How To Sell More And Increase Spend Per Head With Upsell

The troubling news: 72% of hospitality operators have noticed a dip in visitor frequency recently. But more importantly: 59% have also observed an increase in spend per head!

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While the frequency might go down, customers want to treat themselves whilst they’re out.

So, what’s the best way for hospitality operators to tackle this? Level up your upselling strategy!

Here are two simple techniques you can use to increase spend per head and table.

Deploy Marketing For Pre-Visit Upselling

There are many opportunities to make some additional sales before customers come to your venue.

Start with your booking confirmation email. Make sure to highlight any offers or special packages straight away. Give customers a sneak peek of what they might miss out on and leave them with an easy option to book any add-ons.

On top of that, send an automated SMS (or email) the day before or on the day of the booking. This message should focus on your promotions once again but this time create some urgency, i.e. “last chance to enjoy our …”, “you don’t want to miss our … special”.

2 Quick Win In-Venue Upselling Ideas

The biggest upselling opportunities present themselves once customers are actually at your venue.

Check out these two proven in-venue techniques that will help you increase spend per head:

1) Train your staff for at-the-table upselling

• Use cross-selling and offer pairing recommendations, i.e. drinks or sides
• Make personal staff or customer-based recommendations – “I love our new …”, “One of our most popular …”
• Try to upsell on high-margin items and suggest the larger option first
• Highlight popular daily or seasonal menu specials
• Make personalised recommendations based on previous visits – “Same … as usual?”
• Let customers sample drinks
• Offer desserts to go

2) Use digital upselling

The most effective in-venue upselling technique is to push your promotions directly to your customers’ phones. Instead of relying solely on table displays which might not grab their attention.

This digital upselling can be done through a captive portal WiFi solution. Once customers have joined your WiFi you can immediately reach out to them with automated marketing messages.

Using digital tools for upselling also helps you to compensate for any staff shortages and busier periods.

Reach out to find out more about how our Guest WiFi solution can help you increase spend per head massively through digital upselling.