How To Teach Servers How to Sell

Section 1: Training
Section 2: Suggestive Selling
Section 3: Customer Service

Section 1: Training
An effective training program should teach servers their many responsibilities, including how to sell menu items.

• Start by hiring job applicants who have the potential to be effective servers-and salespeople. Look for candidates who are friendly, personable, good at listening and persuasive. You should be able to ascertain many of these qualities during a job interview.
• As part of the initial employee training, teach employees the basics of selling. For some specific tips, please see Section 2: Suggestive Selling.
• As part of the training, ensure that servers know about each menu item, including its ingredients and preparation method. Provide opportunities for new staff members to taste each menu item. Employees who are informed about menu items will be able to give more knowledgeable answers to customers' questions and thus, boost sales.
• Consider having new employees learn the ropes by shadowing or trailing experienced servers. Start the shadowing experience on the right foot by selecting your best employees to serve as trainers. Compensate and recognize trainers with higher wages or some other incentive, such as gift certificates.
• Before new servers hit the floor, have them do a test run by serving experienced staffers or managers. Provide feedback on their performance--including their selling skills.
• Remember that training is a continuous process. Use preshift meetings to remind employees about selling techniques, to notify them about menu items you particularly want to sell and to provide food tastings.

Section 2: Suggestive Selling
An effective server is one who acts as a salesperson who suggestively sells items.

• Servers should be able to vividly and accurately describe items to customers-that's where the training described in Section I comes into play. If a customer asks what's good on the menu, the server should be able to give some personal recommendations. Most customers find this more helpful than a pat reply of, "Everything is good."
• Teach servers to use upbeat language that encourages customers to order items. For example, a server who says, "You don't want wine, do you?" is sure to lose a wine sale. Instead a server might ask, "Can I get you a glass of Chardonnay this evening or perhaps you'd like to try one of our other award-winning wines?"
• Train employees to "sell" items. For example, rather than asking, "Would you like a drink," a server might ask, "Can I get you a glass of our refreshing raspberry iced tea or freshly squeezed lemonade on this hot day?"
• Don't just tell customers about your food and beverages: Show them. For example, bring a dessert tray to the table so customers can see the decadent choices. It's a lot harder to refuse "Chocolate-Raspberry Truffle Cake" once you've seen it up close. In addition, when bringing desserts out to customers, servers can stop along the way at a couple of their other tables to point out the items.
• Emphasize the importance of suggestively selling add-on items such as appetizers and desserts.
• Consider establishing an incentive program to reward servers who sell the most. For example, you could give sellers a commission for selling non-entree items such as appetizers and desserts. You can also hold sales contests that reward employees for selling the most of certain menu items.

Section 3: Customer Service
Servers who are committed to providing their customers with top-notch service are often rewarded with higher sales. Customers tend to respond better to sincere suggestions from servers who are interested in their wants and needs.
• Create customer-service guidelines for your restaurant that specify top-notch service from the greeting to the goodbye. By treating customers well, you'll improve their dining experience and increases the chances that they'll be willing to splurge on an appetizer or a dessert.
• Servers should be able to interpret customer cues. For example, if customers look disinterested when a server talks about steak, the employee might cut the description short and instead emphasize the day's fish and vegetarian specials.
• Encourage servers to ask customers questions to help them choose the dish that's right for them. Servers can break down choices into categories that ease the decision process. For example, they can ask, "Are you interested in beef or chicken? Sweet or spicy?" Then offer some suggestions from the menu that fit the customer's answer.
• Never put a sale above the guests' needs. Just as important as knowing when to sell is knowing when to stop selling. Servers should never appear pushy and more interested in getting a sale than in meeting customers' needs.

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