What Is Your Goal – Build Check Size or Drive More Customer Traffic?

There’s more than one way to grow your restaurant business. The method you choose depends on the resources available to you. The primary sources of growth most restaurant owners rely on are increasing the number of customers who dine in their establishment or boosting the dollars spent by each diner. Here are some proven growth strategies for each – or try a combination of both to maximize your revenues.

Increasing Check Size

Examining every aspect of the diner experience from the moment they walk in the door is the key to maximizing the size of each check. Accomplishing growth this way will require training your staff and getting buy-in from the front and the back of the house.

Front of House

Encourage your team to upsell. Train them on how to achieve this unobtrusively and without resorting to a hard sell. Diners should feel you are looking out for their best interests, not pushing them into buying something they don’t want.

Some tips for servers to achieve this:

  • Stop by more frequently to offer second beverages
  • Share which dishes are their own favorites
  • Talk up the appetizers to encourage diners to try them
  • Put the idea of dessert into diners’ heads at the beginning of the meal so they will save room

Back of House

Chefs and other kitchen staff can be quite creative if you give them a bit of autonomy. Brainstorm to develop ideas that will painlessly boost check size. Smart tactics can include adding some higher-end (more expensive) items to your menu. A low-risk way to achieve this could be to try these items as specials first to see how they go over.

Drive More Traffic

Before considering this option, think about whether you have the infrastructure to support an increase in the number of diners you seat. Are your tables already filled during dinner hours?

These ideas can help maximize your space to fit the additional diners you attract:

  • Reconfigure your layout to increase the number of tables that fit
  • Be sure your tables can move to seat large parties as needed
  • Add outdoor dining seasonally to accommodate more diners
  • Extend dining hours strategically to coordinate with local events
  • Offer lunch or breakfast seating to attract additional diners

Once you are confident you can support this increase in traffic, assess your marketing with a critical eye to ensure you are doing everything you can to attract customers. Everything from maximizing your curb appeal, to offering coupons, to participating in social media can help to drive the customer traffic that puts dollars in your pocket.

Partner With a Top Restaurant Recruiter

Looking for more advice on making your restaurant more profitable and hiring the right people? Get in touch with the restaurant recruitment experts at Horizon Hospitality. Our restaurant recruiters can help you find the best people and make smart hiring decisions. Contact us today to learn more, or start your restaurant executive search.

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