Making Room for Dessert
I had dinner this past week with a client doctor in south Florida; the restaurant we visited was a unique concept; everything on the menu was excellent – and all entrees were 475 calories or less. Another impressive factor: the selling skills of the staff, which were put to good use at the end of the meal. I should mention that the only sweets offered here were those little shot-glass-sized desserts common at casual-dining chains like Applebee’s. So the selections by themselves were not remarkable, but the presentation – well, that was another matter entirely.
Our server arrived at the table with ten of these little desserts lined up in two columns in a custom-designed holding tray. Underneath the tray, unbeknownst to us, he also carried a spoon and napkin in each hand. Upon placing the dessert tray in the middle of our table, he deftly placed spoons and napkins directly in front of each of us; this was done so quickly, and subtly, that my dining companion did not see him do it.
So now there was this lovely tray centered on our table and a handy dessert spoon within easy reach. Talk about making it easy to say ‘yes’.
Next, he pulled out a small flashlight and, with flair and precision, directed the beam on the first item, describing it as “authentic key lime pie topped with real whipped cream and blended with a graham-cracker finish”. He then repeated this process with each selection, one after another, with each receiving its requisite moment in the spotlight. Needless to say, he had our complete and undivided attention.
After the last dessert choice was presented, he asked, “which of these items would you like to try?”; an attempt to make the decision not one of yes or no, but only of which. While neither of us said yes to dessert, that was due entirely to eating habits, not to the presentation – and I’m certain that we were a rare exception.
As you know, restaurant servers typically make no real effort to sell these add-on items; the usual question is “would you care for dessert”; the automatic reply is “no thanks”, and the conversation ends. Which is exactly why most restaurant checks do not get upgraded with the additional sale.
What we experienced is the result of good staff training; a learned skill that turns a commodity – here, basically tricked-out pudding cups – into a highly desirable (and high-margin) purchase.
In the restaurant business, as in your orthodontic practice, it’s not what you do, but how you present what you do, that makes all the difference in getting to ‘yes’.
