Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] When it comes to increasing check average at a full service restaurant, there are really only four areas where a server or bartender can impact the check average. And in a fast casual or quick service setting, there's really only one. Because there's only one touch point. On today's episode, we're going to talk about the four that exist in full service restaurant and the one that exists in fast casual or quick service. And I'm going to show you how to train for it to get your people to help make you and themselves more money. All on today's episode of Restaurant Strategy.
[00:00:35] There's an old saying that goes something like this. You'll only find three kinds of people in the world. Those who see, those who will never see, and those who can see when shown. This is Restaurant Strategy, a podcast with answers for anyone who's looking.
[00:01:06] Hey everyone, thanks for tuning in. My name is Chip Close and this is Restaurant Strategy, a podcast dedicated solely to helping you build a more profitable restaurant. Each week I leverage my 25 years in the industry to help you build that more profitable and sustainable business. I also work directly with owners and operators from all over the country in my P3 mastermind program. This program has absolutely exploded over the last 12 months. Crash. Currently, we've got three different groups soon to open a fourth group, almost 200 people currently enrolled in the program. If you have a busy restaurant but struggle with profitability, struggle to drop a consistent, predictable 20% to the bottom line, I urge you to set up a call with someone from my team. The easiest way to do that is on our website. RestaurantStrategyPodcast.com Schedule Grab some time on the calendar. We'll learn more about you and your restaurant. You'll get to ask questions about the program. Let's just see if you're a good fit for program. There's absolutely no pressure. That call is free. But this is how we get to help the people out there, the listeners of this show, the independent operators all over the country. Again. RestaurantStrategyPodcast.com Schedule Grab time on the calendar. The call is absolutely free. We look forward to chatting with you Now. Are you frustrated with managing your catering and private events with pen and paper or outdated programs? Introducing Triple C, the catering sales and event management software built for hospitality professionals by hospitality professionals. With Triple C, you will increase revenue and efficiency, all while streamlining your operations. Let Triple C be your catering and event management assistant. You can generate leads, create tailored BEOs, facilitate online discussions, obtain electronic signatures, process payments and a whole lot more Triple seat Literally has you covered. Elevate and simplify your event management. Take things to the next level with Triple Seat so you can focus on what truly matters, providing unforgettable experiences for your clients. For more information, visit triple seat.com Restaurant Strategy Again, that's tripleseat.com RestaurantStrategy. As always, that link is in the show notes. Now we talk a lot about growing or our industry talks a lot about growing top line revenue. And you know, I am not necessarily an advocate for, for, for the, the axiom that revenue cures all sins because I don't think it does.
[00:03:31] I've looked at enough P Ls to know that is not necessarily the case. There is time when, yes, absolutely, there is time to grow and grow that top line revenue.
[00:03:40] But we have to do it in specific measured ways. You first have to make sure you get control of your expenses. I firmly believe that. But then, yeah, once you know how to control those things, then man, turn up the heat on the burner and let's just make more money. When we deal with a fast casual or quick service environment, there's really only one opportunity because there's a, there's a single touch point that we have with our customer. There's really only one opportunity. You have to increase the check average. And in a full service restaurant, I view it as four real opportunities and that is it. So I want to get into it on today's episode. I want to talk about those and I want to do it in that order. Let's talk about the quick service or fast casual environment specifically. Right. There's only one touch point. When somebody comes in, they pretty much know what they want. So your job is to apply the McDonald's philosophy. Right. The brilliance of McDonald's was that line. Would you like fries with that? Right. Because again, way back when Ray Kroc was looking at consumer behavior and they said they all came in and got a burger and a soft drink or a burger and a milkshake. Is there something else I could sell them that would be very easy to produce. High margins, right? Like high profit that we could easily get on the check. And of course the answer to that was fries. French fries are the number one item in the product mix at McDonald's worldwide. And they are the most profitable item on the menu. So they came up with a very popular, very profitable item that was very easy to add to every check. And way back in the day, right. They were cheap enough that it was just like a simple add on. Would you like fries with that now we don't even think about that line. It was famous years and years and years ago and now it's just we couldn't imagine going to McDonald's and not getting their delicious, delicious french fries. The same is true for whatever your concept is. You have to imagine, right? You've gotta, you gotta think, what are people coming in for? What are they already expecting to buy? Your job is simply to get something else on the check. If you can get some other item, another drink, a dessert, a side dish, an extra sauce, a scoop of avocado of guacamole, right? You see how other brands do this. If there's something else you can get on the check, you win. You will increase check average by sometimes 10 to 20%, which, which represents a huge, huge increase. When you look over the course of the year, if you're doing a million dollars and now you do a million one, a million two, that's a huge, huge increase. So small incremental increases can have a profound effect when extrapolated out over, over the entire year or over, you know, multiple units over the entire year, so on. In a fast, casual situation, quick service, all you want to focus on is how you can get one additional thing. Now maybe you've already got those items on your menu and you just have to coach and train your cashiers or the people who work the line at like a Chipotle or something like that how to get those extras on there. But it's very, very simple. And now there's a good chance that maybe you don't have something. This is the opportunity to get something very, very simple. I just did this with a client. We started offering little cookies. It's a little Dr. Drive thru.
[00:06:51] It's a drive thru beverage coffee shop. We said, what if we had little cookies, like little mini cookies and we could easily say, hey, would you like, you know, would you like a cookie to go with that? And they, and I want to say we were like 75 cents. It's like 75 cents or three for $2, you know, three for $2, right? It was, it's an easy thing to add on there. And people are like, yeah, give me one, a little something sweet to go with my coffee. Or I got kids in the back. It's an easy thing. And when you add two dollars and they're coming in for a three or four dollar coffee and they get two dollars worth of cookies like that increase, that, that represents a 40 to 50% revenue increase. If we can get every single car driving up to do that. So that's how it's applied in real time, in real life. That's literally something that I'm working on with one of my clients right now over the last, let's say, six weeks, and we've just started rolling it out. It absolutely will work and it can increase your revenue in profound. Prof. Ways. Now let's move over to the full service, the full service side of things. For me, as I think about it, I spent a lot of years on the floor both as a server and then as a manager. There are four opportunities, really, in a full service capacity, either casual full service or fine dining. Really only four opportunities. Number one, it's when the guests first sit down. Number two, it's when you're either guiding them through the menu or taking the order.
[00:08:08] Number three is before entrees hit the table. And number four, it's how you deal with dessert. Those are the four opportunities that a server or a bartender has to influence to impact the check average. Right. Because people are going to come in, they're going to get an appetizer, an entree, a cocktail or a glass of wine, and they're going to. And they're going to go home, they're going to pay the check. So our job is to get them something that they weren't necessarily expecting to order. And let me give you an example of how this works in each of these four areas. Right. So first and foremost, on first approach, our job has to be to greet them in a timely fashion, to establish ourselves as the leader, that we are in control, they are in good hands, and we're going to guide them through the experience and make sure that they have the best possible experience. We're going to show them how they should experience this place. The best thing you can do is to train your servers to greet tables quickly, to be in control, and to get them focused on ordering a drink quickly. The quicker they can order a drink, the quicker you can get that drink on the table, the quicker they can consume that drink and be ready for another drink. Right? And that's gonna come. That's gonna factor in really prominently the further we go along, Right? So first approach, right? Establishing yourself as the leader, setting the pace for the meal. We're not even talking about this today, but that's gonna help with table turn times. Cause you can't tighten up table turns in the last 15 minutes. You do it in the first 15 minutes by the way you greet them. You get menus, you get water, you get them their drinks, you take the order you're setting the pace of this meal. This is the, this is the pace at which you should be, you should be experiencing this restaurant, right. Rather than letting them guide the server can really control this quite a bit. And it's the difference between an hour and 40 minute turn and a two hour turn and 20 minutes over the course of an entire night often means an extra 10 covers, eight covers just in one station, right? One server station, they can do another table or two tables. It's a huge impact.
[00:10:08] But number one, if you can get a drink on the table quickly, right? In fine dining, we always used to greet the table, hi, my name is Chip. Or oftentimes in fine dining, you don't introduce yourself, you say, hi, welcome to Restaurant xyz. I'd love to get you started with something to drink from the bar. Did anyone like a glass of champagne to start?
[00:10:25] Champagne was easy because number one, it was typically our most expensive offering by the glass. It's more expensive than any of the wines by the glass, more expensive than any of the cocktails or beers that we had, number one. Number two, usually in a fine dining setting, we went and poured ourselves. So I didn't have to wait for service bar to put up champagne. We were usually pouring it tableside so I could be in control with the pace, right? And I usually would either stash a bottle of champagne somewhere that I had quick access to it so that I could get that stuff down on the table quickly. Right? So you greet the table, say hi, welcome, we're glad to have you tonight. I'll be taking care of you. Listen, can I start anyone with a glass of champagne tonight?
[00:11:03] A lot of times in fine dining, they are celebrating something. They are celebrating the closing of a deal, they're celebrating their clients, they're celebrating an anniversary, a birthday. It's a good chance that 50% of the tables are going to take you up on it. And again, your, your champagne by the glass is maybe 22, 24, $28 a glass or more. Whereas your wines by the glass are 12, 14 dol, $16. You will make more money, right? And you can get it down on the table quickly.
[00:11:30] Or maybe you don't have that kind of place. So just coming over and say, hi, welcome, I'll be taking care of you tonight. Listen, can I get you started with some drinks? Care for a glass of wine, a cocktail, maybe a beer? Right. Miss, what would you like, sir, what can I get for you? Literally put them on the spot and ask them, what are you in the mood for tonight, what do you typically like to drink? If you just do that, then they don't even have to think about what they're in the mood for. It's just what they usually get. Oh, I always like a glass of white wine. I'll take a glass of sauvignon blanc. Oh, I always like a beer. I always like a negroni. I get a martini. Get them ordering it before you do anything. I used to work with a server once who was awesome at this. So we used to have to greet the table with menus, a cocktail menu and a wine list. And she was incredible because she would always seem like she was a little busy, and she'd come over, she's like, hi, I'm so sorry. I'll be right back with your menus in just a second. But I wanted to see. Can I get you started off with some cocktails?
[00:12:22] She didn't give them anything to distract from the question at hand. Now, there's no right or wrong way to do this. You simply need to have a system for it. And you need to train people, train your servers to do exactly what you want them to do. Come up with a script and show them what to do. But on first approach, you need to get a cocktail order so that you can get the drinks right. Cocktail, beer, wine, champagne. You need to get that on the table quickly, right? The faster you can do that, the faster they'll consume that. That's the first spot, number one. The way you approach them and how you set the pace of the meal will affect the table turn time. And if you can get a drink ordered on first approach, usually you can get that down on the table in the next, let's say three to four minutes, and they can start enjoying that, right? So you greet the first. On first approach, you get a drink order. Say, great. And you know, is tap water okay, or did you prefer bottled water? You'll get the order right. Say, great. Here are the menus. Typically, I would like to take care of that before I even handed them anything, using the same idea that this other server, this woman that I used to work with did. You don't give them anything that can distract them from the questions you're asking them. And then you deliver the menus. Then you put the cocktail menu in the center. Then if you've got the wine list, especially at fine dining, you say, and I have the wine list here. Who'd like to take a look at it? Typically, the host will raise their hand, they will identify themselves, and now you know who to address the big questions to typically, the person who picks the wine is the host. That's typically the person guiding the meal and paying for the meal.
[00:13:53] First approach is the first area that you really have to impact the check average. If you can get around a drink there, you are going to be golden. And I'll explain why as we go along.
[00:14:05] So then the meal goes along. We continue our steps of service. We bring over the drinks. So usually I would take the order, right? Or I would coach my servers to take the order and say, great, I'll put those in. I'll be right back in a minute to talk to talk you through the menu. Menu. My next thing, I wouldn't go back to the table until I had drinks in my hand. I would come by and drop the drinks, say, here are your cocktails.
[00:14:25] And that's usually what I would say, here are your cocktails. Give me just a minute. I'll be right back in a minute. To walk you through the menu. We have a few additions as well. It doesn't matter if you're casual or fine dining. I want them getting the drinks and sipping the drinks, talking about the drinks, starting to consume the drinks before I distract them because I want them to get through those drinks so I can sell them another drink, right? Either another round of drinks or a bottle of wine.
[00:14:49] So I would drop the drinks, walk away, right? And say, I'll be right back to chat about the menu of a few additions that I'd love to tell you about. I walk away. I would busy myself at one of my other tables or doing some other task. I would come back a minute or two later. I said, great. Hopefully you've had an opportunity to look over the menu. Here's how it's arranged. I always recommend this or this or this. Some of my favorites are this. These are our signatures. This is something we're famous for. This is what people love here. We also have a couple of additions. I would sell those additions with such passion and verve because oftentimes they were special. They were more expensive, right?
[00:15:27] When you guide them through the menu and when you take the order, that's the second opportunity you have to really impact the check average. And this is the same idea as the quick service and fast casual model, right? This is where you're taking the order and your goal is to get additional things on the table than they are going to order or that they were prepared to order. Right. This is not about gouging people. Right. We're showing people the best things we have to Offer. So everyone orders an appetizer. Everyone orders an entree. I might recommend another appetizer, right? And this is a perfect example, right? So. Oh, you know, you guys have done really good. You know what? No one ordered the blank, but we're really known for that. Like I said, like I said a minute ago, it's one of our signatures. I might recommend putting one of those in the center. That way everyone can have a little piece. You really shouldn't leave this restaurant without trying that. I'm telling you, nine out of ten tables will say yes and say, yeah, yeah, Bring us. Bring us the risotto. Put it in the center. Bring us the. The pork belly. Put that in the center. Yeah, that sounds good.
[00:16:29] Same thing with entrees, right? Recommend side dishes. Recommend an additional thing. I would do this all the time. I would get an entree in the center, right? Say, hey, you know, I might recommend doing this. This is really special. And we, you know, we could put it right in the center again. That way everyone can have a, you know, have a taste of it. You'd be amazed how easy it is sometimes to get an extra appetizer on the center of the table or to get an extra entree or side dishes on the table. That is your opportunity to impact that. We are not order takers. We are not hiring and training and employing order takers. We are employing salespeople. Your servers and your bartenders exist to drive sales, and we have to show them key ways to do it. Number one, time to do it is on first approach. When we get that drink order, give them the script they can use. Show them how to do it, how to get drinks ordered on that first approach. The next one is when you take either. When you guide them through the menu, right? And you say, you know, I recommend maybe doing one of these as an extra appetizer in the center, right? Or when you're taking the order. Exactly. Using the script that I've shown you, show them how to do it again, when you take the order, that's the second opportunity you have to really impact the check average. Now, you put the order in and you mark them for their fourth course. You get them ready, you give them share plates, crackers, extra napkins, bibs, whatever they need for their first course.
[00:17:53] It's very important. The third opportunity you have is before entrees hit the table. I can't tell you how crucial it is for the servers and bartenders to be aware of table maintenance. Table maintenance is the most important task from here on out. If you can clear things off the table, keep a really clean workspace, and make people realize that they don't have something, that they then need something. It's a great opportunity to get more on the check. Now, there's this statistic that I've heard over the years and I've repeated it and I've shared it on this podcast. I'll share it again, right? If you offer, for example, if you get a bottle of wine on the table, right? And they finish the bottle of wine, and you offer a second bottle of wine, if entrees have already hit the table, 60% of tables. So three out of five tables will say no, right? So if entrees have already hit the table, there's a 60% failure rate, right? They will say no if you offer it to them.
[00:18:51] However, there's an 80% success rate, 80% success rate.
[00:18:58] If people.
[00:19:00] If people are offered that second bottle of wine before entrees hit the table, 60% failure rate, 80% success rate. Simply having to do with timing. So the server has to be in control of the. Of the timing of the meal so that if people are finishing their cocktails or their first round of drinks or their first bottle of wine, that we get to them before entrees have hit the table. So we can say, would you like another bottle of wine? Or would you like to take a look at the wine list, find something else to go with the main courses, because they're like, oh, yeah, that's the next thing coming. Let's find something to go with that.
[00:19:36] It's super crucial. That is one of the key opportunities. Second, beverage sales really represents the number one opportunity for increasing check, average and increasing profitability.
[00:19:47] So that third point is before entree's hit the table, you have to make sure that anybody who wants another drink gets another drink. If you hit them after the entrees have hit the table, mostly most of the time they will say no. That's the third point and probably the most important one of all that we're talking about here.
[00:20:07] Now, the fourth area, right? And I'm gonna be really clear. The fourth area has to do with dessert, right? It has to do with how quickly we clear the entrees, right? People eat, eat, and then they slow, and then they slow, and then they sort of pick and they'll. The longer they sit there with sort of dead dishes in front of them, the fuller they get and the less apt they are to do dessert in any coffee or after dinner drink, right? And again, whether this is full service, casual or full service fine dining, it doesn't matter.
[00:20:36] You. The servers have to be aware of when they're slowing down. So we get in there and clear that. One of the things I used to love to do, right? So servers are sort of famous for this because they don't want to have to go through desserts. But desserts can represent a huge incremental increase in check average, right? Servers usually go like, oh, do we save any room for dessert? Or we too stuffed, right? And then people take your cue and they're like, oh, yeah, yeah, no, no, no, we're too stuffed, right? Because you've. You've made this full sound, and you've made it sound like I'm disgusting if I order dessert. But better to do is you come over and say, has everyone finished the main courses? May I clear these dishes out of your way? Say, yeah, yeah, we're all done as you're clearing. Say, hey, I hope you've saved a little room for dessert because we are famous for this. Or I hope you've saved a little room for dessert, because my favorite dessert here is this. If we just had a little bit of room, I might recommend getting one of those for the table. Or I'm happy to bring the. The dessert menus over so you can, you can take a look at all we have to offer. You're basically offering two things. Not, are you hungry for dessert or are you not hungry for dessert, but are you hungry for the dessert I'm recommending, or are you hungry for more than just that dessert? Right? It's do you want. Not something or nothing, but do you want something or something else? That is really crucial. And if you can clear those entree dishes and drop dessert menus quickly and get that dessert order quickly, you're more apt to get a dessert order, get a coffee order, maybe even get an after dinner drink order. So bourbon, scotch, dessert wine, something like that. Again, depending if you're casual or full or fine dining, that represents a very important fourth opportunity to do it. And there's a way to get the sale and to turn the table quickly. I know this because my very first restaurant I worked at here for two and a half years in New York City was pre theater right on 47th street in the heart of Times Square. It was upscale, and I was really good at not only getting them dessert and coffee, but also turning the table so that I would get duff first tables in the next seating. So I'd get all my tables up by like 7, 27, 30. They'd be reset by 7:35, 7:40. And I would get the first reservations that arrived early for that 8 o' clock seating and I would get a full second seating when other people might not. So I got really, really good at this. So I'm not just telling you to do this for my health. I'm telling you to do this because I know it works. I did it. So four main areas in full service dining. Really only one opportunity in fast casual. But that opportunity in fast casual is absolutely crucial. Have something little, something easy you can tack onto the check. Something really sticky, right? That, that, that makes people want to order it, right? Hey, did you want a cookie? We sell them for 50 cents, 75 cents or three for. Three for a buck or three for two bucks, right? I see you got kids back there, you know, maybe a little something sweet for them. I'm telling you, they will say yes. Especially when the kids here like, oh yeah, cookies, yeah, I want a cookie. It's so easy. And then in the full service environment, right? First approach, when you take the order right before entrees so you can get that second beverage sale and then dessert, that turnaround from entrees to dessert, it's so crucial you do that. You will increase check average by, I'm telling you, no joke, $10 to $15 per head if you maximize those four areas. And if you make $50 ahead in your restaurant, imagine what it would be to make $65 a head.
[00:23:58] That represents a huge, huge increase. Conservatively, it's a 10 to 15% increase and I think it can be much as 20 or 30%. And in the fast casual example I'm sharing, we're seeing an increase of about 40% in revenue, which is unfathomable. Unconscionable. So yes, when we talk about increasing revenue, sometimes it's about getting more people in the front door, but sometimes, sometimes it's about also maximizing the people you already have. And I think sometimes we focus too much on getting more covers and not enough on what we can actually do while we have the people in our restaurant. That's what I wanted to talk about, the opportunities we have to increase check average. You can increase your revenue in profound ways if you focus on these and get your servers focused on these. That's what I wanted to talk about. I hope you found some value from this, as I hope you do every single week. Listen, if you get anything from these shows, if you can leave us a five star rating and review on Apple podcasts, that really helps us grow this community. It helps move the needle in this, my small business. I appreciate you guys being here every single week. Again, Apple Podcasts, that's the one that really helps leave us a five star rating and review. Just tell people what you get out of the show, what you've gotten out of the show, and why you think they should listen to the show. Thanks very much and I will see you next time.
[00:25:26] Sa.
[00:25:57] Sam.
