Wake up and smell the profit. 61You must view drinks as being as important as the food. All of our
effort goes into the food but very often we simply ignore the drinks
and just expect the customer to ask if they want something. You
are leaving a LOT of money on the table if you don’t have a clear
policy and training in place to help maximise drink sales.
The issue of “tap water” is complex, but one thing is clear – it is
NOT free. You have a wage to prepare the glass, water rates costs, a
cost to produce ice and a cost to clean the glass again. Saying a
point blank “No” to tap water is contentious and can be a stage too
far for certain customers. One policy we use is to allow it but make
sure the staff are trained to ask, “Would you like still or sparkling
water?” when a customer asks for water, as opposed to asking if it is
just tap water they want. We have measured the difference in sales
and it is substantial and yet the customer does not feel bullied with
this technique. Again this requires careful training.
You should, at the same time as you train staff to sell away from tap
water, try training them to match food and drink items. As ever, let
them use their own personal tastes to keep the pitch natural but
help them along with suggestions. And always make sure all the
staff have tried every drink. Recently we visited a potential client’s
café and ordered a ginger beer. When the waitress was asked if it
was spicy we were met with the following response: “I don’t know –
they never let us try anything in here.”