“A happy guest buys more, tips more, and comes back more often!”
About Paul
Self-proclaimed “Wine Geek” Paul Martzoukos wants to share his love of wine with the world.
That’s why Paul has created the “10 Second Server” and “Wine FUNdamentals” courses.
Active in the Food and Beverage industry since 1980, Paul is a Certified Sommelier and Wine Educator with a B. Comm from University of Guelph in Hotel and Food Admin (HAFA). He spent seven years as a server and server trainer in casual and fine dining restaurants, and has been a Fine Wine Importer since 1995. In 1999, he became a Certified Sommelier and has been pursuing his dream of educating others on wine ever since!
The 10-Second Server Story
The 10 SECOND family of courses are designed to teach servers how to better answer the following questions:
“How’s the (insert menu item)?”
or
“What would you recommend?”
I often find that servers miss this golden opportunity to enhance the guest experience by effectively “romancing” items and making strong recommendations matching those items to guest needs.
For example, a great description is:
Guest: “How’s the ________ Sauvignon Blanc?”
10 Second Server: “It’s from New Zealand and is made by a highly regarded Organic producer. It is crisp with a lot of fresh herbaceous flavours, and is great with our Wedge Salad.”
Most servers feel that they do not have the technical knowledge to deliver this effectively and so they do not, even with this script. The reality is that you do not need to be a Sommelier to sell wine, nor a Chef to sell food.
My experience is that servers have no more than 10 seconds to “romance” an item before the guest starts tuning them out. A short impactful description is best. Hence the name of my courses. In the 10 SECOND family of courses I will teach servers how to make the most of those 10 seconds. They will learn:
a tried and true system for effective sales (called TIPS)
basic technical knowledge of beverages and food
the best language to effectively communicate it to their guests
These programs provide basic technical knowledge on beverages and food, which can be built upon with more advanced technical programs. The focus is on practical knowledge and effective, easy-to-learn sales techniques.
By keeping the focus on language development of clearly defined core concepts, servers can be confident that their short, impactful descriptions will translate to a better guest experience.