Your servers are the key to improved sales and profit! Check out a few ways you can “arm” them with the tools to make it happen…..

Always “pre-market” point-of-sale items to your service staff

Whenever you get new table tents in from a vendor, don’t just put them on the bar or tables, be sure to post them in server stations, behind the line or by the time clock so servers see them every where they look. Explain, promote and “sell” the table tents at pre-shift meetings to increase the odds of servers understanding how to use them with their guests.

The less money you spend on training, the more you’ll spend on advertising

The key to merchandising any menu successfully is training, teaching, coaching and incentives. Don’t let turnover affect your commitment to training. “But what if we train our people to sell and then they leave?” you may ask. My response? “What if we don’t and they stay?”

Show and Sell

Menus, table tents, reader boards, desert trays and buttons are powerful sales tools if used properly. My favorite sales “prop” is a button the server wears that says “If I Don’t Suggest A Dessert It’s Free.”

Endorse the choice

Whenever a guest buys a product or orders a particular dish or drink, always respond “Good choice”, or “You’re gonna love that”. This reassures the guest and adds value to the transaction every time.

Shotgun Selling

This means fire at everything and something’s going to fall down. Suggest an appetizer, dessert or a sample of whatever you sell to every customer and the likelihood of more sales rises dramatically. I can assure you that every time you don’t ask they will say no. Every time you do ask there’s a 100% possibility they’ll say yes.