Liquid Nudging

Posted on June 3, 2009
Filed Under Jay Hepburn | Leave a Comment

Jay Hepburn is a cocktail enthusiast from London, England. He blogs at Oh Gosh! and produces the online cocktail series Oh Gosh! TV.

Having worked in the alcohol industry for 20 years, trained over 10,000 bartenders, and had drinks at no less than 20,000 bars around the world, Philip Duff knows a thing or two about serving drinks. There’s more to bartending than simply serving drinks and the art of swaying your guest to drink something tastier, more elegant or simply more profitable is something Phil calls liquid nudging. “I’d say it’s the application of personal charm (consciously or unconsciously) and choice architecture to selling more and better drinks to guests,” explained Phil when I caught up with him recently to get the low down on the session. “Like us all, [they] are hampered by prejudice, group dynamics, ignorance, expertise and conditioning to the lowest common denominator.”

It’s easy to see how Phil can sway peoples decisions – with his suave Irish charm you could imagine him selling ice to the eskimos, or, more appropriately, Manhattans to Mormons. But can he really turn a Cosmopolitan lover in to a Martini drinker? “It’s scarily effective. While not exactly in The Manchurian Candidate league, you can certainly turn a Cosmo lover into a Martini adept – I wouldn’t say I do it nightly, but, undoubtedly, weekly.”

His own bar, door 74 in Amsterdam, acts as a proof of concept for the liquid nudging philosophy. “Our menus only list cocktails, champagne and tasting flights. No beer, wine, soft drinks etc. Our fridge’s glass doors are covered with decals from which only the door 74 logo shines through. This means you can’t see row upon row of wine and soft drinks bottles lit attractively from within.” The effectiveness of these techniques is clear with spirits, cocktails and champagne accounting for 92% of sales – no mean feat in a country that, despite its Genever heritage, largely drinks beer.

In addition to the right design, interaction with the guest is also key to liquid nudging. The Sullivan Nod, named after a trainer in the US called Jim Sullivan, is a method influencing a customer’s choice when relaying a list of possible drinks. “Just nod slowly two to three time when mentioning the option you recommend in a list of options. ‘Would you like the Pegu Club (nod), Cosmo, Martini, or Bramble?’. Then [one can] bookend: say the name of the drink you want to sell first and last. ‘Would you like the Pegu Club (nod), Cosmo, Martini, Bramble or Pegu Club?’. The hit rate is 80% and up in every country around the world I’ve done it, and no-one ever notices you nod. This technique paid for my first house!”

The techniques seemed to make sense, but I remained slightly skeptical. What do you say to the customer who just wants a Sex on the Beach and won’t budge? “There are only two possible reactions: either you have all the correct ingredients – including glass and garnish – and it would be churlish not to serve it, or you do not, and it is then entirely reasonable not to do so. In my experience though, when you have a guest who will not budge you have already failed as a bar. In that situation, the order process has become a battle of the wills instead of a good-natured exchange between host and guest. It is key to sense this at an early stage and pre-emptively suggest something simpler such as a long drink. By the time the guest gets to the ‘will not budge’ stage the situation has declined. Far better to defuse it in the early stages!”

Philip Duff will be joined by fellow international drinks consultant Angus Winchester for the seminar which will include elaboration on the above techniques and much more. Liquid Nudging takes place on Sunday, July 12, in the Queen Anne Ballroom at the Hotel Monteleone. Tickets may be purchased here.