7 More Good Ways to Build Same Store Sales

1. Cleanliness. Fact: you sell more in a clean restaurant.
2. Friendliness.  Happy teams sell more and make customers happy. Happy customers buy more.
3. Training builds confidence. Confidence builds sales. Teach servers product

   knowledge daily via pre-shift meetings to help them feel comfortable and natural at suggesting items. It is better to know it and not need it than it is to need it and not know it. Our best-selling DVD called Jumpstart can show you how. Get it at the Sullivision store

4. Remove all internal obstacles to selling more. Make a list of potential obstacles by asking your managers to fill in this blank:  “Our servers/cashiers tend not to sell more food and beverages because…” Once you know what they’re citing as obstacles to sales, then you know what to do what it takes training-wise to eliminate or minimize those obstacles.
5. Schedule smartly and staff properly so that servers have time to sell and time to connect with customers. Giving servers an 8 or 10-table section to save labor dollars is the wrong approach.
6. Train your hosts better. This is the first salesperson that guests meet when they enter a full-service restaurant. Don’t overlook the importance of teaching them how to recommend drinks, desserts and specials while seating guests.
7. Set specific sales goals for each shift. First, agree at the weekly manager meeting what the gross sales goals are for each shift in the upcoming week.  Then break the weekly goals down into the lowest common denominators for each salesperson for each shift: how many beverages, sides, desserts or combos does that translate to per server per shift? Share those goals with your team members in pre-shift meetings.

The best restaurants sell both great tasting food and memorable customer experiences. And they succeed through constant teaching, training, coaching and commitment, framed by never-ending care and maintenance. Yep, maintenance is not just for equipment, it also applies to systems, service, training and sales.

For more insight, ideas and resources, please visit Sullivision.com or follow us on YouTube, LinkedIn or Twitter @Sullivision. You can get our free App of Leadership Quoues called QuoteZilla at iTunes or Google Play.