Overview

The customer experience is enhanced if team members sell or recommend dishes and drinks and of course revenues increase! However, carried out badly, selling has quite the opposite effect on both the customer experience and the reputation of the business. Selling is an inherent part of any front of house role, but not one that everyone feels comfortable or confident with.  

Food service operators are increasingly facing pressure to allocate time for training new team members, and using this module supports quick internal job training processes by developing knowledge and understanding and allowing people to learn at their own pace. Together we create confident and professional team members!

 Think ‘suggesting’ or ‘recommending’ and become the ‘soft’ sales person that works so well in hospitality.  Explore the difference between pushy and soft selling and identify selling opportunities across the 5 stages of the customer experience. One of the principles of soft selling is to match the product to the type of customers and both of these areas are explored with lots of examples so that learners can apply the knowledge into their business.  Using the power of suggestion, the module develops 3 simple steps to selling that builds confidence and increases the chance of successful selling. Each section encourages learners to think of ways they can enhance their skills.   

Key benefits of this module:

• Understand that selling is not as scary as they first thought!
• Avoid pushy sales statements and manner
• Discover selling opportunities they may have in their business and in their role
• Identify aspects of the product they need to improve their knowledge of
• Recognise the type of customers that use the restaurant
• Match aspects of the product to different customers
• Turn ‘selling’ into ‘suggesting’ or recommending – much safer!
• Use 3 steps to selling effectively
• Describe their product simply and void being pushy
• Recognise buying signals from customers to know whether to stop or carry on
• Be friendly and confident when ‘selling’

Format

The course is delivered fully online and is split into four highly interactive sections. Learners will engage with videos along with questions and activities that use real hospitality situations and finish with a quiz to ensure points are remembered and understood. The module may be completed in short sections over a period of time or all at one go!  In addition, there are links to websites and documents that can be used to research further learning.

Sections include:

• Characteristics of effective salespeople
• Selling opportunities 
• What knowledge do you need?
• Steps to effective selling

Learning Objectives

• Identify opportunities to use positive selling skills
• Identify the skills of positive selling

Accreditation

This module is accredited by the Institute of Hospitality with CPD points

Who Should Take This Course?

This module is designed for operational team members and Supervisors working in any style of restaurant or food service business. Use the module to initially train team members in soft selling techniques or as development training for team members to meet a specific need. The module will contribute to the off the job training hours for team members undertaking a Level 2 Hospitality Team member apprenticeship.

The module could be used as part of a pre employment programme ready for people to apply the knowledge when they first start a role.

Test

At the end of the course, learners complete a 20-question quiz in the same style as the learning activities (drag-and-drop, single choice, multiple choice). The pass mark is 80%, with unlimited retakes available.

Post-Module Action Plan

Completing training doesn’t always mean that action and change happens! Learners can download our unique actions plans from within the module and complete. A series of questions asks learners to apply the information in the module to their workplace to identify specific procedures that may be in place and identify areas where they need further information or training. Managers can use the action plans to discuss with individuals or their whole team not only to organise additional information but most importantly to discuss ideas to sell!