A Chicago bartender makes thousands of dollars working at a ‘midnight ballerina’ club and shares how different the job is from a traditional bar. Now, she says she could “sell water to a fish” after learning sales tactics from the dancers she works with.
TikToker and strip club bartender Jay (@honduranlove) warns that the job is “not for the weak” before sharing her thoughts on the gig. The now-viral video has reached over 14,000 views.
What’s it like working as a ‘midnight ballerina’ bartender?
“You have to know how to [expletive] hustle,” she says. “You have to learn how to take [expletive] from men.”
Jay shares that the club where she works allows bartenders to “do rooms.” This usually involves convincing one of the patrons to drop a certain amount of money for private service in a separate area of the club.
“It used to be that we could do rooms by ourselves. Now we have to get a [dancer] to also do rooms with you,” she explains, saying that the dancers were unhappy with the original rule.
However, Jay says she’s learned great sales tactics from the dancers. And it pays off as she makes more than the $17.61 per hour average that conventional bartenders bring in, according to Homebase.
“To have to convince somebody, a man, to take you and a dancer that he probably don’t even know or like to spend at least well-over two grand…,” she says. “I will tell y’all I learned to hustle my a– off.”
What sales tactics do dancers use?
While Jay doesn’t share her exact secrets, strippers on Reddit share theirs for getting customers to drop hundreds of dollars during their shifts. On the r/sales subreddit, dancers share how they get patrons to agree to book a private room.
“Be empathetic and genuine to the customer. Don’t try to coax them into the room. Figure out why they are at the strip club in the first place and then work that into your pitch. But most of all be genuine,” one suggests.
Another writes, “In all of these instances, and more, you WILL have to play therapist and entertain fantasy to various degrees, if you want a long-term customer. A regular. Which is what you want for these rooms.”
Some advice even works for non-dancer jobs. In the r/stripper subreddit, one suggests “making statements” and pitching expensive options first to get better results.
They write, “Don’t ASK for a dance, but tell the customer YOU want to dance for them. This works for many different reasons! YOU are taking control of the interaction when you make a statement.”
As for convincing customers to spend big bucks, the dancer recommends starting off with the highest price to make lower options seem like a great deal.
“If a higher-end option is presented first, then a mid or low range option seems cheap in comparison or like a more reasonable, affordable choice,” they continue. And there’s always an off chance the customer will go with the pricier option.
“You may be underselling yourself. You could have pitched a 30 minute to someone who would have been willing to purchase an hour!” the dancer explains.
@honduranlove Not for the weak ? #bartender #bottlegirl #nightlife ♬ original sound – Jay????
The Mary Sue reached out to Jay via email and TikTok direct message for further comment.
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