Tips vs. Gratuities

While twisting up a storm at Dave & Busters in Westminster the other night I ended up in a conversation that reminded me that we often confuse tips with gratuities. It is a simple enough mistake, both involve giving a subjective amount of money for a performance. However the difference is all in the timing of the thing.

When a grandmother comes up to me and hands me $20, asking me to make something really crazy for her grandchild's birthday, she is giving me a tip. I have not yet done anything to earn her patronage. In fact, I could be the WORST balloon guy in the world, and she's already put money in my hand, in the hopes that it will motivate me to do something spectacular. Tips are a motivational monetary gift.

When I do a balloon for a family and the grinning, giggling girl it hugging and happy with her balloon, the $5 that the parents give me is a gratuity. They are grateful for how I have made their daughter so happy and wish to give me something in thanks for the effort. In both of these cases, it is not a payment.

Personally, I am not a fan of tips. It is a blind assumption of skill and performance that I find rarely fits with reality. If you give me $100 to make balloons for your table, and then only 3 people want balloons, and what they want is teddy bears and flowers, there is little I can do to expand that offering. It is equally challenging when a parent pulls out $1 to give me before knowing what it is I am going to make and hands it to the child before turning away and ignoring the performance. Often that child wants a pirate ship, a mermaid, or perhaps a pod racer.

When calculating a proper gratuity for a server, I look to the effort and energy put into the work done during the meal. When giving a gratuity following a haircut, I look to see if my expectations are in line with the results, how much art was put into the efforts. When I tip my barista, it is a motivation to make a beautiful chocolate chai with maybe a little extra sweetness.

When giving a tip or a gratuity what do you consider?

Getting Sticky With It...

Why would people remember you? Really.

Are you one more well dressed business person at the networking event? Do you have a lovely card for people to lose amongst the rest of their cards? Is there anything about you, your business, or your presentation that separates you from every other Consultant, IT professional, Sales Rep, and Marketing specialist out there? What is it?

If you don't have that, you might have an easy answer to why you aren't getting as many calls as you would like. You've figured out how to fit in, not figure out how to stand out.
Be memorable and make a lasting impression.

When I bring my balloons to networking events I attract more attention than anything else I have tried. It does not matter that doing balloon art for events is not my main business. It is different and unique and people spend time talking with me about it, and how it evolved into the training I now do. We discuss environmental justice and diversity and how they all relate to balloons, and fun, and training.

Seth Godin, author of The Purple Cow, relates some absolutely amazing ideas on how to make your business STICK in the mind of your prospective clients.
Give him a read. You won't regret it.

You also do WHAT? And how does that relate to training?

We recently wrote this update for our website and was informed that a number of our blog readers were unaware of this aspect of our business. So here you go.

So long long ago, in a land far far away, before the Consulting & Speaking blended with the Silliness and Satire to create A Simple Twist as it is now, Tim was a "balloon guy" for the children, & spirited adults of Seattle & the San Francisco Bay Areas.

This existence filled his brain with all manner of interesting, strange, funny & curious ideas for balloon sculptures. From dragons & dinosaurs that fill your store window, to dresses fine enough to wear out on the town, it CAN be made from balloons. If you ask him real nice, he might just be persuaded to show you some of them.

He can also be easily bribed into coming to you or your child's birthday, bar/bat mitzvah, or perhaps entertain the young ones while you drink and be merry at your wedding reception. He has even been known to do the occasional mime-like stage performance wherein he builds some manner of tool (hammer, chainsaw, lawnmower...) and chases someone off the stage.

If you have a desire for this or some other form of latex entertainment, drop us a line.

We'll see what we can twist up for you.