Are you striving to improve your profit margins but struggling to find a solution?
It's time to implement every restaurant's secret weapon, upselling.
When done correctly, upselling feels more like a helpful suggestion, and customers are more likely to say yes to dessert or another bottle of wine.
Why Is Upselling in Restaurants Important?
Upselling isn't only about increasing a server's average ticket or your monthly profit margins.
Sure, high totals and margins are great for business, but upselling allows you to show genuine attentiveness to a customer's needs.
Wait staff who know the menu well can make confident recommendations, resulting in repeat patrons or a customers discovering a new favorite menu item.
Providing upselling options for guests ordering online from your restaurant's website is also a low-effort way to increase ticket totals.
Upselling Techniques
Upselling is essential for full- and quick-service restaurants and for those offering online ordering. These five techniques will give you the strategic edge you need to increase your profit margins and help your servers provide outstanding customer service:
1. Train Your Servers to Read the Customer
Servers can set the tone of the meal by making drink and appetizer recommendations at the beginning of service. (Photo Credit: Mi Ranchito, Gladstone, MO)
"Would you all like to start with a beer pitcher?"
The best servers use intuition to know what to upsell and when.
When a group of 10 arrives for dinner service, suggest a bottle of wine, beer bucket, or appetizer to get them started.
If a table full of chatty campers aren't rushing to leave after a meal, offer the table another round of drinks, coffee, or the dessert menu.
Indecisive patron? This is the perfect opportunity for wait staff to guide and upsell to customers. Ensure that every server is trained and ready to provide a list of popular dishes.
2. Portion Size
"The Martin City Margherita is available in 16-, 12-, and 8-inch sizes."
Another great upselling technique is to use portion sizes to your restaurant's advantage.
Servers should always ask customers which size dish they prefer rather than assuming. It's an easy way to increase the bill while being attentive to the table's needs.
When taking orders, wait staff should even consider listing the largest option first. This strategy can also be applied to your restaurant's online ordering menu.
3. Upsell Items with High Profit Margins
"May I suggest our house-made pasta?"
Fresh pasta, coffee, and extra toppings are among the top ten items with the highest markups.
Mona Fresh Italian Food, located in Houston, uses delicious house-made pasta to make customers happy and save money!
Management should calculate their restaurant's biggest earners and share this information with the wait staff. This way, when a customer asks for a recommendation, the server can suggest items with a higher profit margin, which will increase the restaurant's per-ticket earnings.
However, some tact is needed when using this technique. Staff should avoid suggesting dishes or drinks solely based on the price tag.
Let's say a customer is deciding which bottle of wine to order with their pasta. Servers should suggest a high-profit-margin wine, but it must complement the dish.
4. Offer Optional Extras
New York City’s Cake Burgers knows that add-ons equal profit.
"Would you like to add bacon?"
An easy way to increase profits is to train servers to offer an additional item when a customer orders a meal.
For example, employees can upsell by suggesting adding chicken or avocado if someone orders a salad. Restaurateurs should even consider listing a small number of add-ons to dishes on their printed menus.
Including a list of extras can also be an effective strategy to increase online order ticket totals.
Diners will be more willing to add blackened chicken, bleu cheese, or extra ranch dressing if you give them the option to do so!
Most of the time, when extras are offered, the customer is likely to say yes. While this is upselling, it comes across as a helpful suggestion without annoying the customer.
5. Mention Your To-Go Options
(Photo Credit: Sarge's Delicatessen & Diner, NYC,NY)
"Can I send a dessert home with you to enjoy later?"
One of the biggest barriers to upselling is overindulgence.
If a customer finishes off a large main portion, there is little chance they'll order a dessert.
A way to get around this is by offering a to-go option. Servers can casually suggest boxing up a dessert item to send home for the guest to enjoy later.
Again, it's a helpful suggestion and doesn't come across as too pushy.
The Last Bite
Upselling is a great tool for business owners looking to grow revenue for their restaurant. It's also an excellent way for servers and staff to earn more every shift.
Training employees to make knowledgeable and helpful recommendations will make them seem more genuine, and your guests will be more likely to add an extra item to the bill.
Providing extra options on printed and online menus is a low-effort way for restaurateurs to upsell to customers.
Upselling can easily increase the amount customers spend, whether online or in person!
Which of these upselling techniques will you implement at your establishment?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Melissa Dimmitt, Marketing Communications Coordinator
Melissa began her digital marketing career nearly a decade ago at a restaurant group. She worked with restaurant managers and executive chefs while coordinating seasonal menu releases, executing photoshoots, and creating fresh digital content.