How to Earn Better Tips on Postmates

If you want to make a living as a Postmate, you have to learn how to earn better tips. After all, most of your income will come from tips, like with any other delivery service (Uber Eats, DoorDash, and others).

Ultimately, pleasing the customer should be your number one priority. Happy customers tip better; it’s a well-known fact. For that reason, we’ll teach you how to improve your customer service technique.

Advice from Postmates

On the support website, Postmastes advise all employees to be communicative, efficient, polite, and considerate. Whilst useful advice, it’s sometimes difficult to follow. In this article, you’ll see a thorough breakdown of each of those tips, which will help you earn better tips (sorry, that pun was a freebie).

Be Communicative

Communication is incredibly important in all aspects of life. Failing to communicate with the customer can often result in smaller tips. Make sure to introduce yourself, and alert of the customer to any relevant information about their order.

Keep in touch when something goes wrong, e.g., there’s a traffic jam, or there’s a delay at the merchant. If in doubt, contact the customer. In case some items they ordered aren’t available, ask which replacements you should get. Don’t make these decisions yourself.

Talk to the customer if you get lost and need more instructions. Try to deliver everything to their front door, if possible. In case you can’t call or text the customer for some reason, inform them of a situation via the app (e.g., mark items from their order which are not available).

Always keep your Postmates Fleet app updated, it’s your primary work tool, after all.

Efficiency Makes the Most Tips

Making efficient deliveries is what gets you the most tips. If you’re quick making your delivery, the customer will be satisfied. Consider staying in a hot spot area (where most orders are made, e.g., a place with many local restaurants), so you can get there faster. Knowing the town, and these hot areas, can help you to move around more quickly, earning you more money.

Doing so will increase your daily number of deliveries too. Try to be available during peak hours, especially at weekends. That’s when you can make the most money on Postmates. Use the Fleet app to inform the customer that you’ve started the pickup and the drop-off. Simply select those options, but be truthful.

Confirm your drop-off only after you’ve given the customer what they ordered.

Stay Polite

No matter what, don’t lose your cool. Always be polite to the customer, even if they aren’t in return. Try to smile, introduce yourself, thank the customer, and stick to the pleasantries. Being courteous will go a long way, you’ll get better tips, and maybe even some regular custom.

If you can, think ahead and make subtle improvements to the service (e.g., always remember to get extra condiments, plastic utensils, napkins, etc.). Things customers are sure to appreciate it.

Another critical aspect of the delivery is how you present it. Nobody likes getting their food cold. Get some insulation bags and additional practical tools to help you out (e.g., a phone holder for your car).

The customer can’t blame you if the merchant’s item wasn’t to their liking, as long as you present it in the best possible fashion, and deliver it in time.

More Info on Postmates Tipping

If you’re new to the platform, perhaps you need some 101 on tipping. When you make a successful delivery, and mark it as completed, the customer will get a push notification to leave you a tip. They need to tip you if they want to make any new orders, so your tip is nearly always guaranteed.

You’ll see the tip in your Postmates app, under the Deliveries section. Note that the tip won’t appear for 24 hours (or more) after the delivery. It is just how the system works, and the customer isn’t at fault here.

There are no set rules for the tip amount on Postmates. The app suggests a 20% tip for each delivery, but it can be higher or lower, depending on the customer’s choice. In other words, some days you’ll be making a lot from tips, while on other days the tips may run dry.

Patience Is Key

In the service industry, you have to be patient and do your best if you want to earn better tips. If you always do that, most of the time, you’ll be rewarded. Some people don’t like tipping, or maybe they’re having a bad day – things you can do nothing about. Don’t let it get you down. Stay positive, and everything should be fine.

Do you have any tips of your own? Are you satisfied with the tips you make on Postmates? Let us know in the comments section below.