5 Alcohol Compliance Tips with Stinger Compliance Founder
Cliff Crider, Founder of Stinger Compliance
They say that the best solutions are built by people who experienced the problem firsthand. This rings true with the founder of Stinger Compliance, Cliff Crider. Crider has ten years of experience as a restaurateur and bar owner in Georgia and falls into the camp of “alcohol compliance-obsessed.”
It’s due to this fervor for alcohol compliance that Crider began building Stinger Compliance in 2023. A recent conversation with Crider exposes the wisdom he has gained throughout his many years of experience in the industry.
Tip #1 – Go Above and Beyond to Avoid Serving Alcohol to Minors
“My number one priority is not serving alcohol to minors,” says Crider.
This isn’t a shock to hear from the restaurateur, as selling alcohol to minors is one of the main problems Stinger Compliance tackles.
“It’s all about lowering my risk as a bar owner. Handing a beer to a minor is bad, handing a second beer to a minor is worse. You can lose everything if you mishandle this area of your business.”
Crider emphasizes that the first line of defense against selling alcohol to minors is a vigilant workforce trained to ask for identification and take alcohol compliance seriously. Without this “religion of compliance,” as Cliff calls it, professional bar owners and bartenders open themselves up to risk of fines, penalties, and even jail time. A business owner’s livelihood depends on their staff members following the law.
“You also need to remember how creative someone under the legal drinking age will be to drink in your bar. It’s for this reason that you need to make sure everyone knows you mean business.”
Crider reminds business owners that individuals under the legal drinking age of 21 will do just about anything to drink at their bar. They’ll use fake identification, use their older brother or sister’s ID, tape over their birth year, distract staff members to sneak into an age-restricted bar, or even have an older friend purchase the alcohol. Employees of any establishment selling alcohol (or tobacco) products should stay alert and ensure they can identify fake identification.
To deter underage individuals from trying to bypass the law and purchase age-restricted products, Crider gives some meaningful advice:
“The use of large signage that states ‘We Card,’ ‘We Check ID,’ or ‘We Prosecute’ can go a long way in deterring minors from using fake IDs at your establishment. They need to know that you will enforce the law and make it harder for them to get alcohol at your bar than it is down the street.”
Business owners selling age-restricted products like alcohol and tobacco should make alcohol compliance the goal as if their livelihoods depend on it. Because, according to Crider, it does.
Check out our previous blogs for more compliance tips to on preventing illegal sales to minors:
Tip #2 – Keep The Community In Mind
Crider, Stinger Compliance’s resident expert, championed his message of alcohol compliance further by sharing another often neglected aspect of being a business owner: the responsibility to the community.
“Be a steward of the community. Be a good neighbor.”
Keeping the community safe is a byproduct of alcohol compliance. Safety for the community means safety for customers, neighbors, and the first responders to alcohol-related incidents caused by gross negligence.
Crider also detailed the many instances where neighboring bars and restaurants failed Municipal Stings and were penalized or shut down completely. It’s not just a problem for the staff and owners of that establishment, but it’s a disappointment to the community members who were impacted by the negligence.
Check out our previous blogs for more information on keeping communities safe through compliance:
Tip #3 – Employee Management
For new and tenured business owners alike, Crider provides tips on hiring and training practices to ensure high-functioning teams.
“Make sure your staff is vigilant and takes this stuff [alcohol compliance] personally.”
Success in alcohol compliance starts with training and enforcing the rules with team members. Staff members (bartenders, security staff, waiters, etc) who take compliance personally are essential for the health of businesses selling age-restricted products.
“If they respect the owners and enjoy the place where they work, then they’re going to try to please the ownership and management and keep their jobs.”
Like we’ve stated before, a lack of alcohol compliance puts the livelihoods of all involved at risk. If employees value their jobs and enjoy the work environment, they will be more likely to adhere to the alcohol compliance rules and local laws. Crider goes a step further by making an important distinction between professional staff members and “those just passing through.”
“The professional career food & beverage workers know this is part of their job. They know that maintaining compliance and not over-serving is part of their professional guidelines. The ones that are just passing through may not have the religion of alcohol compliance.”
This distinction between the two types of employees within the food and beverage industry, or any customer service industry selling age-restricted products, is important for business owners. Strong vetting and subsequent training can protect business owners from unnecessary risks. If the employee doesn’t take alcohol compliance personally or professionally, it may be that the talent search should continue.
“The compliance training that you enforce will weed out the bartenders that aren’t serious and hiring a company that actively Stings will ensure the bartenders remember to be vigilant.”
Before Cliff began Stinger Compliance, he used other services to privately Sting his own locations and to check on his employees’ adherence to the rules. If employees were found to be slacking on alcohol compliance – not checking IDs, over-serving, etc – he would have the proof he needs to enforce penalties on the staff member or fire them outright.
Crider lamented on an instance where he had to fire his “favorite bartender” a few years back. The employee was a wonderful staff member, but failed to check identification for someone who was obviously under the age of 40 during a private Sting. As their alcohol policy enforced ID checks for anyone under 40 years of age, the employee had to be removed. Stings, again, are not used to penalize individuals, but to protect the livelihoods of the business owners and the other employees depending on the job to pay their bills.
Tip #4 – The Must Haves for Opening Day
Crider acknowledges that opening a restaurant, bar, or shop is a difficult job. There are many balls in the air leading up to opening day, but there are several glass balls that must not be dropped.
“There are things that will fall through the cracks. You won’t be able to do everything that you need to do – compliance has to be the priority for your opening effort.”
The Stinger Compliance founder then provides a quick list of the high priority items that must be completed prior to opening day:
“You cannot skimp on having an alcohol policy.”
“You have to have the proper signage.”
“You have to know the local laws.”
“You have to check IDs.”
“You have to hire people that know [alcohol compliance] is mission critical work.”
In addition to scheduling private Stings, Crider urges business owners to have an alcohol policy in place and to ensure all employees sign and acknowledge the policy before beginning work. This document lays out the rules regarding the sale of alcohol and provides a warning on the penalties if the alcohol policy is violated by any employee. This, in combination with the private Stings and SafeServ classes, provides owners with the tools necessary to protect their business against negligence.
We then asked if having an alcohol attorney is necessary for new business owners.
“We have an alcohol attorney, but it’s more of a luxury in the beginning. It’s a necessity when there is an issue. You may not need an attorney at first, but you do need an alcohol policy. Every single employee needs to sign it.”
If obtaining an alcohol license proves complicated, an alcohol attorney can help by doing the necessary paperwork and ensuring a business is legitimate and protected. In these cases, Crider urges business owners to employ an attorney for assistance.
Tip #5 – Regularly Check Compliance
As mentioned before, Crider conducts private stings at his own restaurants and bars. He strongly believes that alcohol compliance is one of the top reasons for his success as a restaurant and bar owner here in Georgia. Here’s what he has to say about the value of private Stings:
“[Private Stings] polish the sword – they verify who is doing things well and who is not. It will improve your business exponentially to know when you have an employee who is jeopardizing your livelihood.”
Cliff argues that private Stings not only keep employees in line, but that they prove to outside parties that the business owners are following the law.
“Part of the reason we sting our own business is to show that we’re doing the right things, and that if things go wrong in the future we can show we are not being negligent. It’s those bars that are negligent that can lose it all.“
Crider schedules monthly private Stings for all of his locations and manages his workforce based on the findings. It’s a no-brainer as he depends on the success of his businesses to provide a living for his family, the families of his staff, and the health and safety of his community.
Next Steps
It’s not difficult to see the many benefits that private Stings through Stinger Compliance can bring to any business owner’s operations. Through these anonymous checks, Stingers visit locations and check that staff members are following the law and any company policies. Directly after the Sting, business owners receive a notification and will be able to read a full report of the Stinger’s findings. Stinger Compliance Stings are completely risk-free and there are no contracts needed!
Stinger Compliance has three tiered packages that provide identification checks, quality checks, and the capability to add custom survey questions. Stinger Compliance partners with business owners to increase their confidence through compliance!
Ready to see the many benefits of partnering with Stinger Compliance? Become a client today!
