Sales & Customer Service – Page 7 – STL

The dynamic art of selling defines success. There is nothing in the world like being handed a signed contract or seeing the product you just sold being prepped for shipment. No other area of professional skills offers such gratification. It feels like you won first prize.

Sales courses at STL training London — sales training courses

Yet do we win as much as we lose? It’s time to think more deeply about how to improve the odds:

1. Have a goal.

Give yourself one daily, one weekly and one for the month. Start from the end of what it is you want. Make sure you achieve at least one thing per day. The secret is to raise the feeling of winning. The weekly target should be a component of your overall monthly objective.

2. Visualise the process.

What do the steps look like? Apply some thinking as to how to take them. Examine your strengths. Each stage is a timeline: a catalyst to the next. Try to combine productivity and efficiency. Get to know who you’re dealing with. Each person must be engaged in a way that suits them. How will you do that? Then form your next step and then the next.

3. Identify needs.

How well do you know your client’s needs? They can be as diverse as they are specific. Some needs are for personal service, others are for speed and efficiency. For some it’s trust and for others it’s the recognition that your company provides. It may be your product or service is more expensive than your competitors, yet they choose you. Find out the why and the because for all your accounts.

4. Measure Performance.

Anything measured can be defined and improved. You set goals to monitor achievement. Know clearly what can affect performance and have contingencies. There are so many factors that determine performance improvement – do you know what they are and how to improve them? When we are able to analyse these, we can better understand where true issues may lie.

5. Find the right buyers.

How much time is often wasted in trying to connect with potential buyers because we think they are big enough to be our ‘pot-of-gold.’ Although there are successes to be had with the international giants, the real strength is to network with smaller companies that can build your reputation, and who are prepared to commit to long term contracts. Your ambition should be to turn every client into a fan and let them promote you.

With so much that can interfere with your day it is important to be dogmatic. Continually assess what defines success to you. Daily, weekly and monthly. Is it in the number of new clients, the current position of existing accounts, or keeping pace your organisation’s targets? How many leads do you close and how many generate a minimum of 5 appointments? Know your figures, and then play the averages. The big wins are only one more sale away.

From stock-take to plate costing

The apprenticeship in hospitality is a learning curve in managing costs. Everything is calculated and considered. The months ahead are assessed for school holidays and man-made events. This year’s performance is a gauge to future expectations and budget planning. Yet nothing is taken as seriously, nor done as religiously, as the weekly stock-take. With pencil, rubber, calculator and stock sheet, a stock-take could fill a ten-hour shift.

Use stock-takes to keep on top of costs — Effective stock-takes can save you money

Every ingredient is weighed and converted to price. So why would you want to put so much effort into counting stock? The answer is – it’s money. Note: your holding stock is a huge investment and an insurance liability, so knowing the value is vitally important.

So how far do you go? You weigh and count everything, even the salt and pepper. In a restaurant your profitability is linked to your usage – especially in the science of plating cost.

The little things add up

For example, a plate of fish and chips would consist of 300 grams of fish and 200 grams of chips. The price of the meal in raw product is £5 for the fish and £2 for chips. Total cost £7. As each meal is sold the computer deducts these ingredients from the holding stock. When a certain minimum is reached the computer would then alert for a re-order. If the plate cost is £7 then I must sell for at least x3 or x4 that to cover business costs.

If the plate cost is out, the business is in trouble

If my chefs plate haphazardly and dump 400 grams of chips onto a plate instead of 200, the meal is now costs £9. The stock-take will raise that discrepancy. Say I have sold 10 fish and chips, I should have used 3kgs of fish and 2kgs of chips. Instead my chefs have used 4kg of chips. This is potentially a huge loss if the chips are £20 a kg to buy.

The ramifications

The other problem with over-plating is guest perception. If the consistency is at 400 grams of chips and I suddenly retrain my chefs to plate only 200 grams – my regulars will query the smaller-sized meals. Consider as well, that if I am hoping to sell additional items such as entrees and desserts, sales will suffer due to the customer being full! Stock-takes are an important tool for monitoring other areas of the business as well.

What you need to consider?

Wastage can be a substantial cost to a restaurant (or any business for that matter) if it is not monitored closely. And not just in food. Just the sheer number of teaspoons and wine glasses a restaurant can eat in a week defies comprehension. There is nothing worse than trying to scrape up one teaspoon for a guests Kahlua-flavoured cappuccino, on a busy night. And it’s amazing how much the losses can cost the business.

So consider this question – do you know where you’re losing money? Isn’t it time you found out, before it’s too late?

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Category: Sales & Customer Service

5 strategic tips for sales success