Page 27 - foodservice Magazine August 2018

Increasing customer average spend brings more revenue into the business without a proportional increase in labour costs, so much of the extra money goes straight to the bottom line. To put it simply, increasing customer average spend is the most effective ... way to increase the profitability of a hospitality business.
next problem is training the positive people with the various techniques and skills necessary
to gather increased revenue without creating negative customer perceptions. It may be useful to split the front of house team into two distinct groups. The first group are those new to the industry. They should be utilised in a ‘bussing role’, clearing
plates, resetting tables, transporting food and beverage; while they build-up skill and confidence in interacting with the guests. This then leaves your experienced and skilled salespeople free of transport
and basic labouring duties so
that they can concentrate on circulating among the tables suggestive selling extra food and beverage items. It is even logical to offer two distinctly different pay scales for these two roles. There is nothing new in this kind of structure; it was quite common in the hotel industry when I first entered the hospitality industry 40 years ago.
This gets around the problem that I see in many businesses where they have a small number of experienced, skilled front
of house staff who could be gathering large amounts of extra money for the business, but they spend two thirds of their shift marching back and forwards between the bar, the kitchen
and their section. It is logical really, to restructure slightly so that the newbies do the labouring and transport duties, while the skilled staff do what they are best at.
How much money is walking out your doors that your customers would have left if your staff had made the right noises?
MANAGEMENT
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