How to Increase Food and Beverage Department Revenue

After the introduction to the management of the Food and Beverage Department that we did in the previous article, today we will deal globally with a topic as relevant in a hotel as the income from it. Like those reported by other hotel services, the income from the Food and Beverage department contributes to increasing TRevPar, especially in those establishments that have given specific weight to this division.

FOOD AND BEVERAGE DEPARTMENT REVENUE: THE BASIS

There are many techniques to carry out cross-selling, up-selling and down-selling strategies – which we will talk about in a moment – with which we can increase the income of the Food and Beverage department. But as always, it is necessary to start from the base. Any establishment that wants to implement these strategies as part of the revenue management culture should start with:

Training

Knowledge of our clients’ languages, exact information on the offer in Food and Beverage facilities of the hotel or resort, etc.

Motivation and incentive

Involvement of the entire hotel team, not just limiting ourselves to the staff who work in Food and Beverages.

Have the best possible support material

We must take maximum care of elements such as the drinks menu, the menu, information on digital media (for example, televisions in busy areas of the establishment), since they play a vital role.

The motivation, training and skill of the seller are necessary because many times, the needs of the client are not real, they can be stimulated and thus be able to apply the techniques we choose successfully. Of course, everything mentioned above is of no use if we have not previously carried out an evaluation in order to get to know our client, identifying their needs and preferences.

WHAT DO THE TERMS UP-SELLING AND CROSS-SELLING MEAN?

Returning to some techniques that will help us increase the income of the Food and Beverage department of our hotel, I propose that we focus on two: up-selling and cross-selling. Up-selling and cross-selling are basically techniques to increase sales in which a customer is proposed to acquire a better or more sophisticated product or service than the product or service already purchased. It is important to highlight that for the strategy to be successful, it must meet these minimum characteristics:

• Find the product or service that best fits our client; In other words, make it the right one for your profile.
• Take special care when choosing the moment in which we offer the product or service to the customer.
• The place must also be appropriate.
• And, of course, we must offer it at a fair price.

WHAT BENEFITS DO THESE TECHNIQUES BRING US?

Income of the Food and Beverage Department

Beyond the objective increase in the income of the Food and Beverage department, the correct implementation of these strategies as part of the revenue management culture in any tourist establishment produces a situation in which customers, company and employees.

They have tangible and intangible benefits:

• Client: after identifying the client’s needs, expectations and tastes, we will be able to offer them a personalized service and, therefore, of higher quality.
• Company: in this section, the benefits are many. For example, costs are optimized by increasing sales, since the fixed costs of these products or services are distributed among more customers, thus increasing operating profits.
• Employees: in my experience, a good professional feels much more satisfied in their job when their clients are happy. In addition, incentive programs (which is not the same as motivation) will help your income from your work increase.

That said, I would like to add that if these techniques are applied correctly, not only will TrevPAR be improved, but we will also see an even positive change in our quality indices. Therefore, we must always consider the long-term revenue management strategy, always having the satisfaction of our customers as a reference. This is one of the best ways to get loyal customers to our hotel or resort.

Conclusion

I would not like to conclude without emphasizing this again: that the human team is motivated, trained, and that they feel involved and encouraged by their work is crucial to improving the income of the Food and Beverage department. Let us never forget that the best way to sell is still direct contact: people talking to other people. From IHCS Hotel Consulting we invite you with this article not to hesitate when investing in knowing your clients and training your employees. Convince yourselves that, although instilling a revenue management strategy may be difficult at first, its benefits are multiple and it will be worth the effort. We hope you found this article interesting; If this has been the case, do not hesitate to share it and leave us your comments, opinions or suggestions. We say goodbye with this wise phrase from Napoleon Bonaparte:

Victory is not in always winning, but in never getting discouraged.

Thank you and see you next time!