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- 🍸 TRL Weekly: Planting Seeds
🍸 TRL Weekly: Planting Seeds
Your weekly lesson and tactical reminders inside.
Happy Sunday, future server/bartender millionaire.
Up until this week I was giving you a full recap of all of our past newsletter lessons, but as of today I will only be recapping the last three.
Our Last Three Weekly Lessons:
86 Corporate Scripts - Read More.
Selling 2nd Or 3rd Drinks - Read More.
Facts Not Feelings - Read More.
You can read the rest of the past weekly lessons here.
And we have another lesson from Brandon this week:
Today at a Glance:
Weekly Lesson: Planting Seeds
Tactical Reminders: Your Video Lessons
Poll: Need More Votes: Server / Bartender Community!?
🍸 Weekly Lesson:
Planting Seeds
If you are a server that worries about being a PUSHY salesman when you upsell then this is perfect for you!
And to be honest, everyone should be slightly worried about being pushy, so hopefully you are.
Planting seeds is the method of telling your guests to “START THINKING ABOUT” something and then giving them time to think while you get their drinks.
So the first step is always, greet and INSTANTLY take their drink order, but the next step is to mention features or start selling starters.
YOU HAVE TO MENTION STARTERS/FEATURES BEFORE YOU LEAVE THE TABLE!
I will show you an example:
Server - “Hi! Welcome in! May I offer you a beverage?”
Guest - “Hi! I’ll take a diet coke” “I’ll take a grey goose and soda”
Server - “Diet coke and a grey goose and soda, great. AND, start thinking about our features! We have baked clams and oysters rockefeller for starters and then for entrees we have a 8 oz braised short rib with mashed potatoes and grilled shishito peppers and a 6 oz halibut, broiled and served with cilantro lime rice! I’ll give you time!”
(go get their drinks → come back)
Server While passing out drinks: “What are we thinking??”
Guest - “Ummmm”
Server - “Some baked clams? Or calamari …. oysters rockefeller…. shrimp cocktail…”
Guest - “We’ll do some calamari!”
And if the guest ever just orders ENTREES, you would say:
Server - “Okay short rib!! and what are we doing for starters the baked clams or calamari or oysters rockefeller or shrimp cocktail orr….”
Always use assumptive language and LIST FOR THEM.
I can’t stress enough how important it is to INSTANTLY list for the guest!
You can plant the seed about ANYTHING!
You can and should do this same thing for desserts.
They finish entrees and you say “Start thinking about our tiramisu, jumbo cannoli or espresso martinis or maybe just something to go if you are full! I’ll give you time!”
I did promise in my TikTok video that I will cover selling bottles of wine in this newsletter.
It should not be over complicated.
You have 2 options:
Option 1: Ask them a question before even mentioning a bottle!
Example One:
Guest - “I’ll take a chardonnay”
Server - “ Chardonnay got it! … How many glasses do you typically have?”
Guest - “Uhh probably just 1” (if they say 2-3 then check example 2!)
Server - “1! Okay so we’ll just do a glass for sure!” unless they have a friend then you could even say “unless you wanted to split a bottle with her/him?”
Example Two:
“Probably 2”
“2. Got it. So our chardonnay bottle is only 2 times the price of one glass, but has 3.5 glasses in it. What do you want to do, a glass or a bottle?”
Option 2: Simple Offer Both
Guest “I’ll take a chardonnay”
Server - “ Chardonnay, Glass or Bottle?”
Upselling bottles could actually negatively affect your total sales. I never understood some servers fascination with selling bottles.
It only makes sense if it were a super expensive bottle OR you were selling a bottle so they could take some home.
Or if your owner wanted you to.
Sometimes it is actually best to just let them pick what they want.
Use your sales skills to sell the 2nd glass or 3rd glass and it is actually more than the bottle!
🚀 Tactical Reminders:
Upselling - Stop upselling by saying “did you want an appetizer” -
Video: Click here.
Priorities - Derek’s 5 Priorities -
Video Lesson: Click here.
Tipping Culture - Join in on this controversial topic! -
Video Lesson: Click here.
That’s all for week eleven!
If you have a second, please take the one question poll below.
See you next week,
The Restaurant Launch Team
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