Tap Room Playbook Episode 2: Check Your Experience

We have conversations with tap room managers all the time and one of the most common areas that they recognize is that their experience is lacking because all they have the bandwidth to do is keep the place clean and put out good beer. When they really think about it, what they’re missing is the hospitality aspect of the brewery business.

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If your brewery is lacking experience, it’s usually a symptom of one of two problems: 

• A very lean staffing pool, especially when it comes to new breweries. 
• A downstream impact of lean staffing -- the staff you have need to be responsible for a lot of different tasks, both in the tap room and in the back-of-house.

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When evaluating your tap room experience, start by thinking through the customer journey that you want to create. What does that experience look like from the time the guest walks in until the time that they step their foot out your door? One way to get ideas is to think back to when you’ve had memorable experiences elsewhere. There are a lot of breweries that are doing innovative things, but it’s hard to see why those experiences work without going and seeing them for yourself.

Once you’ve thought through your ideal brewery customer journey, go gather feedback from those in your area who are doing it well. The brewery space is unique in many ways, not least of which is that most brewers don’t see other breweries as competitors. In fact, they usually view their brewery counterparts as part of a community. As a result, they are often open to sharing feedback and best practices. It’s one of the reasons GoTab joined so many brewery associations. As members of the brewery community, they’re going to be the ones to learn from. Most of the time, those breweries are happy to be able to share their knowledge. In the end, it’s only going to boost the local community and craft beer scene.

Above all, when you’re thinking about the experience in your brewery, remember that people are not coming to your brewery to just have a good beer. They are coming to your brewery, especially the ones who come more than once, because there’s something about the experience they enjoy. Conversely, if you’re not seeing the level of return guests and loyalty you would like for your brewery, it’s best to start by diagnosing the experience. While having great beer is table stakes, the best breweries are always looking to see how they can go a step above by creating an environment and vibe that people enjoy. That’s called hospitality, and it’s one of the least appreciated aspects of successful breweries and tap rooms. 

In our next video we talk about some of the kick a** brewery brands we’ve come across and what we believe are the secrets to their success.

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