Increasing Sales as a Waiter — My experience.
Building Trust
In order to sell your product to a potential customer, you need to be able to build their trust. Now, with the short time that you have greeting your customers, how do you have time to build their trust? You have to be knowledgeable about your product, and offer your own experiences with that product. As a waiter, I struggled with recommending the right item that suited my customers needs. It took trying every item on the menu (not all at once, of course!), to give a first-hand experience to my customers.
Now, instead of just recommending the highest dollar item on the menu and saying “I haven’t met anyone who does not like this!”, you can find out what item will give the customer the best experience. For example, when I would tell my customers about the daily specials, I would sometimes ask a startup question to engage my customers. “Do any of y'all enjoy seafood? Because even if you do, we have a chef that specializes in Louisiana Crawfish Étouffée. He is from Baton Rouge, Louisiana and has been making this special all of his life. Everything he makes comes straight from the heart, and you can tell that by the amazing creole flavors of the Crawfish Étouffée and the soft, slices of hearty homemade bread that it comes with.”.
You have not only demonstrated knowledge of your product, but also knowledge about the people who make the product!
Having knowledge about your product will also help you to be more confident about the food that you are selling. You will be able to answer questions that customers have quickly, which will also help to build trust. (Remember, it is okay to tell the customers that you do not know certain information, just inform them that you will get back to them with an answer as soon as possible!) Knowing what the food tastes like will also help you to be more passionate about the items you're selling, and hopefully you’ll be able to recommend something special for everyone!
Think of the Customer, Not the Dollar $ign
Every customer is a person. Seems like a pretty simple concept right? Well it was not for at first! As a young, inexperienced kid in the workforce, my main objective was to make money. I did not see my customers as people with their own problems and lives. People who were just looking for a nice, relaxing night out with some family and friends. I saw them as walking dollar signs. To put things simply, I was an “Asshole”, to anyone in my section. I am surprised that my manager even kept me around at first. I had a poor attitude from not making as many tips as my coworkers. I did not clean throughout my shift because I thought things would simply get dirty again. I did not give tables more than 3 refills because I saw them as wasting my time and their meal was almost done anyway. Imagine your waiter never smiling, never coming to your table but to deliver your food, and acting like you’re the ass for being there. I am still ashamed of the service I gave as an immature child.
Alas, I learned. One day my manager pulled me aside to have a little chat with me. I do not know if my manager saw the potential that I had, or if maybe this was the final straw that he was giving me, but it was not a chat full of criticisms (that I definitely deserved). Instead, he told me about his family life, and his struggles. He told me about some special guest coming in from the past and the struggles that he went through with them, and he told me about a local charity event that was going on that night. He also informed me that many of the servers were donating their tips at the end of the night to them. My manager stated that he arranged these people to be in my section for the night and if I could treat them like family for him. I agreed to share my tips with charity, and awaited for my special guests to arrive.
I made sure everything was perfect from the tiniest detail, including making sure all the salt and pepper shakers were filled. I met some of the most caring, genuine people that night. People who are out there, not just talking about making a difference in the world, but actually doing it. These people served their country, built homes in Africa, and even visit children’s hospitals dressed as Santa Clause every Christmas. Serving these people opened my eyes to the horrible way that I was treating my customers.
I do not even like to refer to people as my customers anymore, because those people became my guests, my fellow human being who deserved respect always. Those special guest treated me as more than a server that night, as they treated me as a person. They would not just call for a waiter, they would ask for me by name. It was a complete 180 as to what I was used to as a server. I believe them treating me with respect, allowed me to learn how to treat others with respect in the restaurant industry. I had more fun that night more than I ever did up to that point because I was now engaging with my guests.
I was getting to know them, and cracking jokes with them instead of complaining about them in the back. Every guest became a learning opportunity, and sometimes even friends. People began requesting to sit in my section, and I developed many regulars who would come in to eat, or even sometimes just to share some exciting news with me. I was able to ask them about their lives, their kids, their friends, and they genuinely wanted to know about how I was doing.
I finally looked forward to every day at work.
Something I never imagined in my first few weeks working there.
I am forever indebted to my previous manager, and I am so thankful that he gave me the opportunity to learn from my mistakes. He instilled a lesson that I will always remember. A lesson that most people learn in elementary school, an incredible lesson that sometimes people are never willing to learn, “Treat others as you would want to be treated”. Or in my case, treat others like the special guests that sat in my section that day.
The trick to increase sales is to have fun.
While it is important to be knowledgeable about your product and who produces it, it is far more important to treat people with empathy and respect. Sale to people based on their needs rather than your own, and be confident and passionate about the products that your company is producing. Get to know the people who come in to your business. Really listen to them. I can guarantee you will learn something new and develop a new appreciation for people and their experiences. The last step is to simple tailor to their needs instead of your own, and to have fun while you do it.
