Think about the last time that you went out to eat at a “sit-down” restaurant. My guess is the process went something like this-a host/hostess asked how many people were in your party, led you to your table and let you know that your server would be right with you. Then when the server arrived s/he probably gave you a menu, asked if you wanted something to drink and then left to give you some time to look at the menu.

Then, I bet the server brought your drink and then asked if you were ready to order. If you were ready to order you said something like, “I’d like a cheeseburger deluxe, side salad and a diet cola” (or whatever it is that you actually wanted to eat!) The server might have then asked if you wanted lettuce and tomatoes on the cheeseburger and what type of dressing you wanted on your salad.

Imagine if…

• The server didn’t ask how many people were in your party and just seated you wherever she felt you should sit. “Oh, you have 5 people…well, this two person table is where you’re going to sit. Deal with it!”
• What if the server just assumed what you wanted to eat and drink without even asking for your input, kept bringing more and more food (even if you didn’t want it) and then still insisted you pay the bill. How would that feel?

Sales professionals can learn from wait staff at a restaurant! Here are some key tips:

• Let your customers “order their own food!” Sometimes we can get so caught up in conducting the sales process in the way we think it needs to be that we forget to let the customer order their food.
• Ask about the toppings. extras and side dishes! Successful sales people take the time to really know what the customer wants. Instead of assuming what you want on your burger, a good server will ask you what you want with it, right? Do the same with your customers!
• …and then bring them what they ordered! What I mean by this is if your customer is in a rush, don’t take them on the Gilligans Island “three-hour tour!” If they really want to see the fitness center, but couldn’t care less about the tennis court, then don’t go to the tennis court! If they don’t ride a bike and they don’t really care to see the cool new bike share system, because they already have a ginormous SUV that gets like 5 MPG (and they love it!), maybe spending time on the bike share system is not a good thing, but focuing on the fact that your garages will fit the SUV is. 
• BTW:I know, someone is going to bring up “fair housing” so let me address this here-with the disclaimer that this is NOT legal advice and if you want more information contact an attorney who is well-versed in fair housing. My interpretation of Fair Housing laws is that every one must be treated consistently-but that doesn’t mean everyone gets treated the same. So, ask good questions, every time, designed to get good information,  that will then allow you to tailor the tour for what your customer wants! Remember, do NOT assume you know what the customer wants!! You need to find out what they customer wants, and then customize the presentation based on the information the customer provided you. 

Today’s customer want a flexible experience…put another way, they want to be able to order their own food and eat their own food. Many of your competitors are still stuck in the “old school” way of forcing stuff on customers they don’t want. That doesn’t work anymore!

So learn from your server and let your customer order their own food, and then tailor the meal to what they asked for, so that they’ll give you a five-star rating, everytime. 

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