5 tricks to sell cocktails

Did you know that 17 percent of restaurants close within the first year? This troubling statistic is higher for businesses under twenty staff members. If your bar or restaurant is going to survive it’s important to consider all aspects in which you can either minimise costs or maximise revenue.

Fortunately, there are several things you can do to increase sales at your restaurant:

Reach new customers
Influence existing customers to buy more frequently
Get customers to spend more
Optimise internal processes

Here we share two of our favourite 5 ways that Pick & Pay can help you directly increase your cocktail bar’s sales.

Cross-sell and up-sell your products

Most bars fully rely on their waiters for cross and up-selling. But what happens when you are full? A waiter gets sick? Or communication issues with the guests?

Is your business properly protected to overcome these last minute unforeseen events?

QR code menus offer excellent up-selling and cross-selling opportunities.

This can be achieved by recommending house specials, appetisers or more expensive liquor options.

Many of your clients might completely disregard a cocktail because it doesn’t sound appealing. A picture can change this in seconds rather than a minute long explanation from your waiter. This minute can be used in providing guests with a more memorable experience.

Having images to accompany each drink and suggested pairing is a sure way to make your clients more hungry!

Organize events

Did you know that it’s 5 times harder to gain a new customer rather than retaining one? Establishing your business as a local hangout where you are located is a great way of ensuring customers return.

Figure out when and what bars in your area are running Happy hours and other kinds of similar events so as to not enter in direct competition with them. Offer discounted prices and take advantage of the surge in customers in order to get some good pics for social media. Maybe even let customers refer their guests to your business for a discount on future drinks? What about a loyalty programme?

Make sure you have several channels of communication with your previous clients in order to be able to stay in touch and let them know of any developments. Instagram and Facebook is a great start, but having some kind of software from where you can organise, plan your promotions and track the results is better.

Offer personalisable drinks and experiences

In the rush to greet customers, seat them and take the orders it can be hard to focus on the bigger picture. For you or your employees, each day is business as usual. Many guests may however be experiencing your business for the first time. For them, the experience is just as important as the food.

Perhaps you have a guest with allergies or very particular tastes. Do you really want your staff spending 3-5 mins dealing with these kinds of issues every time they come up? Freeing up your staff’s time means they can be more relaxed and take better care of guests.

By allowing customers to pick & match their dishes you don’t just give the customer a sense of freedom, but you are also providing them with an experience from the comfort of their phone.

Offering more options ensures you can cater to every palate, and having more mouths to feed means more revenue!

Menu engineering refers to the use of menu psychology to increase restaurant sales. You can encourage customers to order, spend more, and come back more often by making a few simple changes to your restaurant menus.

This could be as simple as re-naming a classic item, or positioning your highest margin items where the customer's gaze will first meet your menu. Understanding how much of your customer’s attention each dish gauges is crucial information!

Having a way to track how your customers browse the options is key. It can also help you understand which dishes need to be altered or taken off the menu.

Clearly providing offers

Customers are always on the lookout for the best deal. This could be something as simple as a 3x2 promotion. Is your customer aware of your offers? Do you have a way to contact your customers with new offers?

Having your deals outside or only up by the bar could be significantly harming your potential sales due to a lack of visibility. It’s also uncomfortable for guests to have to take pictures that will never be viewed again just to share the daily options with the table.

Clearly presenting and explaining the options with mouth watering images and suggested pairings will encourage your customers to spend that little extra.

Having a digital menu also allows you to instantly update what you offer your guests. Are you running low on mint? Quickly introduce a special discount on Whiskey Sours so guests are less likely to order a Mojito only to be disappointed. Maybe it’s a slower than usual night so you want to attract more passerbys? Turn on a Happy Hour promotion at the touch of a button.

Increase the speed of service

Customers want to get their drinks quickly and conveniently. With a packed house, it’s stressful and hard for your waiters to get around to everyone.

By consistently provisioning a fast service, you make your customers happy and keep them coming back. Here are some suggestions on how to achieve this:

Greet guests immediately. Guest’s clock starts from the moment they sit down, not when the server decides to show up. Order accuracy. Servers double checking orders or manually entering them into a POS wastes time. One small mistake can add time to a guest's experience and sacrifice a revenue opportunity. Investing in restaurant technology will help streamline the ordering process, such as an integrated online ordering solution and table ordering.

Final thoughts

Being able to do all or even just a few of these suggestions requires a lot of time and planning when you don’t have the right tools to help you.

Pick & Pay takes care of all of this (and more!) from one simple to use dashboard. It can work independently or be integrated with all major POS providers.

Get in touch for a free consultation with a specialised staff member to explore your particular needs.