David Hayden wants to change the way servers are trained

In one of the world’s most popular professions, the concept of professional development is still a hard sell. David Hayden — a server here in Kansas City — has launched a new blog, Tips on Improving Your Tips, as the first step in his plan to change the way servers are taught to interact with guests. 

“You probably eat out a lot, but I do this for a living,” says Hayden, who estimates that he has served more than 100,000 tables.

Every one of those tables has been a controlled experiment.    

“I realized I had this knowledge to use my analytical skills to keep this career from dying,” Hayden says.
 
“This is the most interesting sales job in the world — it’s the only

one where your customer determines your commission rate,” he says.

One of his practical suggestions: “If you can use it to describe a car, don’t use it to describe food.”