My wife and I and some friends went out to a nice restaurant the other night… by nice, I mean it’s chef owned and operated, has an upscale comfortable environment and higher prices… The restaurant is located in a city with tremendous competition for dining guests from every conceivable restaurant type. After being seated immediately, our experience began with a greeting from our personable friendly server who knew the restaurant and the menu inside out – Great Start! As an 18 year restauranteur, I critique every service experience. In my opinion, very few servers in the restaurants I visit across the country and even around the world are this well versed, so I had great expectations of what was to come.
Our server recited the night’s specials and ably answered our questions about taste, preparation, etc… She had obviously tasted much of the menu and spoke as if she were the chef who prepared them… same with drinks.. This restaurant had an extensive specialty cocktail list and again, our server knew them well and answered our questions…
An overstuffed basket of hearty rustic bread was brought to our table hot and steamy. Our server courteously asked if we each would enjoy olive oil and fresh cracked pepper for dipping. Our food was prepared perfectly and each entrée was a delightful blend of presentation and flavor profile. We each cleared our plates and at dessert time, our server asked us if we had left room for dessert.. One of us ordered a cherry liqueur torte.. we all had a bite and as with our meals, it was exquisite.
Sounds like a great experience right? You’d think so, but not so much for either the guest or the restaurant. What was lacking? Several opportunities were missed…we each ordered a glass of wine or cocktail, but our server never upsold us to a bottle of wine or asked any of us if we would like another round after we had finished our drinks – even though, our empty glasses sat on the table throughout much of the meal…At a minimum, the server lost at least $50 in added sales from drinks alone. She did not suggest her favorite appetizers and desserts and coffee was not upsold to include Baileys, Jameson’s, etc…
From start to finish, our dining experience was led by what I call an “Order Taker”, albeit a very knowledgable one. You see, serving is an “art” and a great dining experience is more than just about presenting great food & drink… Dining Out should be a memorable event and servers should take their guests on a magical experience through suggestions they know their guests will most enjoy… Restaurant sales opportunities are fickle and fleeting. Each guest at every table presents a series of opportunities that are either first recognized at each stage of the meal by the server and captured,or lost forever.
These lost opportunities represent lost sales of tens of thousands of dollars per server per year. $ALES $TARS Server Training maximizes opportunities for both the server and restaurant.