelf wine or spirit. The bottle(s) should be secured with bottle locks to restrict the access to the bottle. The lock goes over the top of the bottle and prevents someone from opening it without a special key. Your wait staff would have that key so when someone is ready for another drink the amount of alcohol poured is controlled. This also keeps someone from taking the bottle when they are not a member of the party which has paid for it.  By having a dedicated server who is monitoring the pouring of the drinks and the amount of consumption, the club owner or manager helps to prevent a customer from getting too intoxicated. Properly trained staff can identify those in a group who may be getting to the point where they should be cut off from further alcoholic beverages. If done properly, it would be possible to have a requirement for a designated driver or a cab service to drive revelers home when they appear to be intoxicated. 

Another protection for your nightclub if you offer a bottle service is that your dedicated waiter or waitress can check IDs when the party arrives. Once the age of members has been verified, the risk of serving an underage patron is removed. If a member of the group is under 21, the security offered by bottle locks will prevent that person from pouring themselves a drink. 

Bottle Service and bottle locks may not remove all the legal challenges associated with operating a nightclub, but they go a long way to reducing risk. Make every effort to run a fun, safe business for your customers and community, look into the benefits of starting a bottle service.

For more information on bottle service, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547   

Nightclubs With Bottle Service Profit By Adding Pizzazz To Parties

To the nightclub owners and managers out there who are looking for new ideas to make your club more profitable, the following scenarios are for you: OH BOY!  It’s your birthday and you want to celebrate? How about having some family and friends over for some cake and fun party hats and a game of charades? Planning a class reunion and you want to go to the former high school and reminisce about “the good old days”? Go all out and add a punch bowl and cookies THAT will be fun!  Maybe it is an office party you are planning and nothing is more special than meeting in the office and everyone bringing a dessert tray! I am not poking fun at any of these suggestions they actually fall right up my alley (all except for the charades and party hats and I really didn’t like high school, so nix that idea), but there are people who are looking to spice up their celebrations. One great idea is to take your party to a nightclub that offers a bottle service.

I know you want to ask me what is the difference between taking your group to a club and having a good time or going to a nightclub with a bottle service? Well, there is quite a bit of difference. Think of it like this, anyone can go to a baseball game and get general admission tickets and if you aren’t stuck up in the nosebleed section or behind a pillar, you might get to see some of the ball game (you might also be stuck next to the drunk guy with the stupid foam finger, screaming in your ear). Someone that goes to that same ball game and gets box seats sits near the action, has more room, better access to EVERYTHING! (I am not that guy). Bottle Service at a nightclub comes in the form of a VIP reservation and varying levels of service. One tier of service may sit you at a private booth near the dancefloor and the DJ while another level of service may offer a private room overlooking the dancefloor. Regardless of the VIP level you purchase, all come with a bottle (or two, depending on the level) of top shelf wine or spirits. A bottle service waiter or waitress is usually dedicated to serve the group. The price for the bottle(s) is significantly marked up but this is offset by the personal attention the group receives from the server. The bottle of choice is also secured with a bottle lock that can only be opened by the server with a special key they carry.  

So now you want to know how your group benefits from the waiter or waitress with a bottle lock key. You may even want to know why you aren’t just pouring your own drinks. The bottle lock keeps people who are not members of your party from sneaking drinks from your bottle. Even with a dedicated server, you are still in nightclub and things can be a bit hectic. The bottle lock also keeps members of your own party from over filling their drinks. Your waiter or waitress pours your drinks and mixes them for you, ensuring a proper serving is measured out. Once a round of drinks is poured the bottle lock goes back on and bottle is secured until time for another round. Bottle locks also help you to keep your party fun and controlled. If a member of the group is starting to go from life of the party to the drunk with the foam finger, the server can deny further access to the bottle since he or she has the bottle lock key.

If you are the owner of a nightclub and you want to increase profits, put yourself in the place of the person wanting to add pizzazz to their party. Make your clients feel like VIPs and add a bottle service to your business with dedicated staff and bottle locks. And hey, throw in a game of charades if you want to!

For more information on bottle service, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 

A Bottle Service Comparison

Let’s take a look at how different a night can be at a nightclub that offers bottle service and one that does not.  First, we’ll look at the one that does not offer this VIP treatment.  Your patrons arrive for the night and they all stand outside waiting in line to get in.  This is not necessarily a bad thing, but if you have a group there for a special occasion, they would probably like you to “dress up the presentation” a little for them.  Well, after that wait, they all follow the cattle line, get their identifications checked and hopefully find seats.  If it’s cold or rainy outside, they’ll likely want a place to put their things down; nobody wants to carry their things all night.  Then right before the entertainment starts, they all have to fight the crowd at the bar.  They have to get noticed by a bartender, order their drinks, and then wait and hope they get the right thing.  It’s a battle all night just to have a good time, and it’s not the way to get repeat business.  In the bar and nightclub scene, there’s so much competition, your business has to have a way to stand out and get noticed.

That’s why offering bottle service can set your establishment apart from the others.  Imagine this scenario and just relish in the differences of the experience.  You still have the general admission line; that won’t go away.  In fact you need those people to fill your other tables and dance floor.  But when you have people that have paid ahead of time for bottle service, they have their own entrance, or they just get to come in without waiting.  When they get inside, they are shown to their private table or booth where they have a guaranteed seat and space to put their things down.  They usually have already made these reservations, so you have their selections ready.  In order to use the VIP area, they must agree to purchase whole bottles of top shelf spirits.  There is generally a two to three bottle minimum, depending on the number of people in the party.  These bottles cost the party-goers about $350 each, on average.  They are also provided their choice of mixers, condiments and ice.  Plus they are assigned a private waitress for their evening.  This is how people want to celebrate a special evening.  Promotions, parties, and birthdays are the biggest reasons people want to come out and drink with a group of friends.  They’ll be more likely to bring their group to your nightclub if you offer bottle service.  

The whole point is to provide a great, high end, experience for your guests.  Your staff will love it too because the price of bottle service includes the gratuity, so that gets prepaid and they don’t have to worry about getting shafted and short changed by a big party.  If you decide to take a look into offering bottle services, here are some additional tips to make it work smoothly.  First, invest in bottle locks.  You can’t have your guests pouring their own drinks over there, so keeping them secured while they are out on the table is paramount.  Then equip your waitresses and servers with EASy bottle.  This is a special key that quickly opens the bottle locks, and is on a retractable cord so the waitress is always in control.  Bottle service, along with these tools, turns a nice night out into an experience they won’t soon forget.  

For more information of Bottle Service, contact us or call: 1.770.426.0547  

Pouring Out Profits In Your Nightclub? Bottle Service Bolsters Sales!

I know that all businesses face shortage and loss in various forms. It may be operational loss due to poor procedures or lack of training. It can be due to vendors not billing properly or shorting a business of product. There is also loss due to dishonest employees. My background is retail loss prevention, but I have found that much of what I learned over the years in the retail business has an equivalent in other businesses such as restaurants, grocery stores, etc. In the case of nightclubs and bars, loss can occur with alcohol but bottle service may be part of the solution to this problem.

In a club or bar the bartender has the ability to control how much he or she pours for patrons. There are bartenders who will pour too much alcohol into drinks for friends. This of course costs the nightclub money since it eats into the profit each bottle provides. Instead of relying solely on a bartender, a club that offers bottle service provides a bottle or two of a top shelf liquor or wine to a group as part of the purchase price of the package. The service includes a table in a prime location, usually somewhere near the dance floor. If it is a large enough group, there is possibly a room reserved with a view of the band and dance floor. The final perk is a dedicated waiter or waitress to serve the group while they are in the club. 

The bottles served to the group come with bottle locks that can only be removed by the server. The bottle locks prevent anyone not a part of the group from accessing the beverages. The locks are tamper proof and are nearly impossible to be pried off the bottle. The server carries a portable detachment key that is used to unlock the cap when drinks are to be poured. Drinks are served from the bottles only by the group’s waiter or waitress. Since the bottles belong to the group, there is no “over pouring” a drink with more alcohol than has been paid for in advance.  

In addition to bartenders causing loss due to over pouring, whether intentionally or not, there is also the issue of mixing up orders. In a nightclub, the crowds at the bar can make it difficult for bartenders and servers to get orders correct. Anytime a drink is picked up by the wrong patron or not poured and mixed improperly the chances are good a patron is going to send the drink back expecting a replacement or expect a drink they never received in the first place. Nightclubs with a bottle service avoid this because the waitress or waiter is not trying to serve a large group of people ordering at the same time.  Their focus is on the small group they are waiting on. Chances of error are greatly reduced in this situation.  

Nightclubs can benefit in a number of ways by incorporating a bottle service into their operation. A personalized club experience with a dedicated wait staff can be an effective method to create repeat business. Using bottle locks will provide security for a group’s purchase, protecting it from party crashers. Finally, a dedicated waiter or waitress controls the flow of alcohol from pre-purchased bottles. There is none of the opportunity for pouring excessive amounts of alcohol as is the case in a regular club situation. Take the opportunity to reduce profit loss, consider making bottle service a part of your business.

For more information on bottle service contact us or call 1.770.426.0547

Protect Profits From Pricey Premiums – Consider The Benefits Of A Bottle Service

Bars and nightclubs are high energy, fast paced environments. But like any business, they have their own unique challenges and risks associated with them. Because they sell alcohol, the potential liabilities club owners and even employees face can be a little intimidating. No business owner wants to have to contest a lawsuit, but in today’s litigious society, there always seems to be someone seeking to make a quick buck. This is not to infer there are not legitimate claims out there, but many lawsuits are trivial and looking for that fast settlement. So what can an owner do to protect his or her interests and still run a profitable club or bar? Why not take a look at the advantages of starting a bottle service that includes Alpha bottle locks to minimize liabilities?

Unfortunately where alcohol is served, there is a strong likelihood that at some point someone will become too intoxicated and a fight will break out. If a nightclub has a bottle service option, a well-trained serving staff can monitor alcohol consumption by the parties they are serving. How so? This service provides customers who purchase it, special treatment and a dedicated server. The level of service purchased determines the number of and type of bottled alcohol beverages they will be served. The bottles come with bottle locks, such as the Alpha EASy bottle guard, that can only be opened with a key held by the server. The server controls the amount of alcohol consumed by members of a group and can determine if an individual may have reached their limit and can stop serving that person. Think of the benefit to your nightclub if you could cut off alcohol to patrons before they hit a level of intoxication that might contribute to a fight.  

Starting and running bars and clubs costs money. One must invest in a building, equipment, merchandise (in this case primarily alcoholic beverages) and staff. While nightclubs have the potential to bring in significant profits, there are expenses that have to be controlled or those profits will quickly dwindle away. Insurance is one of those costs required for any business, but the bar and club owner have to be sure to have coverage for more than just liability coverage. Do you have property insurance to cover damages due to broken property if a fight breaks out? Furnishings, glasses, signs, even the exterior of the building such as landscaping need to be covered. If, as mentioned above, your wait staff is trained to identify customers who are becoming too intoxicated they can use their customer service training and control of the bottle lock key to cut off drinks to a patron who may start a fight, become involved in a fight, or simply start falling into things and breaking them. Prevention can save you on insurance by not having to file claims.  

Is your club insured for liability that covers dram shop laws? These laws hold bars and clubs liable if they serve a person that is intoxicated and that person injures a third party, which may include car accidents. Making bottle service an option in your club may help to limit this risk. Trained staff who may suspect a member of the party they are serving has had too much to drink they can keep the EASy bottle lock on and prevent further service. They can partner with management to make arrangements for a taxi, or they can work with a party leader to ensure there is a designated driver who can get the patron home. 

Use of EASy bottle locks can also protect a bar or club owner against employee theft, another concern when looking at property insurance. It is not a pleasant thought to consider that your employees might steal from you, but it happens and in a club without controls in place, employees could easily hide bottles and leave with them. Having an EAS system and using EASy bottle locks, you can deter employees from leaving work with your product, since the lock will alarm at the antenna. As long as you have key controls in place, employees will not be able to get the caps off if they were to get a bottle home. Lose too many bottles and you may have to file property loss claims against your insurer. 

Taking steps to minimize insurance claims, by using bottle service in your nightclub and Alpha locks on your bottles can reduce your expenses. Fewer insurance claims leads to more money in your pocket.  See if bottle service might be the right fit for your club.

For more information on bottle service contact us or call 1.770.426.0547