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| Waiter Training Newsletter |
Suggestive Selling Truly is Excellent Customer Service
Recently I had the privilege of training staff for a retirement facility. The company that hired me put me through my paces to prove that I could handle such a facility; they were adamant that their situation is vastly different than the restaurant business. As it turned out, they were right. And I was right to have believed I could do it anyway! I like to call these things “happy accidents.”
Those of you who know me and have been reading my sporadic newsletters know that I believe strongly in the art of suggestive selling. I encourage it and it’s one of the most important aspects of excellent customer service – in my humble opinion. When interviewed for this training job, I mentioned suggestive selling as one of my key ingredients for training. The interviewer was rather put off by that; his point was that there is no tipping in this facility and the meals are pre-paid. No money exchanges hands in this dining room. His thought was that suggestive selling might not really fit in here.
Let me set up the scene for you: this particular retirement community is actually more like a country club; the members are very affluent and are used to an upscale lifestyle. They pay a certain amount of money every month to the club, which includes their mortgage, meals and other fees and expenses. Needless to say, these people are paying thousands of dollars to live their last years comfortably. They are used to eating good food and having excellent service and they expect it to continue.
True, there wasn’t really an opportunity to “up-sell” in the literal sense of the term. However, suggestions are always welcome, no matter where you are. The menu changed daily and although limited, people still like to have a recommendation. So it comes down to semantics; I say suggestive selling in the restaurant world and they would rather hear “I recommend the filet mignon tonight…” in that world. “Recommend” sounds better and more sophisticated in some circles.
Among some of the various problems this staff had, you can see one of the most obvious: the staff knows these people by name and they know what they like and don’t like. They know their habits - the good, the bad and the ugly. When Mr. and Mrs. Jones come in, they know she likes her hot tea with her meal and he likes his one martini – no more than that. They’ve gotten used to these people and know them almost too well.
The residents want to be treated special and still have the familiarity that is inherent in this type of business. The staff was simply overlooking some of the finer points of excellent customer service because they didn’t feel they were necessary for these folks whom they know so well. Meanwhile, the residents were looking for their servers to have conversation and recommend what might be good tonight.
The point? No matter what business you’re in and no matter how much money exchanges hands, the most respected and appreciated customer service givers are the ones who suggest, recommend and ask questions. They’re not pushy, rude or arrogant. They simply want to give the best possible customer service to their guests. That’s why I call it the fine art of suggestive selling, or the fine art of recommendation selling, which just doesn’t sound as catchy, does it?
Call it what you want; it comes down to the same basic techniques. As one of the hosts at this fine facility told me, “It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it that makes all the difference in the world.” Truer words were never spoken, no matter what business you’re in.
Training and information is the key! Contact me, Susie, at Waiter Training, either by phone or email. My business number is (720) 203-4615, and web address is http://www.waiter-training.com.
©Waiter Training 2005
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