Is The Worlds Greatest Salesman A Waiter?
By Claude Whitacre
Years ago, I went into an expensive restaurant with a group. The waiter asked us for our order. I don’t remember what the order was for, but I do remember this; The waiter gave a funny look & said "The Cod isn’t very fresh today, may I recommend the Scrod?" or words to that effect. As he went around the table, he either complimented us on our choice or made a small suggestion on our selection. We were listening to his every word.
Watching this artist work was interesting enough to keep me from talking much. I know the Cod was fresh. Other people were eating it. But this is what our waiter did:
1) He recommended a dish slightly LESS expensive than the one ordered. This proved to the group that he was looking out for our best interests. This also let him TAKE CONTROL of our group.
2) The next recommendations & the recommendations for wine & dessert, were NOT less expensive.
3) Because he had "Taken care" of us, the group felt an obligation to leave a BIG tip.
4) Whenever my brother in law ordered, the waiter complimented him on his excellent choice.
5) the waiter gave us a couple small pieces of dessert to try for FREE.
There are so many marketing lessons here, I honestly don’t know where to begin. But I’ll try.
Make the switch from a "product pusher" to a "Trusted Adviser". Our waiter seemed more interested in taking care of us than making a profit. I said "seemed".
Once the rapport has been established, the customer will be much more inclined to try to maintain the rapport (by following your suggestions).
The free dessert samples ( at no cost to the waiter & minimal cost to the owner) CEMENTED the idea that this guy was just being our friend.
He kept talking about us & our needs. And kept offering suggestions, sandwiched between compliments. We were SOLD.
While there was mindless chatter at our table about the weather, & who was having a baby, I watched my new teacher go from table to table repeating the same technique.’ The first choice was not fresh, may I recommend this?’ and so on.
We never went back to that restaurant. This would be a better story if we did, I know. So I don’t know what happened to our waiter friend. But I know what happened to me. I went home & wrote down what happened, because I knew I would forget. And of course I did.
I’m in the process of writing a book on selling. I was just going through a mountain of notes I took over the years. This one stood out. I hope you enjoyed it.
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