INCREASING SALES BY TURNING SERVERS INTO SELLERS

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1 INCREASING SALES BY TURNING SERVERS INTO SELLERS INCREASE CHECK AVERAGES, SALES & PROFITS Implementing a Salesmanship Training Program Can Increase Check Averages, Sales and Profits 5% to 10% By Robert Welcher Would You Like Fries With That? Ray Croc, the founder of McDonald s, wrote in his book Grinding It Out, If we just sold hamburgers, we d be out of business. McDonald s sells lots of french fries and beverages to make the business profitable. But, today s savvy consumers are getting better at recognizing oldfashioned methods of suggestive selling and upselling. Everywhere you look today there is suggestive selling and upselling restaurants, car washes, convenience stores and even grocery stores. I recently visited a convenience store and the cashier upsold a butane lighter with the sale of a pack of cigarettes. Today s consumers are experienced shoppers and they are exposed to selling everyday. Over the years, they have built up a resistance to the old school salesmanship of Would you like fries with that? The new approach to selling in restaurants is best termed selling by recommendation. Successful selling by recommendation requires several critical components including product knowledge (sourcing, ingredients, preparation and flavor) and a well-executed, conversation-style of delivery. What are Suggestive Selling, UpSelling and Add-on Selling? First, let s gain an understanding of the terminology. Suggestive Selling. Suggestive selling is selling a menu item by suggestion or recommendation, If you re in the mood for an appetizer our spinach artichoke dip served with toasted croistini is an excellent choice or our appetizer sampler has a lot variety and it s great for sharing. Upselling. Upselling is selling a food or beverage order to a more expensive item or upgrades to make the sale more profitable. With a vodka and tonic order, the server would upsell to top shelf vodka by asking, Would you prefer Stoli, Absolut or Skyy? Add-on Selling. Add-on selling is adding something to the food or beverage item. For example, if a guest were to order a hamburger the server would sell cheese by asking Would you care for

2 cheddar, American or pepper jack cheese? An add-on sell requires effective menu engineering and training, but when handled properly it can add big increases to your check average. Downselling. Although it is not used much in the restaurant industry, downselling can be used as an effective method to sell food and beverage. Downselling is offering a more expensive option first and then offering a more economical alternative when the customer refuses the initial sell. For example, a server offers a $12 glass of wine and when the guest refuses, the server offers an $8 glass of wine explaining that it is the perfect alternative to complement their meal, and almost as good as the more expensive wine. The guest will perceive the more economical item as a higher value. Cross-selling. Cross-selling your restaurant s more profitable menu items is a great marketing technique. For example, if a guest is considering ordering wine and says, I am thinking about the Hawkes Bay and the server sells a more profitable pinot noir by saying, The Hawke s Bay is a good wine, but personally I am a big fan of the Lindeman s Bin 99 Pinot Noir. The same can be done for food products cross selling to a more profitable menu item, The shrimp scampi is very good, but I think you d love the seafood and linguini, which is one of our most popular entrees. Demonstrating Enthusiasm An effective salesmanship technique servers can use is to be enthusiastic about the foods they are representing and selling. When a well-trained server can provide a description of the ingredients, preparation and flavors, it can be more convincing than just suggesting a more expensive menu item. For this technique to be effective, the server must be sincere in their enthusiasm. Increasing Check Average is a Piece of Cake? Increasing a $20.00 check average 10% to $22.00 is a piece of cake literally. If your service staff sells a $6.00 cake to every third guest that would increase the check average $2.00. Spread that across to appetizers, soups, salads, toppings, side dishes, desserts and beverages and the check average can sky rocket. A national survey found that servers only sell coffee 30% of the time! Coffee is a high-margin menu item (costs 20 and selling for $1.50 or more) and has a great impact on the bottom line. Instead of simply asking, Coffee? when taking an order, servers should sell coffee by asking, Would you like a hot cup of fresh-brewed coffee? Subtle changes in the presentation can make big differences. Presentation is often the difference between making the sale and not making the sale. A restaurant with $1,000,000 in annual sales that increases sales 5% to10% with effective salesmanship, translates into an additional $50,000 to $100,000 dollars in sales from the same customers with no additional marketing dollars. Guiding the Sale A great opening question and a great starting point is the first time question, Is this your first time dining with us? Upon a positive answer (first time or not), the server should provide a guided tour of the menu (or new menu items for returning guests), focusing on new, popular and unique menu items. This plant seeds that the server can return to during the order and salesmanship process.

3 How hungry are you tonight? is also a great opening question. It gives the server solid direction for selling to the guests and opens the door for suggestive selling. No one likes a pushy salesperson; guest tend to tune out the server. Soft selling is more conversational, Bleu cheese crumbles really spice up the macaroni and cheese. Keeping Your Server s Selling Your Products No matter how much your servers cares about you and your restaurant, after salesmanship training they will most probably resort back to their old habits and not perform their salesmanship duties. This is especially likely if they are not motivated to maintain a high level of salesmanship performance. There are several ways to help ensure your sales staff to keep on selling. Installing an incentive / reward program based on measurable criteria will help maintain a high level of salesmanship performance. Motivating Your Staff Commission establish commissions on the sale of high-margin menu items, wines, desserts, etc. Rewards using trade-out with other restaurants as rewards only the cost of the food (COGS), but the staff realizes the full-dollar value. Recognition recognition of performance to the associate s peers for a job well done. Contests rotating sales contests of wine sales, appetizer sales, add-ons, etc. Measurement and Accountability Measurable criteria should include tracking check averages, quantitative mystery shopping reports that measure salesmanship and installing a customer satisfaction survey program with sever reports. Check Average Reporting establish weekly server check average reports and post for all associates to see. Mystery Shopping Services obligates service staff to perform their required salesmanship procedures, as well as public relations, service procedures, etc. An effective mystery shopping program monitors servers to ensure that they are providing valued guests with excellent service and building check averages by performing required salesmanship requirements. Guest Satisfaction Survey an effective guest satisfaction survey provides guest feedback on their dining experience and service performance. Look for a survey that rates servers individually. RCI s GuesTrak Customer Satisfaction Survey includes surveys for individual server that allow your guests to rate their server on salesmanship performance, as well as personal appearance, public relations, service and

4 quality control. Using the individual server reports as a coaching / training tool provides a high-level of accountability. Reading Your Guests One thing is certain when people come to a restaurant they come to eat. They are going to purchase food and beverage products. But, the service staff must be trained to read their guests are they in a hurry or are they intending on enjoying a leisurely meal? Taking time to sell products can irritate guests that are in a hurry. On the other hand, misreading guests and not performing salesmanship procedures can result in missed opportunities and money left on the table. There are several initial reads that can help servers evaluate their guests. One of the easiest and most important reads is whether the guests are in a hurry or if they are intending to enjoy a leisurely meal. In a hurry. Guests that are in a hurry tend to get right down to business. They don t bother to chitchat; they lean forward intently, study the menu and proceed with ordering. A leisurely meal. Guests that intend to enjoy a leisurely meal will let the menu sit on the table and talk, lean back and engage in conversation with their companions. If in doubt the server can ask, Are you on your way to a movie or (name a sporting event)? And base their level of salesmanship on their response. Body language Disbelief is often indicated by avoiding eye contact (averted gaze), or by touching of the ear or scratching the chin. When a person is not being convinced by what someone is saying, their attention wanders and the guest will look away for an extended period of time. Defensive Barrier can be indicated when a person crosses his or her arms across the chest. Boredom can be indicated by tilting the head to one side or by the eyes looking straight at the server, but becoming slightly unfocused. A head tilt could also indicate a sore neck, and unfocused eyes may indicate a vision problem with the guest. Interest can be indicated through posture (leaning forward) or extended eye contact. Deceit or withholding information can sometimes be indicated by touching the face or nose during a conversation. Excessive blinking can be an indicator that someone is lying. Irritation can be indicated by the guest rubbing the back of the neck or pulling their collar away from the neck (hot under the collar). Removing eye glasses can mean you have lost the guest s attention. Eye contact means the guest is most probably listening to you.

5 Open Ended vs. Closed Ended Questions Open-ended questions. Open-ended questions are questions that will solicit additional information from the inquirer. By definition, they are broad and require more than a one- or twoword response from the customer. Closed-ended questions. Closed-ended questions are questions that can be answered by either a yes or a no. Closed-ended questions can include presuming, probing, or leading questions. By definition, these questions are restrictive and can be answered in a few words. Would you like an appetizer? How about a cup of soup? Decision-making questions. A decision-making question are those questions that require a decision from the customer based on options provided by the server. Our soup of the day is Minestrone, or I would recommend our French onion soup. Would you care for the minestrone or the French onion soup? Our most popular appetizer is our spinach artichoke dip. My favorite is the buffalo chicken dip. Would you care for the spinach artichoke dip or the buffalo chicken dip? Final Thoughts Salesmanship is the lifeblood of any restaurant. Quite simply, without sales, there is no profit. Salesmanship training should be part of every restaurant s employee training program. All servers should know the basics of suggestive selling, upselling and add-on selling from offering top shelf liquor to adding toppings to entrees and side dishes. To properly sell food and beverage servers must have complete knowledge and understanding of menu items, so they can provide a mouthwatering description. Salesmanship not only increases sales and profits, it also increases tips for servers and shows guests that the servers are knowledgeable about the products and that they deserve the customer s trust. Often, the difference in success or failure is dependent on the level of sales performance of the restaurant s sales staff. Salesmanship is an essential ingredient for success. Robert Welcher is the President of Restaurant Consultants, Inc. (RCI), a Columbus-based consulting company specializing in operational consulting and service training for restaurants, hotels and private clubs. Telephone: bwelcher@restcon.net On the Web: