Know you've been there; sat at the end of the month crunching the numbers and wondering how on earth you can increase your restaurant sales without spending a fortune to do it.  No matter what type of restaurant you own, boosting sales has got to be at the top of your 'to do' list; you didn't intend this business to be a charity after all!

From the items on your menu to your marketing strategy every step you take is geared towards increasing profits, decreasing costs and pleasing your customers along the way!  Now, there are a number of things that will impact your sales (and therefore your profits) but there is one that stands above all others; how well you've trained your staff.

You might have been expecting me to talk about increasing the sale of low cost items, or up-selling your customers or even implementing a new marketing strategy, but in a way that's exactly what I'm doing; allow me to clarify:

You could have the worlds greatest menu, cleanest toilets (it matters more than you know!) or best value for money, if your staff don't know how best to present these attributes to your customers, they loose all value.

The real problem with staff training is that it takes time, and unless you're still in your pre-opening phase that time is hard to find which is why most restaurants have an 'I'll get to it eventually' approach to staff training, however it's not something you can afford to put on the back burner and here's why:

Well Trained Staff Increase Your Restaurant Sales

Train your staff to do the following, and you'll see an increase in your sales almost immediately:

Speak like an owner - when a customer is faced with someone who lives and breathes the restaurant, knows all there is to know about everything from the concept to the provenance of each ingredient on the menu, it puts them at ease; "This person knows what they're doing so I'll trust them", which leads us to...

Sell with profit in mind - once your staff have the customers trust, they can guide their decisions; on every restaurant menu there are items that cost you far less to produce than the others, and it makes sense for these items to be a priority when it comes to sales.  Untrained staff will always sell the most expensive items on your menu (expensive must be better is the psychological response of 99% of people), the problem is these items are expensive for a reason; they cost you far more to make and your profit margin is therefore lower as a rule.  Educate your staff to know that selling the chicken as opposed to the fillet steak is of benefit to the restaurant (and therefore their livelihood), and you'll see your profits rise.

Bookend the meal - your customers come to your restaurant for the experience as well as the food, and training your staff to always offer pre-dinner drinks and post-dinner coffees, teas and liqueurs has two benefits; it enhances the customers experience and it makes you more money.  Coffee and tea are the cheapest items to produce on any menu and other beverages come a close second, yet wait staff are often so keen to keep tables moving along that they don't take the time to sell them, loosing you money in the process.

Bookend the experience - much as above, this has to do with enhancing the customer’s experience.  The general consensus is that customers will remember two things above all others when they visit a restaurant; the greeting they received when they arrived and the way they were treated as they left.  Now training your staff in this area won't increase your sales on this visit, but if you make your customers feel valued when they arrive and leave, you'll leave them with a (positive) lasting impression which will make them come back, and repeat business is something everybody wants!

So if you're wondering how you could be increasing your restaurant sales this month, put aside the expensive ad campaign you were going to launch and dedicate a little time to coaching your staff;  make them feel a part of the restaurant and it's success and see the impact it has on your sales!

The continuous mission for every restaurant owner, even successful ones, is to increase restaurant sales. With so many dining establishments vying for a customers business, effective marketing measures are key ingredients for attracting customer attention, establishing your restaurants identity and enhancing customer loyalty.

Word of mouth is the most cost efficient way to increase restaurant sales. If you present a wonderful dining experience, patrons will naturally refer your restaurant to others. But word of mouth works both ways. Bad reviews often travel faster than positive ones. Thats why its essential to be consistent in providing excellent customer service, quality food and an inviting atmosphere.

While chain restaurants rely on a corporate formula to increase restaurant sales, independent restaurateurs can be more flexible, giving them a greater advantage. One important strategy is getting to know your customers. Theres a reason why clubs, theater groups, business people, or friends who get together weekly only dine at one particular restaurant. Its because the owner greeets them by name, knows their dining preferences and is aware of things going on in their lives. These restaurants have created a trusting, family environment that builds customer retention.

Without a doubt, rewarding repeat customers can lead to increased profits. If you know a customer has referred others to your restaurant or consistently brings in a group of business associates, consider giving a gift certificate for a complimentary dinner or providing a free appetizer or bottle of wine for the table. This is a great sales tactic to motivate your good customers to bring in business to your restaurant.


Your staff is an integral part of building sales. Besides providing impeccable customer service, your staff can increase restaurant sales by up-selling to increase the table check. Rather than ask if anyone would like a drink, appetizer or dessert, they should note which ones are house specialties or offer their personal recommendations. They should also promote higher priced dishes with reasons showcasing their value.

A comprehensive advertising and marketing plan is essential in growing and maintaining a profitable restaurant business. Your advertising needs to set your restaurant apart from others and pique a persons interest to try it. Your marketing efforts should be both in-house with promotions and in the community. Have a presence at community events within your service area, network with business and trade groups, or get involved with a charity that is of interest to you. The more visibility you can give your restaurant, the greater your market reach.



Using the Internet to increase profitability is a must. Your restaurants website should be as interactive as possible, allowing people to make reservations, see current specials and easily get directions. Have a presence on social media sites, like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Incentives take on many forms, but all have shown to increase restaurant sales. Some examples of common incentives are discounts, coupons, punch cards, customer loyalty programs, business card drawings, promotions and special events. You might want to try a combination of incentives to enhance business.

Jose L Riesco worked in the IT for 18 years and co-owned an Italian restaurant in Bellevue, WA.

By applying his many years of experience working for corporations and his marketing skills to the restaurant business, he has created a unique and groundbreaking marketing system.

Jose has brought top proven marketing practices from other industries to the Restaurant industry, making a unique contribution to this business that he knows and cherishes so much.

Restaurants have traditionally used advertising and coupons as the main marketing vehicle. The Restaurant Marketing Strategies Seminar changes all of that.

By creating a unique Strategy client centric (instead of food or Chef-centric), restaurant owners will be able to dramatically increase their sales while creating happy and recurrent clients.

source article here

Yesterday I was browsing and found an interesting article on how to icrease sales. This article is interesting because it explained from the beginning, from diagnosing the cause of problems in the short term to a range of possible solutions to increase of sales. And here's the article ...

Increasing Sales : Immediate problem or long-term plan?

A business may want to increase sales, either to overcome a problem in the short term or as part of the planned growth of the business in the longer term. This briefing contains tips for increasing sales in both these situations. It covers:

•     Diagnosing the cause of problems in the short term
•     Increasing sales in the medium to long term
•     A range of possible solutions to increase sales

Recognising the need

There are usually two kinds of situation in which you need to increase sales.

In the short term - you are reacting to a problem, such as the loss of one or more customers, decline in a market or the arrival of a new competitor.

In the medium to long term - you are taking a more considered and deliberate approaches as part of planned growth of the business.

The approaches you take will be different in each of these situations. Some approaches will deliver better results over the long term but it takes more resources and time to deliver them. Other approaches are more effective in the short term. It is important to use the appropriate methods for the situation the business is facing.

Diagnosing short-term problems

In the short-term the problem is usually to generate sufficient sales to fill your existing production or operational capacity. You may be reacting to:

• Loss of one or more significant orders
• Loss of one or more customer accounts
• Failure of a new product or service to sell
• New or increased capacity coming on line

It is important to identify and understand the causes of any shortfall in sales. For example, if a major customer has not placed an order or has closed their account, try and find out why. Customers will usually explain why they have taken that decision.

Try to establish any pattern or trend there may be. The short checklist below may help to identify and diagnose causes.

Failure point - if there is a pattern or trend, where is the problem occurring? Are you failing to win, or are you losing, orders from:

• Prospective customers?
• Regular customers?
• Customers who have tried you once but are not coming back?
• Customers with a particular need?

If you can identify where the failure point is, you can start looking at the processes you are using.

Customer perceptions - do your customers perceive lack of commitment from your business to them, to your product or market? Is a poor or negative customer perception of your business spreading by word of mouth? Is one of your competitors undertaking a 'dirty tricks' campaign?

Marketing process - if you are not getting enough customers, are enough potential customers aware of your products and services? Is the price set too high for the benefits offered? Is the product specification not suitable for customers' needs?

Selling process - if you are getting good levels of response but not enough orders, is the follow-up poor or slow? Are you putting customers off before closure? Are your negotiators weak? Are you failing to maintain the relationship with customers once you have created it?

Competitive threat - is there a new and strong competitive threat? Has a competitor just launched a new or improved product or service? Is a strong competitor conducting an aggressive promotional campaign or price discounting? Is one of your competitors starting a price war?

Product/service quality - is your quality letting you down: do you have delivery problems; are your products unreliable; are they fit for your customers' purpose; do you have slow or poor after sales service?

Once you understand the causes, you can then do something about it.

Increasing sales in the longer term

In the longer term, you will usually have the luxury of time to be able to plan your business growth and set goals, rather than reacting to an immediate problem.

The key to successful growth is understanding and matching the capabilities of your firm to the opportunities you have identified in the market. Having a clear marketing strategy is important.

What to do to increase sales

Having identified the underlying reasons for needing to increase sales, you can now start looking for appropriate solutions. Below is a range of potential solutions you may wish to consider. The time taken to achieve a result and the risks involved increase as you go down the list so it pays if you can find a solution that works for you from higher up the list.

Improve your marketing and sales processes - selling is often a numbers game: can you improve your conversion ratio (number of orders to the number of initial enquires or contacts) or do you need to increase the number of initial enquiries or contacts? Often, businesses simply do not generate enough leads.

Offer a sales discount - can you offer a short-term discount to encourage existing users to buy more or to attract new customers? Once you have them buying, you can then use different approaches to keep them.

Promote increased usage by existing users - can you encourage existing users or give them incentives to increase their usage by an advertising or promotional campaign?


Increase sales volumes by reducing price - this will work only if customers are price sensitive, otherwise this may not have the desired effect and may send the wrong message. Be sure that your competitors will not respond in kind, so escalating into a price war.

Win competitors' business - can you identify a weakness in competitors that will enable you to use your advantage to win new business? Is there a gap in their product/service portfolio? Can you provide a consistently better service for the same or lower price?

Convert non-users - can you persuade customers for your other products to adopt the product/service where you are experiencing a shortfall? 'Cross-selling' will need sales calls or some promotional activity.

Find new non-users - can you find customers who are not yet using this type of product or service and persuade them to start using it?

Launch improved or new products and services - be sure that it is your product or service that is letting you down before you go down this more expensive and time-consuming route. It needs careful planning.

Enter new markets - this is usually part of a business' planned growth, rather than a short-term reaction, so needs careful planning. For further information on selecting and entering new markets, see the Related Items section below for a link to the Factsheet: Entering new markets.

Launch new products into new markets - this is usually an option of last resort as you are doing two things at once. The risks and potential costs of this solution are likely to be high.

Increasing sales: at a glance

The need to increase sales is either a reaction to a short-term problem or part of the planned growth of the business.If your sales are under pressure, start by looking at the sources and underlying causes of that pressure, for example where things are going wrong.

Once you have identified the causes, you can then take action to increase sales. This will usually involve more or a redirection of existing sales and promotional efforts. There is a range of solutions to help you increase sales, with varying degrees of impact and time taken to deliver a result.

It is important to use a solution that is appropriate to the situation the business faces.

original article here