How do you raise guest checks and increase server tips? Tune in to WII-FM! WII-FM is the number one most popular station in the world. Why? Because it means: What’s In It For Me? Adult learners are more likely to listen, and hopefully learn new skills, only after the trainer shows them what they stand to gain by listening and learning. How will they benefit? What will they get?
Let’s start with restaurant or bar owners, operators and managers. To increase server tips, you have to increase restaurant sales. “What’s In It” for you to invest in restaurant sales training? Complete this simple exercise to find out:
1. Write down your approximate daily customer count:
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2. Now, write down the number of days you’re open:
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3. Multiply #2 and #1:
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4. Add a dollar sign to the left of the answer from #3 above.
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Look at that last figure long and hard. How’d you like to see that number added to your gross sales this year and every year without raising prices or doing any advertising? It can come from adding just $1 to your per-person check average. WII-FM for servers is simple: higher guest check averages equals increased server tips.
What’s In a Dollar?
Increasing server tips by increasing your check averages by one dollar doesn’t have to complicated. Your menu likely includes many options that would add a $1 per person, like these:
- An upgrade to premium alcohol in a mixed drink.
- One scoop of ice cream on a piece of pie.
- Bacon on a burger.
- Sour cream and guacamole added to an order of enchiladas
- An extra topping on a pizza.
- A raspberry iced tea instead of a plain iced tea.
- An upgrade from a small orange juice to a large.
- A dessert and four forks!
Are Your Servers Salespeople?
Train, teach, coach and counsel your order-takers to be salespeople daily. The more you teach them, the more they learn. The more they learn, the more they earn. If you can’t “afford” it, put off your new POS system purchase for another six months and invest in something today that requires no new equipment whatsoever: sales and service training!
Remember, when you teach, you learn twice. Persevere. When your training stumbles, try a different way, don’t abandon it. When your new car has a hard time starting, do you junk it and get a new one? No. It’s more practical and less expensive to have it repaired. The same philosophy applies to managing people and investing in daily training.
Restaurant Training to Increase Server Tips
The Service & Sales Excellence Waitstaff Training Series is based on Service That Sells!, a restaurant training philosophy developed by restaurant owners for restaurant owners. Click here to learn more.
