Service Skills

  • Right of Way in Dining Room

    • GUESTS (always, no exceptions) while smiling, and gesturing with an open hand or body language, say: “after you!”

    • HOT FOOD

    • COLD FOOD

    • CLEARED PLATES

    • TRAY

    • EMPTY HANDS

  • Carrying Plates

    • Learn the three points and fulcrum methods

    • The fourth plate (don’t try it in service)

    • Leveling: don’t let the sauce drip

    • Switching hands

  • Using a Tray

    • Lined vs. unlined

    • Don’t look at the full martini, it won’t spill

    • Changing hands

    • Don’t place coasters under the drinks

    • Hold a tray like a tray (not under your arm)

  • Serving Food

    • Identify the landing zone

    • Unobtrusive hand (left from left, right from right)

    • The landing: Airplane, not helicopter.

    • Be Quiet: Lead with a finger. Quick then slow.

  • Clearing Items

    • The dance

    • ILLEGAL MOVES: clearing before everyone is done / stacking on the table / going to a table with another tables cleared items

    • Minimize reach-ins. Silver on the plate, then clear.

    • Trapping the fork

    • Making the package

    • Don’t touch the inside of the glass. Stemware on the stem.

  • Marking Silverware

    • Think about your sequence.

    • Deliberate: quiet, thumb print up from the edge of the table (about ¾”), use peripheral vision to line it up with the opposite position.

    • Quick, but not too quick. Be careful with those knives!

  • Polishing Glassware

    • Which ones to spend time on: wine glasses and flutes. All others look for lipstick.

    • Use a clean cotton napkin. Handle the glass only by the stem or base (non-stemware). Polish the inside of the glass while supporting the opposite side with a hand on the outside of the glass.

  • Linens

    Learn the following (see Napkin Folds SOP)

    • Dining fold

    • Water pitcher underliner

    • Marking Tray

    • Coffee station tray

    • Servillette

Salesmanship

  • DEFINITION: Salesmanship is the skills and methods used in selling or promoting commercial products.

    WHO YOU ARE SELLING TO: We have the advantage of having willing customers - in the club, we know most visitors will indulge in our food and beverage offerings.

    WHY YOU ARE SELLING: Upselling to a pricier item or volume of items to Increase revenue of the club or selling targeted items (cycle product to prevent spoilage, enhance guest experience, influence operational efficiency)

  • Presentation: You can't sell anyone anything if they don't trust you. The first step is to qualify yourself and begin building trust.

    • Appearance: Good posture, smile, clean uniform, enough sleep. If someone takes you more seriously because of how you look, you won’t have to allocate as much effort to qualify yourself.

    • Demeanor: Consider your relationship with the guest as a partnership role rather than an adversarial role. You aren't really selling as much as facilitating their best experience and navigating them to the resources of the club they may be unaware of. Approaching like this will encourage your guest to welcome you at their table.

    Identify your target: Chef wants you to sell the red snapper special and Erin wants you to sell the Jerome Chezeaux, but expect your targeted sales goal to change with each guest.

    • Empathize: Learn what your guest wants and why they want it. Practice active listening. If a guest expresses interest in a particular item, ask what it is they like about it. Get to know their taste and motivation behind their preferences.

    • Environmental conditions: What is the occasion? How much time do they have? (Business lunch, birthday, first visit of potential member)

    • Your expectations: Do you know what they usually get? (same thing, or related)

    • Budget: How much do they want to spend? (this might be different than what you want to spend)

    • Reconcile the information you gathered with your goals prior to interacting. Can you sell the fish and the expensive burgundy? Is it better to stick with what they expect or is there an opportunity to move them beyond that?

    • Knowing the product is essential. Any information about the item might be thing that makes it the right answer for the guest. Where it's from, why we have it on the menu, what specific ingredients it is made of, etc.

    • Have confidence in what you are selling.

    • Be flexible to each guest’s expectations. You have to craft every sales event to the particular expectations of each guest. You will not find sustained success by pushing something you happen to love or find cool. Success instead derives from using your awareness to assess expectations and using your people skills to expand the guest's boundaries of appreciation.

    • Anticipate objections: Pay close attention to your customers reactions. Facial expressions and body language can be a big "tell" in the customer's attitude. As you pitch the product to them, remember that you are there to sell whatever is going to make the customer feel really good about their purchase. Guessing what part of the product or price the customer is objecting to will help you respond tactfully and persuasively.

    • Roll with rejection and stay positive

    • Sell specific items: Are you interested in dessert this evening? Or “How about a cookie plate for the table? Everyone loves them.”

    • Get them to visualize themselves with the product. If you were eating/drinking this you would feel like… / you would notice how it… /

    • Deliver information in more interesting ways to get more engagement from your audience. Tell a story about the wine. “The wine maker’s dog loves the harvest, but she says he eats too many grapes!” Make specials anecdotal: “Chef Matt was excited to offer this special. I thought it was perfect but he of course wanted more of those chilies!”

    • What do others like? Another selling point is to refer to other guests' appreciation for a certain wine. "Mr. Smith, who claims to detest bitter ales, loves this ipa.”

    • You don’t have to sell the most expensive item to increase check totals. You can also focus on add-ons. Sides to share, bottles of Hildon….etc.

    • Sell a future visit: Targeting a good value this time or an overall satisfying experience will encourage more frequent visits.

    • Follow up: Our service is designed around familiarity created by repeat business. Listen, sell, follow up, record notes in SR.

    • Be concise. Offering too many options can signal a lack of confidence in your ability to match wines from your list to the guest's dining experience.

    • Sell the wine, then point to the price on the list.

    • The more specific you can get you guest to be in describing their preference, the more leverage you have to upsell.

    • Learning their budget, while simultaneously making suggestions: you get them to say they are looking for a full red, suggest an expensive one, a medium one, and an inexpensive option, saying a thing about each one.

Shift Conditioning

  • Morning mobility

  • Stamina is the ability to sustain prolonged physical or mental effort. Look for ways to increase this by finding your limits, then pushing beyond them.

  • Push yourself to take another table. When your section is small, add steps of service (pour the wine shallow so you have to return more often) or identify a cleaning or organizing project for the shift.

  • I once had a boss who yelled at me to “move faster”! (he used other words) when I was already hustling. I tried even harder. Without cutting corners, compete with yourself to complete certain tasks more quickly than ever.

  • Anxiety is often related to a lack of information. A child is scared of the dark because there is a void of visual information. If you are anxious about something, start by learning as much as you can about it.

    DBC: deep breathing club

    • When you get anxious, convert the anxiety into tasks.

    • When you feel frustrated, convert the emotion into tasks. Expel it. What can you do to improve the environment?

    • When you feel angry, find your cool. You will dramatically improve your chances of success. Anyone can get angry, only the best stay cool.

    • If you are overwhelmed, take control by delegating tasks.

    • If you are offended by the way someone speaks to you during an intense period of service, try to help that person learn to be a better communicator, with good intentions, after service.

  • Your good health will make you more successful. You owe it to yourself to be your best.

  • PHONE: Do not check your phone in public spaces or get caught checking your phone in the stairs. It is unprofessional and unimpressive, and will certainly be contagious to your peers. An impressive employee makes everyone better around them. Check your phone in the bathroom, so no one is even aware.

    Follow the rules and do the right thing. Pick up trash from the ground when you see it. Maintain your personal and professional integrity.

 Cash Handling

SERVER

  • Collects cash payments from guests and turns in all cash (sales and tips) to the closing manager.

  • Making Change: The drawer at the bar may be used for making change for guests

  • A large bill goes in, and the same quantity is removed in smaller bills. Change is issued to the guest and the sales are retained by the server.

BARTENDER

  • The bartender is responsible for their drawer.

  • Count the drawer to $500 at the beginning and end of their shift.

  • The amount over $500 should equal the cash sales + cash tips collected.

  • Sales and tips are turned into the closing manager.

GENERAL

  • Cash sales and tips from previous services are stored in the safe in the 311 office.

  • The default $200 bank is:

    • Twenties: $100
      Tens: $150
      Fives: $175
      Ones: $75