What is upselling in restaurants? 

Upselling in restaurants is the practice of encouraging customers to purchase a higher-priced item, upgrade their existing choice, or add additional items to their order, which can be done through various techniques, such as: 

• suggesting premium options, 

• highlighting add-ons, 

• offering beverage upgrades, 
• creating bundled deals. 

But what's crucial is to understand that the goal of upselling is not to pressure customers but to enhance their dining experience by suggesting more premium items. Financial gain and the increase in their order value is a benefit that will flow naturally from a satisfied customer who feels they've received exceptional value and service. 

Upselling vs cross-selling 

Upselling refers to subtly nudging customers to purchase more expensive items from your menu, whereas cross-selling refers to suggesting purchasing additional items on top of their existing order.  

Upselling is convincing a customer to upgrade to a gourmet burger instead of a regular one. Cross-selling is suggesting a glass of red wine or a side of mashed potatoes to pair with their steak. 

Both upselling and cross-selling in practice often work hand-in-hand, and when used strategically and genuinely, they can significantly increase customer satisfaction and drive revenue for your restaurant. 

Why is upselling important in restaurants?  

Outside of bringing a new customer in or building a loyal customer base, which can be a time-consuming and costly form of marketing, upselling in a restaurant is one of the best strategies to boost your revenue as it directly impacts your sales.   

When upselling is done correctly, you can easily increase customer spend while ensuring they had a great experience, making them want to come back and recommend your place.  

And as upselling often leads to higher check averages, it can directly translate to increased tips for your staff, which can be an additional motivation.  

Top restaurant upselling techniques to boost profits 

Below, we share proven strategies and tactics on how to upsell in a restaurant to boost profits and increase your profit margins.  

Train staff on the upselling techniques 

There can be a few instances where your staff are reluctant to upsell - they're not feeling confident, they don't want to come off as pushy or they might have a negative attitude attached to the word 'selling'. Whatever the reason, upselling is a skill that can be learned, just like any other part of their job.  

To feel confident, your staff needs to know the menu, ingredients, allergens and the dishes' flavours like the back of their hand. Knowing the menu inside out empowers them to suggest the premium options confidently and honestly - and when recommendations come from waiters who tried the food themselves, customers trust them more.  

Menu knowledge is equally important to your staff's body language. Non-verbal communication such as smiles, nods, and eye contact, can further build connection and trust. But apart from knowing how to upsell, it's also vital to know when to stop with the suggestions. Too many options can make your guests feel overwhelmed, and bad timing or interruptions can be inappropriate or even irritating.  

Learning how to upsell takes time and practice, so make sure you dedicate enough time to go through various examples and role-play exercises, and if you're thinking about investing in hospitality training software, choose one that covers a wide range of hospitality courses, including product knowledge and upselling techniques.  

Make customers feel special  

Hospitality is all about creating a memorable experience for your guests through food, beverages, atmosphere and service. When offering an upsell, use words that evoke emotions. For example, when suggesting a premium steak, instead of saying, "Would you like to upgrade to the ribeye?", try: ''If you're looking for something special, I highly recommend our dry-aged ribeye. It's super tender, and it's one of my favourites.''  

This small change in wording paints a mouth-drolling picture in your guest's mind, but the key is to use these words and phrases naturally and genuinely.  

Other words and phrases that can be effective in upselling are: homemade, premium, signature, locally sourced, award-winning, decadent, succulent and indulgent.  

Design a menu that upsells  

Your menu is often the first thing customers see when they walk through the door or when they order online - apart from it looking consistent with your branding and being professional and inviting, it should also tempt your guests to order the best dish listed.  

Various studies have discussed the importance of the Golden Triangle - middle, top right and top left corner of the menu as the first areas customers lay eyes on, which lasts approximately 10 seconds- is your menu designed to capture the attention in such a short time?  

Placing your premium and most profitable dishes or add-ons in these areas, followed by non-descriptive elements like font, colour, graphics and pictures, tends to be impactful, and many restaurants utilise this to entice customers into paying more.  

Experiment with menu positioning, test different variations and analyse the results to find the sweet spot that will work for you in the best way.  

Utilise the benefits of technology  

Technology offers a wealth of opportunities when it comes to upselling. Customer data and software solutions can help create a more efficient, effective and personalised upselling approach that benefits both parties - customers and your bottom line.  

Let's start with an EPoS system because this robust, modern solution can be a game changer for your upselling strategy. Apart from identifying your most popular and profitable items, which can help design your menu that upsells, a powerful EPoS will also have the ability to be programmed to display prompts at the ideal moment during the ordering process, reminding staff to suggest relevant upgrades or additions. These prompts ensure that every customer is presented with upsell opportunities, regardless of which staff member is serving them.  

By integrating your POS system with a hospitality CRM, which tracks customer preferences and purchase history (favourite dishes, drinks, add ons etc.), instead of generic prompts, your staff can make recommendations that are specifically aligned with the customer's tastes. 

You can also implement upselling strategies in your restaurant online ordering system - whether by designing the layout of your menu to strategically place the most profitable dishes or by adding prompts that encourage to add extra items, upgrade choices, or try new dishes. Plus, the data that you gather from such software can further refine your offerings and tailor your upselling strategy.  

Maximise sales whilst offering a top-notch customer experience 

As you can see, there are many ways you can integrate upselling into your operations, and although some of the tactics discussed might take time and effort, this simple but powerful way to increase average order values can make a huge difference to your bottom line, especially in the current economic landscape.  

Successful upselling benefits your business in a multitude of ways: 

• you'll increase your sales and profitability, 

• your staff will be happier and therefore more productive, 
• you'll enhance your brand perception by offering premium options. 

And from the customer's point of view, you'll actually make their experience better by suggesting the best item or pairing on your menu.  

Upselling is a win-win, and we're sure that with the techniques discussed in this article, you're off to take your restaurant to a new level. If you'd like to learn more about how Access Hospitality can help, whether through our hospitality Learning Management System (LMS) with a wide range of eLearning courses created specifically for the hospitality sector or by utilising our trusted hospitality EPoS system, get in touch with the team today.