Character How a man plays the game shows something of his character; how he loses shows all of it. Be what you wish others to become. When we die, we leave behind us all we have and take with us all we are. Children It now costs more to amuse a child than it once did to educate his father. One way to teach children to count is to give them different allowances. Before I was married I had six theories about bringing up children; now I have six children and no theories. Compromise Compromise is always wrong when it means sacrificing principle. Patience is a great virtue - but work while you wait. Service Life is like a game of tennis; the one who serves best seldom loses. Leadership A good leader inspires others with confidence in him - a great leader inspires them with confidence in themselves. No one cares who is pulling the cart until the horse is dead.   CLICK HERE To order the animated QuoteZILLA Meeting Energizer

Sullivision Website
Sullivision Partners
Sullivision Seminars Information
Sullivision Books, Videos, Audios

Jim Sullivan is a popular keynote speaker at manager conferences worldwide. You can reach him through Sullivision, Inc. in Appleton, Wis at 920-830-3915.
Or visit www.sullivision.com  anytime for our free e-newsletter, free downloads, product catalog and resource library. 

Here’s the FREE October 2004 Sullivision E-Newsletter you signed up for. You are part of 7,000 industry leaders who read this monthly opt-in free resource. Be sure to check out our live seminar video, books, DVDs, archives and free downloads at www.Sullivision.com

Sell It or Smell It
From Jim Sullivan, CEO
Copyright 2004 Sullivision.com

The business model we operate in is fairly straight-forward: food and beverage comes in the back door, goes out the front door (or drive-thru window), and hopefully we make a profit in-between. The “hopefully” part has a greater degree of certainty the better we are at selling our concept, culture and menu to both internal customers (employees) and external customers every shift.

Here’s a checklist of all the ways we sell. How does your operation stack up?

• You sell the future to new hires. Do you hire to fill a slot, or make a difference?
  
• You sell retention to current employees. Employees are your first market. Everyday, we must re-recruit your team members.
  
• You sell opportunity and growth to shift leaders and assistant managers. Without an emphasis on bench strength, your succession plans are as insignificant as the period that ends this sentence. The best leaders are known and recognized not by who they are, but by the team they build and inspire.
  
• You sell repeat business through promotion, cleanliness, and service. If customers are consistently unhappy and the cause is harder to pick up than a watermelon seed on a linoleum floor, you most likely have a system problem, not a service problem. Check first for obstacles to food expediting at the drive thru window, a broken ice machine, a fryer on the fritz, or too much employee turnover. Most service challenges are operational problems, not people problems.
  
• You sell food and beverage to customers. To sell is to serve, and don’t think that it isn’t. Let’s face it, customers visit us to buy, not “browse”, right? I mean, nobody comes in to “try on” a burger or chicken filet do they? So why do we fail to focus on the art of selling? Suggest cheese on every burger, a dessert to every customer, and a drink with every order. Train your team with flash cards, practice before peak periods and be sure that managers model the way, suggesting appetizers, desserts, or beverages themselves to customers. Team members may not listen to what you say, but they never fail to mimic what you do - or don’t do.
  
• You sell respect by adhering to standards. Be tough on standards, easy on people. And remember, what you permit, you promote.
  
• You sell cost control. The first - yes, the first - page of your employee Orientation manual had better have a picture of a customer’s dollar bill on it. And that dollar bill should be divided up into the costs that must be paid first in any restaurant before the owner makes a penny. Before your team will pay attention to service or give a rat’s behind about suggestive selling they must first see why it’s important. Commands (“upsell!”) without context (“see how low the profit is on each dollar?”) is worthless.

In summary. Diamond Jim Brady probably said it best back in 1901; “you can have the best product in the world, but if you can’t sell it, you’ve still got it!” And maybe Craig Hentrich, an AM 1 Burger King manager in Chicago, puts it even better: “No sell? No eat!” At any successful restaurant, everything is selling.