Avero processes more than $20 billion in restaurant revenue and 426 million checks annually, so we’ve learned a thing or two about what makes a restaurant, and its service team, successful. Through our targeted server training software, we’ve helped thousands of restaurants generate over $40 million in incremental sales.
Here are a few tips straight from our hospitality industry experts on how to suggestively sell to drive higher average checks:
- Get to the table before guests look at the menu. If you take too long to get to a table guests have time to decide what they want, which decreases the chances of you being able to suggest more items. Try having host staff bring over just the wine list and servers bring over the food menu, ensuring that they have the opportunity to walk guests through it.
- Offer a pairing suggestion. This is a basic principle that, when done effectively, really impacts your restaurant sales. Make sure to really read the table to figure out what beverages each guest may be interested in, and have a recommended beer/wine/liquor pairing with each entrée you suggest during the order.
- Don’t ask “yes” or “no” questions. Instead of “Would you like an appetizer?” try “What would you like as an appetizer?” This makes an appetizer – or a drink or a dessert – sound inevitable, like they should be ordering it, without making it sound included.
- Set the experience expectation. Gently suggest what guests’ dining experience should be like, allowing them to infer that they should be doing things a certain way. For example, “Would you like a cocktail while you’re looking at the wine list?” implies that this is the type of restaurant where you get a cocktail when you sit down, then get wine with dinner.
- Don’t let guests order in stages. Aim to get your table’s full order all at once while guests are hungry and avoid taking their entrée orders after they’ve already started eating appetizers, which is when they’re less likely to order more food. This is why good servers often put bread on the table after guests order. You can always blame it on the kitchen!
- Have personalized recommendations ready to go. Don’t just recommend the most expensive item, have a few favorites in all price ranges with a specific reason for why you love them. Make sure you’ve actually tasted the recommendations you’re making and, while you’re at it, perfect your descriptions to make them sound as mouth-watering as possible!
- Play up the “FOMO” mentality. If one guest hasn’t ordered an app and everyone else at the table has, go back to that person to gently let them know and ask again if they want something. People often order based on the people with them, so they may have changed their mind – Fear Of Missing Out!
- Pace your table. If your guests have ordered a bottle of wine, finish pouring it before their entrées hit the table. This will increase the likelihood of them ordering a second (or third!) bottle.
- Don’t be too busy for the second round. Be sure to ask guests if they want another beverage before they’ve finished the first – never leave an empty glass on the table!
- Always drop a dessert menu. Few can resist the temptation of dessert when it’s dangled in front of them, regardless of how full they are. Instead of asking guests if they want to see a dessert menu, automatically bring one over and point out/describe a favorite item. You can always suggest they take dessert to go if they claim to be too full or in a rush to leave.
Learn more about Avero server training and get started today!
