🍸 TRL Weekly: How To Sell As A Server

Your weekly lesson and tactical reminders inside.

September 22, 2024

Happy Sunday, future server/bartender millionaire.

In today’s lesson Brandon is teaching us how to sell [as a server].

Our Last Three Lessons:

You can read the rest of the past weekly lessons here.

Sales is all about making one big switch.

Switch from TRYING TO SELL to TRYING TO HELP PEOPLE.

I know it sounds easier than it is, so I will give you some actually foolproof strategies to get it going.

Let the guests sell themselves.

Here’s how you do it: Start asking the guest more questions!

For example, let’s say someone asks what cocktails are good!

Instead of just listing your favorite one OR the one that is popular, ASK THEM A QUESTION (or questions).

Bad example

Guest - “What do you recommend for cocktails”
Server - “Our pineapple mojito is my favorite. And the pumpkin Moscow mule is great as well!”
Guest - “Oh ok, I was thinking tequila…”

Good Example

Guest - “What do you recommend for cocktails”
Server (excited to help) - “Oh! Everything is amazing, but what spirit do you usually go for!?”
Guest - “Tequila.”
Server - “Tequila, okay! Do you like it sweet or not so sweet”
Guest - “Ehh in the middle”
Server - “Middle, okay perfect. You’d love either the XYZ margarita or the Name a Tequila speciality cocktail!”

You might say that this takes way too long, but when you get quicker with it, it will actually save you a lot of time.

I’ll explain…

Sometimes a guest will start thinking of what they want when you go to take their order.
They are looking through so they either ask for more time or ask you for a recommendation.
You recommend something they don’t like so they still try to read through the menu more with you there.
You end up just giving them more time or they start asking you questions about things that are already explained on the menu.
This can take a couple of minutes OR force you to leave the table to give them more time sometimes.

INSTEAD, when a guest is unsure, you steer them in the right direction and figure it out without having to leave the table.

See how that could actually save you a bunch of time?

You never want to leave the table to give them more time unless you really have to.

Even if it did take you more time (which it doesn’t), you would still make more money from it so it would be worth it.

The reason you will make more money is because the guest will sense that you are trying to help them!

I promise, they absolutely love it.

Another reason this is so great is because you don’t even have to know your menu much in order to do it.

Your questions almost force the guest into selling themselves!

They just tell you what they want and you steer them in that direction.

This also results in them loving the item that they got.

Brandon - Unobtrusive Service - Silent Service? Or Unobtrusive? -
Video Lesson: Click here.
Jess - Greeting Tables - STOP asking “Have you been here” -
Video Lesson: Click here.
Derek - Offering Drinks - Offer Cocktails like this! -
Video Lesson: Click here.

That’s all for week twenty six.

See you next week,

The Restaurant Launch Team