Desserts can be a hard sell these days. Customers are more concerned about what they’re eating now more than ever. Everyone’s watching their weight, on a diet, cutting carbs, etc. Health consciousness just won’t go away.
As a restaurant owner, you should care about dessert. Even though desserts sometimes get a bad rap, they’re still very important to consider. Here’s how you can more out of your dessert menu.
Why people do or don’t order dessert
If you’re going to convince customers to consume (or at least order) a whole extra load of calories following a full meal – you might want to do a little more than simply having your servers ask: “Is anybody at the table in the mood for dessert?”
Gosh, I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve groaned, “Nope. Nope. I’m good. Check please.” And it’s not that I don’t want dessert. I love dessert! Honestly, who doesn’t? It’s just that at the end of the night (unless they just ordered an appetizer or a salad) most people are reasonably well-fed.
People order dessert not because they need it. They order dessert because they want it. The art of selling dessert is an appeal to the senses rather than the mind. Customers will order dessert because of the decadent imagery in your menus. They’ll do it because it’s someone’s birthday or a special occasion, so why shouldn’t they indulge a bit in celebration?
Consider how dessert can best serve your restaurant
It’s important to understand that dessert benefits different restaurants in different ways.
If tables are a hot commodity at your restaurant, you’re going to want to filter out customers as quickly as you can. That may mean changing your approach when it comes to dessert. Here’s three ways you can have your cake and profit.
- Tinier portions. Mini-desserts have become reasonably more popular in the past few years. They’re less caloric, customers will eat them faster, and you can still get away with charging more to increase the profit margin.
- Offering dessert to-go. By the time dessert rolls around, some customers are just as ready to get out of your hair as you are to seat the next party. It’s pretty simple to implement. Just have a small blurb on your dessert menu saying: “In a hurry? Order dessert to-go and enjoy from the comfort of your home.”
- Dessert wine. Every restaurant owner knows that profit margins are much more significant on alcohol than food. Putting an emphasis on dessert wine is a great way to squeeze a little more revenue out of the dessert period.
The bottom line is that dessert isn’t going anywhere. Customers expect it, and not having it can lead to more negative effects than it’d be worth. If you’re going to have dessert, it’s going to benefit your restaurant greatly to get the most out of it.
Promote Dessert Digitally With CoGoBuzz
With CoGoBuzz, your customers will start thinking about what dessert they’re going to order, before they even sit down. It’s all thanks to the power of mobile engagement – and because customers can’t help but look at their phones.
Leveraging advanced WiFi, SMS, and Email solutions, CoGoBuzz promotes your restaurant’s menus, deals, events and more (including your dessert menu) – directly to customer mobile devices. It all happens automatically for your customers with a quick one-time login via social media, Email, or phone number. Check out the rest of our website to learn more about the many benefits of CoGoBuzz!
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What’s the dessert situation like in your restaurant? Sound off in the comments!