The 3 C’s: Quotes from author Croft Pentz

CHARACTER How a man plays the game shows something of his character; how he loses shows all of it.

It is better to be short of cash than to be short of character.

A reputation once broken may possible be repaired, but the world will always keep its eye on the spot where the crack was.

Be what you wish others to become.

CHILDREN It now costs more to amuse a child than it once did to educate his father.

No man really finds out what he believes until he begins to instruct his children.

Before I was married I had six theories about bringing up children; now I have six children and no theories.

COMPLAINING The squeaking wheel doesn’t always get the grease. Sometimes it gets replaced.

Please don’t pray for rain if you are going to complain about the mud.

The loudest boos always come from those in the free seats.

Don’t complain about growing old - some do not have this privilege.

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Stat of the Month:
Fifty percent of guests enter a restaurant or bar already knowing what beverage they’ll order, according to an online survey of 667 diners who ordered beverage alcohol at casual restaurants conducted in May by Next Level Marketing on behalf of Cheers. What influences the other 50 percent? Menus listing drink specials are the most influential; server suggestion ranks eighth among the drivers. Menus are powerful: 82 percent of respondents say the look at stand-alone drink menus.

Most Important Beverage Order Influencers
Menu Listing Drinks Specials 35%
Special Price Promotions 25%
Table Promotions 23%
Stand-alone beverage menu 22%
Drinks Listed on Food Menu 20%
Drink Specials Board 19%
Recommendation of friend/family 16%
Server Suggestion 15%
Bartender Suggestion 10%
What Others are Having 9%
Drink Sampling 7%
Signage 3%
Coaster 3%
Promotional Button 2%
Nothing, I didn’t have because
Didn’t have brand I drink 1%
Nothing, I know what I want 50%
Source: Next Level Marketing
Source: As seen in Cheers, October 2006.

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Liquid Assets: How and Why to Sell More Beverages
By Jim Sullivan Copyright 2007 Sullivision.com

“They speak of my drinking, but never my thirst.” --Dylan Thomas

Our industry recognizes mostly that food is king. Owners, operators, managers and cooks fawn over the entrees, appetizers and desserts on their menus. Managers slavishly sample and in detail describe their food to servers in pre-shift meetings. Chefs labor over portioning, specs, flavors and recipes of their center-of-the-plate offerings, ciphering ways to wrangle a few pennies more from each item. But meanwhile, sitting alone, unattended, tucked into the corner in tiny type on the last page of the menu, sits the red-headed step-child of top line sales: the beverage selection.

The gross profit margins on beverages are astronomical compared to food (70-80% per serving), yet strangely, most beverage incidence (the ratio of beverages sold to food sold) is less than 10% in many foodservice operations. Opportunity knocks if you’re willing to listen, so here are a few ideas to help you start managing your beverage sales like the (overlooked) profit center they are.

Liquid assets deserve focus. “Beverage is sometimes treated by crew and management as an accessory to the dining experience--like a silverware roll-up, or a condiment--rather than a pivotal part of the guest experience,” says Tim Kirkland, Beverage Training and Development Manager for Rock Bottom Restaurants Inc in Louisville CO. “While all good restaurant managers teach their sales teams to be familiar with and suggest their signature food items, few stress the importance of the beverage as the companion centerpiece of a customized experience.” He’s right. Consider the fact that a guest would never hear “What do you want to eat?” from a well-trained server, but that same server commonly asks “What can I getcha to drink?”

Sell two beverages to every guest. At breakfast, train servers to suggest a glass of juice and a coffee. At lunch, a soda, or a bottle of water or mango-raspberry tea, or coffee. At dinner, a beer, cocktail or glass of wine and later, a cappuccino.

Keep the lines clean. If you want to get the most out of your fountain beverage sales make sure you listen to the advice of your account reps relative to maintaining clean lines, nozzles and syrup/carbonation mixes. Take as much pride in the quality of your carbonated fountain beverages as you do in your food. Your customers notice and will buy more—and more often.

Just say no to tap water. I figure that giving away a glass of ice water to a customer costs you about $1.08 per serving once you factor in the cost of the glass, ice, and labor to store and serve it, coupled with the cost of the detergent, hot water, rinse and labor necessary to clean it. So I say carry bottled water on your beverage menu and suggest it always instead of faucet water when a guest asks. This is applicable no matter what segment you operate in, full-service or quick service, fast-casual or on-site dining. A glass of tap water is not “free”!

Offer to re-fill alcohol beverages at 1/3 full. The best time to offer a new alcohol beverage like beer or wine or a cocktail is when the glass is about 1/3 full.

Offer another drink before delivering entrée. Our good friends at The Cheesecake Factory have taught me that the best time to suggest dessert is right before you bring the entrees out, and that is also the ideal time to suggest another beverage.

Be a Devil’s Advocate. With your fellow managers, compile a list of reasons why your team doesn’t sell more beverages. Now do everything you need to do training-wise and operations-wise to remove those obstacles and make those objections irrelevant.

List wines from driest to sweetest. If your servers are novices at wine selling, I recommend that you list your wines from driest to sweetest so they have an easier time remembering the flavor profile.

Use the Sullivan Nod. Whenever servers suggest a beverage, have them smile and slowly nod their heads up and own as they make the suggestion. Body language is powerful, and research shows that over 60% of the time, the guest will nod right back and take your suggestion!

Remember to ring them up! This should go without saying, but I won’t let it. A beverage sale ain’t a beverage sale till it’s rung up and in the till. And you can take that to the bank.

Jim Sullivan is a popular speaker and trainer at manager conferences worldwide. His free monthly e-newsletter and product catalog of training tools is available at www.sullivision.com