A customer comes into a restaurant and sits down. She settles in and smiles as the waiter comes over and asks her how her day is going.
“Can I get you something to drink?” asks the waiter.
“Hmm, yes, but I’m not sure. What would you suggest?” replies the woman.
And as you might imagine, the same question occurs when it comes time to order appetizers, the main course and dessert.
Suggestions are a major part of the hospitality industry. Some people know what they want when they walk into a restaurant, but many are looking for some help. They look to trusting figures like the people on your staff for suggestions on what to get.
Here are tips for taking advantage of suggestions this year.
Tip #1. Train Staff To Make Suggestions
The basic level of suggestions is training your staff to make suggestions when customers ask. Make sure your staff knows everything about the items you offer whether you’re a restaurant or local store.
Encourage the staff to pick some of their favorites. Then make sure they can really sell the item that is their favorite. Keep the staff intrigued when new items come on board. Give them all the information they can handle so they can pick a favorite and make suggestions.
Also encourage the staff to ask questions about the customers. This way the staff member can learn what the customer is most likely to enjoy and they can make suggestions that way.
Tip #2. Add Suggestions To Product Lists
Ecommerce sites often have featured products on their homepages. It’s a suggestion. The same is done with catalogs. One or a couple items are featured on the cover.
Give suggestions on the prime real estate for your business. You can do it on your website. You can do it with email newsletters and on Facebook. Go ahead and have a nice cover image created for your Facebook page that features an item you want to suggest.
You can tweak the way you present the suggestion. It could be the Chef’s Suggestion or the Staff Selection or something like that. You can probably come up with a better idea for what to call it, but the idea is to always make suggestions. It helps your customers to decide.
Tip #3. Make Suggestions Even When Customers Don’t Ask
Train everyone on your staff to get good at making suggestions even when people don’t ask. Restaurants are good with this. They train the wait staff to mention the specials. You’ll often see a specials list at the front entrance and even in printout form in the menu.
Businesses of all types can do this. And you don’t have to print anything out. You simply make it a part of everyone’s job to make suggestions. Ask new customers about their preferences and help them make a decision.
You’ll make it easier for customers to decide, which can lead to more sales. And you’ll get so good at it that your customers will enjoy everything they get and that will lead to word of mouth and more repeat visits.
Final Thought
The things you and your team do every day become your brand and that includes the success of your brand. Pay attention to the procedures you do yourself and the ones that your staff does every day. Include the suggestion ideas in everybody’s daily habits and over time you should see an increase in sales and probably in customer satisfaction. You have a lot of good knowledge to share and your customers will be happy to hear it.
Image: Zdenko
