Upselling is a tricky skill that can benefit your business and the customer, generating a larger profit for you while allowing guests to try something new and expand their liquor knowledge. It can even persuade them to keep coming back to your venue. The root of the upselling suggestions we will give below starts with the most important step: educating your employees.

Educate your bartenders.

For your servers and bartenders to successfully upsell drinks, they must be well-informed about all of the offered products and ingredients. This will allow them to sell the overall experience of a certain drink and elaborate to make the product appear more interesting. To educate them, remember that you must dedicate a lot of time and resources; as an example, hold training or tasting sessions as frequently as possible.

Positive staff personality.

There are other simple but commonly overlooked strategies that bartenders must be aware of. For instance, eye contact has the ability to make a night out either negative or very positive. Another way of upselling is to use vivid and descriptive vocabulary to fully express the positive energy that your product exudes. Even nodding your head as you describe a drink that you think will be the best fit for them is subtle, yet proven to work. Bartenders and servers may also repeat the best option or describe it extraordinarily to convince without being too pushy or overstepping.

Curate recommendations.

Many customers come to a bar knowing that they certainly want to drink, but not specifically knowing what they want to order. This is one of the most valuable opportunities to upsell that your employees must be trained to take. Even if the person pauses when asked what they would like to order, this is the bartender’s opportunity to jump in with recommendations. Train your employees to have a go-to list of a few suggestions that they favor so that they will be fully prepared to thrive in these opportune moments.

Lightly suggest a more expensive spin on their order.

Another easy tactic that can be successful is suggesting what they ordered with a slightly more expensive spirit. This is when being knowledgeable about the products will really come in hand. If your guest orders something simple such as a vodka soda, employees should always suggest a certain type of vodka that will generate a larger profit and leave the customer happier with their choice. If your bar or venue doubles as a restaurant, train your staff to upsell drinks based on what complements the dish that they ordered. They could say, “Would you like to try this wine instead of your usual drink of choice? It goes really well with the steak that you ordered.” Most customers will appreciate that you are giving them a helpful recommendation and might trust your opinion more if they end up liking it.

Upselling is a skill, and if done too aggressively, it may turn customers away. Educating your employees to use these subtle tricks will ensure that customers will be pleasantly surprised by the suggestions, and they will consequently spend more money without even knowing it.

Now that your staff has the specific tips and tricks to make upselling effective at your venue, are you interested in a way to manage these people? Track them, along with their sales, with TablelistPro at your assistance.  TablelistPro lets you run your entire venue with ease by giving you the tools to manage events, reservations, customer data, staff, and promoters, all through a powerful yet user-friendly app. Visit our website or schedule a free demo to learn more about what TablelistPro can do for you!

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