The temps may be reaching record highs across the country, but in our minds, in the restaurant world it’s time to start planning for the colder months. The holiday season, one of the busiest and most profitable times of the year for restaurants, is just around the corner. In fact, many corporate event planners are looking to book their holiday events now, while mid-size parties and smaller gatherings will start booking in the next couple of months… Is your team ready?
The Early Bird Gets the Worm (or Spend)
It’s time to start planning so you can manage inventory, staffing schedules, and marketing campaigns more efficiently while providing a consistent guest experience. Doing so now will help your restaurant stand out amongst the countless festive options come holiday season.
Keep in mind that many holiday event planners are already booking, or will be soon. So if you’re thinking “the holidays are a November/December problem,” think again. By the time you come up with your holiday promotions, you will have missed many opportunities to book corporate events.
Here’s a general timeline to keep in mind depending on the audience you are targeting:
Large Corporate Galas (100+ people) | Booked 4-6 months out
Mid-Sized Parties (20-50 people) | Booked 2-3 months out
Small Gatherings/Casual Mixers | Booked 1 month out
‘Tis the Season to Train
If you’ve been in the restaurant business long enough, you know that it can be highly profitable to get into the holiday spirit by providing special food and beverage menus with seasonal ingredients, prefix menus, festive decor, and special themed-events/pop-ups, etc.
However, at the center of all of this is your staff. If your staff is not adequately prepared for the holiday season, you risk receiving bad reviews, customers who won’t return, and the magic is ultimately lost. It’s time to focus on preparing your staff so that hospitality standards don’t lag during the busy holiday season.
Here’s our training checklist to help capture the holiday magic:
Start by assessing your staffing needs
Use historical data to determine what your busiest days of the season are going to be. Do you have enough staff on payroll to adequately cover the holiday rush? If not, consider hiring seasonal employees. Don’t put your employees in a position to fail before they even hit the floor by failing to hire or schedule enough staff.
Go back to basics
Whether you’re hiring seasonal employees or simply providing a refresher for current employees - it’s a good idea to conduct basic training so that everyone is on the same page for service standards and your restaurant’s sequence of service. This will lead to a more consistent customer experience during one of your busiest times of year.
This is where one of RHI services, custom training videos, comes in handy. Your employees can view them anytime any place, rather than having to schedule everyone for an all-staff training.
Practice serving in high-stress situations
The holidays are a stressful time for everyone involved. But you can prepare your staff to stay calm under pressure and handle any type of situation. Consider hosting mock service trainings with some of the most common stressful situations you anticipate encountering. This is as close as you can get to providing real-world training so your employees are confident and comfortable to thrive in high-stress situations.
Conduct a tasting on new seasonal menu items
Not only do you want to inform your employees about the new menu items, you want them to be able to adequately describe and recommend dishes to customers as well. That’s why it’s important to set aside a part of your budget to cook or mix up the food and beverage items you’ll be selling for the holiday season. After all, the best way to sell is to speak from the heart and personal experience.
Refresh your employees on allergen awareness policies and procedures
The holidays bring high-volume traffic and many people from a variety of taste backgrounds together. Now is the time to refresh your staff on how to properly identify and serve guests with allergies to help mitigate any potentially harmful situations.
Related: Check out Restaurant Hospitality Institute’s online Food Allergen Safety Techniques class.
Train on libation education and wine service
Drinks are almost synonymous with the holiday party, so it’s time to make sure your staff is prepared to serve. People love having little nuggets of knowledge they can impress their friends with. So the more educated your staff is on the history, flavor profiles, and different styles of wine, beer, etc. the more they can pass this on to guests when helping to decide what to order at the table.
Mark Steele of Restaurant Hospitality Institute holds certifications including: Certified Sommelier, Beer Server, Sherry Specialist, and Rummelier. He regularly leads libation education classes that are part education, part tasting, all fun. You can also try your hand at online Introduction to Wine and Beer courses.
Just as important as knowing what to serve is how to serve it. This is where classes like principles of wine service will help you learn how to turn ordering wine into an upscale experience, resulting in higher tips.
Train to upsell
It’s important to reiterate to staff the value of upselling and make it a natural part of the guest experience. This doesn’t just mean encouraging guests to add an appetizer or dessert, or suggesting a higher-priced or higher-margin dish or drink. It also means making sure your team knows how to promote gift cards, especially during the holiday season.
A simple recommendation from a server can make a big difference. Encourage staff to listen to guests, identify opportunities and make thoughtful suggestions that enhance their experience while increasing the check. And when guests have a great experience, remind them that a gift card is an easy way to share that experience with friends, family and coworkers.
Remember: The ultimate upsell is getting the customer to return.
Holiday parties aren’t just an opportunity to generate larger checks—they’re a chance to introduce your business to potential repeat customers. Deliver a superior experience this holiday season, and you could turn one-time holiday guests into loyal customers who keep coming back throughout the year.
It all comes down to your staff and the service they provide. Make sure your team is prepared to deliver an experience that makes guests want to return.