Waiter Training Newsletter

Raising Prices?  Inform and Train First!

Recently, a colleague of mine (who asked to remain anonymous) asked about an article on how best to handle raising prices on a menu.  Her point was clear:  your staff has to be clued in on the changes before they happen.  There was some frustration because all servers weren't aware of the price increases on a few select items.  The most horrifying example was a server who returned from having two days off and was confronted by a guest about the higher prices.  Her response was, I'm sure, simply a defensive gut reaction to a perceived attack.  Basically, her response was, "Yeah, I was off for a couple of days and I came back and all the prices were jacked up sky high!"

Some might want to immediately blame the server for saying something so derogatory about her company, not to mention completely false, and yet, she is not completely wrong.  Yes, I am defending the server - partially.  The blame is mostly on management.  Someone up above didn't communicate effectively at all.

Arguably, as an organized, quick-thinking server, she should have said something more appropriate and according to her time with the company and experience level.  She didn't and now you have to recover from her lack of poise.

On the other hand, as an organized, forward-thinking management team, the company would not have let her on the floor without this knowledge.  There should have been a mandatory training session focusing only on the price increases.  This training session should have happened well in advance of the actual change taking place so there would have been time to absorb the information and practice how to best communicate with guests when the inevitable question arises.

Your front line associates - your servers, hosts and bussers - are the communicators of any changes you plan to make.  If you fail to communicate to your team the increases and the reasons for them, don't be surprised when they make up their own reasons - and they might not be what you want them to say.  How are they supposed to know if you don't tell them?

If you don't inform them properly, you might as well just instruct them to say, "Hey, we know we're not great; why don't you go across the street to our competitor?"

Don't send your team out on the floor without information and support!  Leave nothing to chance; the more knowledge they have the better they can communicate with your guests.  And like any uneasy situation, positive language and gestures can actually make the guest feel better about his experience in spite of those higher prices.

Right now the number one reason people think of as the big, bad culprit is the economy.  While it may be partially or wholly true, why give your guests a reason to not order an appetizer or a bottle of wine with dinner?  Let's not remind them of the very thing they might be trying to forget for an evening.  As my colleague also pointed out, servers shouldn't have to defend any changes and they certainly shouldn't feel compelled to agree with the guest.

Conduct a very focused training meeting for the upcoming changes on your menu.  Lay it out simply and plainly and focus on only the issue at hand - the price increase:

1.  Detail the raises in prices being made
2.  Detail the reasons for the price changes being made - keep it positive
3.  Ask them for their ideas on how to best communicate the price increases to your guests
4.  Improve upon those suggestions or accept them if they're fantastic
5.  Role play the possible situations and practice the language that most positively conveys the information

Look for the good news/positive message in your menu.  There are still excellent values; servers should be knowledgeable enough of the menu to point out some values that haven't changed.  When I say "point out," I mean it literally.  Draw the guest's attention to something positive on the menu by "pointing it out" - showing them visually on the menu.

Remind your guests that you still offer your other great values:

• Kids eat free every Tuesday night
• Sunday nights are half price bottles of wine
• Happy hour is still 4pm to closing
• All-you-can-eat buffet with happy hour on Fridays
• Special romantic dinner menu pricing for two on Saturdays

Whatever you've got - show it off!  Marketing your menu should be their number two job - right after excellent customer service.  This is an opportunity to enhance their marketing skills.  Servers are salespeople and marketers for your food and beverages.  Anyone who thinks they are not is probably in the wrong business.  I think I've said that before - it can't hurt to repeat it!

The last thing my colleague said was brilliant.  She said the number one thing that will combat price sensitivity will always be SERVICE!  I couldn't have said it better myself!

Servers, price increases happen from time to time; make the best of it.  It shouldn't be the end of the world.

Call for details:

720.203.4615

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 email address is Susie@waiter-training.com.  Web address is http://www.waiter-training.com.

 

Excellence is an act won by training and habituation.
We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence,
but rather we have those because we have acted rightly.
We are what we repeatedly do.
Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.
                                                                                - Aristotle

 

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