Running a restaurant is difficult. Multiply that difficulty by ten if you’re in a competitive location and facing the ever-growing popularity of Grubhub, Uber Eats, and Delivery Dudes. We get it. In fact, as South Florida’s premier restaurant consulting firm, we’ve seen firsthand just how challenging it can be. That’s why you’re going to want to memorize these seven restaurant sales tips to share with your team.

We’re here to let these powerful sales secrets out of the bag. Keep reading to learn everything from the classifieds of upselling to how to create personal connections with customers. Once you’re convinced we know what we’re talking about, give us a call for a free growth consultation at 888.201.0567.

Upsell on Small Plates

The first restaurant sales tip is to upsell. This one is a no-brainer, right? The secret is to upsell on smaller plates. Sure, getting someone to order a ribeye and expensive bottle of wine is great, but this doesn’t happen every night.

Instead, have your team focus on small upsells. We’re talking about things like adding protein to salads and adding fries to an order. These may seem small but trust us, you’re going to have a smile on your face while adding them up at the end of the night.  

Create Relationships with Customers

This restaurant sales tip is also a no-brainer. Your customers don’t come to your restaurant just to eat. They want an experience. Now, this doesn’t mean your team has to get theatrical or talk to their tables every five minutes. There is nothing worse than a pushy server.

Creating relationships with customers is as simple as having your team introduce themselves with a smile, ask the names of the people at their table, and drop those names a few times throughout the night. It’s simple, smart, and will result in easier upselling, increased brand loyalty, and bigger tips for your team. That is what we call a win-win-win.   

Everyone Should Know the Inventory

Another important restaurant sales tip is that everyone – from front to back of the house – should know your inventory. What could be worse than having someone upsell a customer only to find out that you don’t have that expensive fillet of sole? Besides, this won’t just help your team perform better, it will help you stay on top of effective restaurant management.

Remember, your servers and bartenders (and even your hosts!) are sales people before they’re anything else. This means they need proper sales training. Part of this is learning and staying up to date on your inventory.

Speed = Money

The more tables your staff turns, the more people who can come into your restaurant. That’s restaurant knowledge 101 in a nutshell. So, how do you increase speed? Simple: you give your team the tools they need to shave minutes off of each table.

This could mean implementing a mobile POS that delivers orders straight to the kitchen. It could mean having one employee as the designated “order deliverer” every night. It could mean letting the bartender know to put priority on table drinks. The specifics are up to you and will likely vary restaurant to restaurant. The important part of this restaurant sales tip to share with your team is that you let them know you have their back.

The Hostess Starts the Sales Process

No one likes a pushy server, and no one likes a pushy hostess. Still, there are a few small things you can make sure your hosts are doing to start the sales process off right. These vary from smiling and projecting a warm, comfortable demeanor to customers to making sure to hand waiting patrons a menu to suggesting they have a seat at the bar. Again, the specifics will look different in every restaurant. The important part is that you let your hosts know they start the ball rolling.

Have Top Performing Employees Mentor Others

This restaurant sales tip to share with your team is based around finding what’s working and optimizing that process. Do you have one server that routinely turns in tickets that are double other servers’ tickets? What about a bartender or host your customers love?

Whatever your specific top performing employee is doing, have them mentor other employees in the same area! The easiest way to scale success is to have talented team members teach each other. Trust us on this one. You won’t regret it.

Let Your Team Take Over Social Media

This isn’t so much a restaurant sales tip to share with your team as it’s a unique take on restaurant marketing 101. Still, letting your team take over Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and the rest can have some sales benefits as well.

Not only will your team post funny and insightful content that gives your social media followers a peek into what your restaurant is like behind the scenes, but it will also start to humanize your brand.

Remember when we said it was a good idea to have your employees create relationships with customers? Think of this as step zero. Potential customers will begin to know you team before they even step foot in your restaurant. Plus, your team can highlight specials, deals, and promotions without being overly salesy.

Do you like these restaurant sales tips to share with your team? Then you’re going to love what happens when you call for a free growth consultation. Dial 888.201.0567 today to start growing your restaurant to new heights of success.

Managing a successful restaurant isn’t easy. It was never easy, but in year’s past a manager could get by on charisma and luck alone. Today, that is far from the case. From customer service to finding the best front and back of house staff to never-ending marketing – making sure your restaurant is a smooth-running operation takes a lot of skill.

That’s where Creative Coaching comes in. We know what it takes to launch and grow your restaurant brand. More importantly, we know what it takes to launch and grow any business. We have decades of experience helping entrepreneurs of all kinds find new levels of success.

Find some of the most effective restaurant management secrets below.  Learn them and start putting them into practice today. Don’t forget to check out our webinars for even more secrets to success too!

Communication is Key

This one is obvious, right? Wrong. You’d be amazed by the number of restaurant managers and owners who think its their way of the highway. They don’t communicate with their staff (unless you count yelling) or their patrons (unless you count taking photos with famous diners). They think they can coast by. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

Communication is key to effectively managing a restaurant. This is true for internal communication, external communication, and all marketing communications. You should have regular staff meetings to help understand and address employee concerns. You should regularly listen to customer feedback, and we mean really listen. You should maintain an email list where you let subscribers know what’s going on with your restaurant.

Not only will these types of communication help improve the workplace for your employees and help your restaurant run smoother, but they’ll also begin to create a sense of brand loyalty among your patrons. That alone is worth its weight in gold.

You’re Only as Good as Your Staff

The tendency for managers of all kinds, from the food and hospitality industry all the way to the world of corporate business, is to take credit for their employees’ success. This isn’t done on purpose, it just sort of happens. Make no mistake, though, effective restaurant management secret number two is that you’re only as good as your staff.

Your staff is the backbone of your restaurant. This is true for front of the house and back of the house staff. Your job is to make sure they’re trained properly, doing their jobs correctly, and receiving instruction on how to improve and grow in their positions. Perhaps even more importantly, you need to make sure they’re working together seamlessly as a team to meet and exceed your diners’ expectations.  

We’re here to help if you need the extra edge on staff training. We have over thirty years of experience in creating and optimizing teams. We can take your staff and turn them into a well-oiled machine.

Customer Service = Growth

Effective restaurant management secret number three isn’t much of a secret at all. It’s a new way of looking at an old concept: sales. You may think sales don’t apply to your job. You’re running a business. You’re not booking clients. You’re not closing deals. You’re not upselling customers on a new wine or an expensive steak.

This is true…to a point. Delivering excellent customer service is your version of sales. Making sure that each and every individual who walks through your doors has an exemplary experience is how your restaurant grows. Sure, you can create strategic business partnerships and brand collaborations. Real success, though, will always be determined by your patrons.

Innovate at All Costs

When we say innovate, we don’t just mean make sure your menu or design is on the bleeding edge of hip. That’s important, but so is making sure your marketing and branding is innovative. This is easier said than done, of course, and can lead to any number of restaurant marketing mistakes.

Part of this is through the specific marketing channels and tactics you choose for your restaurant. A more important part, in our opinion anyway, is by creating unique experiences for your audience. Consider this: your brand is the connection your audience has with your company. If you want to create a lasting, memorable brand, then create lasting, memorable experiences.  

Know that you know our top effective restaurant management secrets, it’s time to put them into practice. Take advantage of your free one-on-one consultation with our business coaching experts today!

90% of restaurants fail in their first year. American Express even used this conviction in a widely criticized TV spot. Yet, this isn’t exactly true. In fact, only 17% of restaurants fail in their first year.

That means 83% of restaurants remain open for more than a year. The odds are in your favor, rookie restaurateur.

Want to bump that number up and help secure your chance at explosive culinary success? Then, you’re going to want to avoid the mistakes we’ve listed below. Consider this your guide to restaurant marketing 101.

Keep reading to learn what to definitely NOT do when opening a restaurant. More importantly, contact us today for a free, personalized consultation. We have three decades of business success under our belts and are ready to teach you  insider secrets and growth hacks!

No Marketing Strategy

This is by far the most common marketing mistake restaurant owners can make. They think that dabbling with digital marketing, adding a pinch of traditional television ads, and finishing off with a loyalty program is a recipe for success.

It is, but not without a solid marketing strategy. Anything else is nothing short of a plan for failure.

Ask yourself:

•      What are your long-term goals?
•      What are the steps you need to take (i.e. short-term goals) to achieve them?
•      What is your restaurant’s unique value proposition?
•      Who are your competitors and how are you different than them?
•      What is your quarterly marketing budget? What about annual?
•      How much return on investment do you need to justify that budget?
•      What demographics eat your restaurant’s food?
•      What demographics live in your restaurant’s area?
•      Where do they consume information?
•      How can they be reached?

Once you have the answers, it’s time to turn them into a bulletproof marketing strategy. Such strategy is easier said than done. This is why consulting with a professional is more than just a smart idea. It’s a vital part of your future success. Lesson one of restaurant marketing 101 complete.

Ineffective Branding

Rookie mistake number two takes the form of ineffective branding. Ineffective branding is a broad statement, so let’s break it down to understand what works and what to avoid.

First, it’s helpful to define your brand.You can do this through negation. Your brand isn’t your restaurant’s name. It isn’t your restaurant’s color scheme. It isn’t your restaurant’s menu. It isn’t your restaurant’s chef and staff. It isn’t your restaurant’s website or social media profiles.

Your brand is the emotional connection between your restaurant and your audience. Consider this the golden nugget of restaurant marketing 101.

Your audience is made up of potential customers, former customers, and others who see your marketing collateral. You essentially create your brand by eliciting a specific emotional response in them.

That means you need to have a deep understanding of what your restaurant is, what it stands for, what it does well, and what it should never do before  you begin marketing. This is one more reason having a strong marketing strategy is necessary for success.

Avoiding Digital Marketing

Rookie marketing mistake number three is to avoid digital. This one is slightly more understandable than the previous two. The world of search engine optimization, email blasts, webinars, social media, mobile micro moments, and more can be quite overwhelming.

We’ve been there. In fact, the point of this entire guide to restaurant marketing 101 is to help you understand that while marketing may be overwhelming, it’s 100% possible and effective.

So, don’t avoid digital. Factor potential internet channels like search engines, social media, email lists, and location-based searches into your marketing plan. Figure out where your restaurant’s target demographics spend time online. Figure out where they don’t. Market on the channels they use. Watch your reservations skyrocket. You’re welcome.

Neglecting Business Development

Business development is just a fancy word for effective partnership and sales outreach. Neglecting it is rookie marketing mistake number four and trust us you don’t want to make it.

Now, business development doesn’t have to take the form of creating relationships with nearby businesses. You can, and should, do this, but let’s think bigger. What competitors can you turn into allies? What social media influencers can you turn into brand ambassadors? What established culinary names can you work with? What suppliers can you comarket with?

Once you have the answers to these questions, you’ll be well on the way to restaurant success. Don’t worry if it takes some time to get those answers– this is normal. Remember, being overwhelmed is okay. Just don’t become paralyzed. Put one metaphorical foot in front of the other until your business development is developed and thriving.

Now that you’ve graduated from restaurant marketing 101, it’s time to turn insight into profit. Contact Creative Coaching today to start your 100% free consultation.