An Interesting topic of restaurant operations: Suggestive selling
In this session, we would like to introduce suggestive selling, a kind of sales technique that applies in restaurant operation. It is a potent weapon to increase food and beverage sales. Many industries also love to use suggestive selling as it is useful and effective.
Actually, suggestive selling is implemented by sales staff to boost more revenue to a sale that has already taken place, by suggesting some better and useful products or services to the customer. In restaurant operations, servers would introduce du jour menus or other special cuisine or beverage to customers and invite them to select.
It seems that suggestive selling is a kind of easy stuff. But it would easily become over-aggressive. Here are some tips for a success suggestive selling.
- Understand the customer's needs.
Do not directly suggest anything that first comes to your mind, as this would create a negative impact on the customer's mind. We should try to suggest something relevant. - Avoid using words describing negativity such as don't, not, cannot.
Find some positive words to substitute which would not change the meaning but could serve the purpose of expressing thoughts. - Keep in mind that you have to always be price-sensitive.
Treat each sale differently according to customers’ own situation as their purchasing power and wants varies. - Remember not to interrupt the customer while he is buying something that he already wants. Suggest what you want when the customer finishes buying things. Such an interruption might create an element of doubt in the customer’s mind, that the staff is suggesting things only to increase the sales and they have no concern for the customers’ needs.
By performing suggestive selling, customer satisfaction can be added. When the staff suggested some good product or service, and if the customer finds it is useful and worthy, he/she will be willing to pay for it. Even if the customer does find it useful but not affordable, he/she will still appreciate the personal attention towards him/her. Therefore, customer satisfaction is achieved in both the sale and non-sale events. In result, suggestive selling can help to increase customer retention. Here is a short video abour suggestive selling in restaurant.
Forecasting & Food Cost Control Process
Sales and purchases forecast:
Existing business calculation with the sense of realistically expects is useful in projecting sales. The budget projections help to forecast sales and costs. Restaurant can always project sales by the management’s expected guest covers in a given time period with calculating the average restaurant check and table turnover. Not only does it helps the management design the labour shift and purchases, but also future sales volume.
Performing wield management can examines demand for meals over a period of a few years and determines the demand each night. Based on past statistic, the management can predict the following sales weekly, monthly or even seasonally. For example, seat occupancy on Friday or public holiday often greater than other weekdays and thus more sales will be generated. Looks at how sales might vary for the days for the days of the week or reviews sales data from the same period of the year prior, restaurants can better anticipate sales and purchases shifts.
In addition, the management is able to do sales forecast by identifying and monitoring repeat customers and chart their pattern of visits and they can get their customers’ retention statistics. By knowing this, the management can project the level of material usage and sales.
Trends Research also help. Restaurant can project their potential sales by trend data to. For example, search this industry pocket and gather sales information on other restaurants of his planned type in similar communities then use to forecast the sales.
Applying the limited cyclical menus is one of the possible ways. Limited the types of dishes can help the restaurant control its purchases and usage of raw materials. The restaurant can use the over-ordered or unused materials for the meals tomorrow or after a week.
The purchasing forecast can also depends on par stock level. Count the products on hand helps making the purchase orders. Consider the records of sales and materials used, company may avoid over ordering of materials.
Food Cost Control Process:
After forecasting, the restaurant goes to purchasing.
Food cost control is to ensure that costs are neither more nor less than they ought to be.
- Purchasing - Identify the product specification of items that are going to use in preparing meals. Make order based on past records, products on hand and the yield analysis. Doing the product testing before and after making orders. For examples their texture, composition, quality, flavor etc.
Choosing the methods of buying. The restaurant has to think about whether to place their orders by email, on phone or brought in open market.
- Receiving - To ensure the quantity, quality and price are exactly as ordered. Especially for the perishable commodities as the quality is not constant over a period of time.
- Storing
The company has to consider the place and time for keeping the materials. Make sure there is no inventory kept in the production area. Performing stock taking over a period of time see if the quality is good and quantity of foods matches with the records. Using the FIFO system for food storage. - Issuing - Items should only be issued from the stores with authorization.
- Production
The company has to decide the number of meals have to be produced and the cost per meal. The kitchen manager checks the head line cook’s order, which will bring the preparation area up to the par stock for preparation item and the work is done prior to service time.
Make sure your cooks do know how to make good use of materials to avoid end up in the trash. Also ensure the menu items are properly prepared otherwise they will not be able to be served, and will be thrown out. - Service - Set a policy for guests serving. Training staff to make sure they understand the proper ordering procedure and perform as instructed in real life. As servers are salespeople, they are expected to give suggestive selling.
- Sales - Sales controls provide internal control measures in the food sales through use of guest checks, scatter sheets, guest services solutions and POS system. It’s important to ensure the increase in the quantity of food prepared is matched by a corresponding increase in cash received.
- Food cost - system of accounts for restaurant shows the whole performance of the restaurant.
Performing budgeting to define fixed costs and variable costs. Find out those variables that will fluctuate with the volume of sales and calculate the variances between budgets and actual expenses see if any improvement has to be made.
Calculating operating ratios to check out the food cost percentage, contribution margin, labor cost percentage, prime cost and beverage cost percentage. Also count the value of inventories accurately so that the food cost percentage will not be overstated.
Restaurant Operation Trends
Ø Increased use of smartphone apps
As many people get used to the use of smartphone apps, restaurant operators try to make use of them to operate their businesses. For example, McDonald’s cooperates with the smartphone app- WeChat to offer eCoupon is a recent real life example. Below is a custom made mobile apps demonstation.
Ø Technologies
Restaurateurs start using iPads or other tablet computers to display menus. It creates a WOW effect on customers. iPad menus can show customers the actual product of cuisines to attract customers. Besides, iPad menus can solve the problem that some names of cuisines cannot be understood easily.
References
FOOD COST CONTROL
Trends
Suggestive selling techniques
