This is really cute…
Hi again, Steve,
I just had to write again and let you know what’s going on. Seems every day is something new and exciting.
Today there was a little boy who very much wanted a hot dog with VERY MUCH relish on it! He LOVES relish.
His mother told me he made a sandwich the other day with relish, mustard and green beans. When I told him that actually sounded good, he curled up his little 4 year old nose and said, “NO! It was disgusting!”
My brother commented that he must love his veggies and again, he said NO, I hate ’em! This is when it got real cute.
I asked him if he knew what relish was made of, and he said no. “CUCUMBERS!” Well, he looked like he was about to cry, so I said I was just kidding. It’s really made out of pickles. “OH, that’s ok then. I LOVE pickles!”
Robin
******************
LOL!!!
Like I always say, this is the “funnest” business in the world!
Thanks Robin!
-Steve
Cute story, enjoyed, kids make this business fun…
Duggs Doggs
Good!! Good!!
My question is i dont remember a class in
School about what pickles are made from ?
That is a cute story you might lose a customer
If he finds out the truth lol
speaking of relish. Custies ask if I like what I do and I tell them “I relish it!!”
I also use Heinze(sp?) dill relish people really use it up. I figure one bottle per 40 people. I let them put on their own saves me time. “Sell em all”
I use the Heinz dill relish as well…but just for the special Seattle dog which is
loaded with bar-b-que sauce, the dill relish and topped with cream cheese out
of the gun……my regular relish is the sweet variety. Question is Steve, everybody,
does putting the condiments on for the customer increase your tips or do most
slingers let the customer do their own condiments and let the “chips” fall where
they may? Do most slingers have tip jars? Just a thought for discussion.
We have a tip jar, our tips are split between our daughter, when she helps and the Humane Society..We put on the relish and onions, we have them put on their own mustards and ketchup, we also carry different flavors of mustard and they love hot sauce!!
Nice! I like the split. Very democratic. Thanks for your comment Barb!
I let customers load up themselves, to save time, although I have often thought that if I did it, as I see Steve does it in his video, then the control is there as well as the appreciation, thus the tips.
I don’t get many tips, and decided it is my tip jar. It is a red can from a tire store with
‘tips’ written on it.A nice can, but a can, nonetheless My neighbour vendor this weekend calls his food truck ‘This Little Piggy’ and has a pink pig for his tips. He seems to do quite well, so I think I need to find something unique to catch those tips. Also, I find if I price my hotdogs with a fraction like $3.50 instead of rounding it off to the dollar, they tend to throw the change into the can rather than add to the change in their pocket. So I am now on the hunt for a conversation piece tip jar that people will enjoy filling. Any suggestions are most welcome.
Lynda
I let people do their own dogs and I use a glass candle holder with a picture of Jimi Hendrix and a caption that says ” S’cuse me while I tip this guy!” Some people don’t know who he is, can you believe it?
Because I let custies put on their own(I sling about a dog a minute when real busy) I only offer ketchup, mustard, relish and celery salt. Only now and then do some ask for onions( I say the HD is to tough for that) My last event I served 340 dogs in a number of hours(8) not to busy but, the tip jar yielded about 90$
Jerry again, I had a Dad ask if I had a knife one time since he had to skin the dog or his son would not eat it!!! He was happy when I told him my dogs where skinless.
it really depends on the HD, here where i am at the HD wont let customers put on their own condiments, unless you give them those packets, but alot of people do not like those, plus they always take a ton of them to take back home. I do give them the packets of mayonaisse but thats it, (i rarely get request for mayonaisse). Everything else i put on, if you have a good set up you can put it all on yourself, and make the dog look nice and spend very little time on it. However if you have large crowds or lines, as i did at NBA games, (steve and i spoke on this) cutting down condiments to improve speed of service is very important.
Maybe I didn’t give it enough chance, but I found that when I put out a tip jar I didn’t get ANY tips. I took it away and people are quite willing to tip me. Maybe It’s just me, but I feel like if I put out a jar, people think I’m expecting something, and in this tight economy, especially here in CT, they tighten up on it. I do pretty well with tips otherwise. Especially with acts of pure kindness. People know my reputation of giving people free drinks if they come up to me after a run around the lake on a hot day and they had left their wallets in the car. They ALWAYS come back to pay and yesterday I got a $3 tip on a $2 product!
Never turn away hungry kids or thirst.
By the way, Steve,
You’re full of surprises:)
my tip jar is a quart size mason jar that is velcro’d to the top of the napkin
dispenser and labeled “tips” and (“my 401K”) in brackets underneath.
Some days I do pretty good 🙂
Robin, Steve et al,
reat story, loved it. I just signed up for HDCN this weekend, wow what a lot of information. I hope to put it all to good use within the next few weeks/months as I plan on getting my first cart going. Thanks.
Robin you are so right on about the tip jar. I see so many carts with jars saying “tips are good carma” or “tips accepted here”. My customers say keep the change. They give me a $5.00 bill for $3.50 total. After I dress their dog , and ask you sure you dont want a pickle or peppers on this?
Customers leave great tips, but I do not use a tip jar. I offer 16 fresh condiments, and my 6 tier condiment tray offers kraut, sweet green relish, chopped tomato, diced onion, jalapenos, and my own creation, “Vietcong Ambush” relish. It is 3/4 tuong ot toi (Vietnamese hot chili/garlic sauce), about 20 diced up hot little peppers from my neighbors bush, and a mashed up mango, all stirred up. Even my customers who claim to be unphased by hot food cry, hiccup and sweat when they put it on their Dawg. Promotes the sale of my cold sodas and water, too! BTW, the biggest condiment movers are the jalapenos followed by the onions.
Best tip jar ever
I have been wanting to try dill relish! I think its on for next week. Use a tip jar that is clear and good size. People see the tips and there is plenty of room for more!
kids made this relishgate fun? waaa?