Every guest gets acknowledged within 30 seconds of arrival at a bar seat or table.
Acknowledgment can be a quiet nod, a smile, eye contact, or a verbal greeting. It does not have to be a full conversation. It has to be visible.
A guest who waits 60+ seconds without acknowledgment is roughly 40% less likely to order a second round. First round alone: $14. Three rounds plus a snack: $55. The cost of not looking up: $41.
If you're mid-shake and a guest sits down, raise your eyes, nod, say "with you in one second." Then deliver on it.
See the Corrective Action Framework.