A single server recommendation can swing your profit by €4 per guest. Train your team to guide diners toward profitable dishes without being pushy. Smart servers understand which plates actually make money.
Why training staff on margins matters
Your servers control more profit than you realize. Smart waitstaff naturally guide guests toward money-making dishes. But untrained servers? They'll recommend whatever they personally enjoy - usually the pricey ingredients with razor-thin margins.
? Example:
Two steaks on your menu:
- Ribeye €32 - food cost 45% (slim margin)
- Bavette €28 - food cost 28% (strong margin)
Every bavette recommendation over ribeye puts an extra €4.20 in your pocket.
Identify your winners and losers
You can't train what you don't know. Calculate food costs for every dish first, then sort them:
- Winners: Food cost under 30%
- Losers: Food cost above 35%
- Neutral: Everything between
Focus training on pushing winners while slowing down losers. And here's one of the most common blind spots in kitchen management: servers often recommend the most expensive dishes thinking they're helping, but premium ingredients usually carry the worst margins.
? Example calculation:
Pasta carbonara - menu price €18.50 incl. VAT:
- Selling price excl. VAT: €18.50 ÷ 1.09 = €16.97
- Ingredient costs: €4.80
- Food cost: (€4.80 ÷ €16.97) × 100 = 28.3%
That's a clear winner!
Create a cheat sheet for your team
Skip the complex math. Your staff needs something they can memorize during a busy shift:
- Green list: Actively recommend these
- Red list: Only serve if specifically requested
- Yellow list: Neutral options
Pin this in your staff area. Make sure everyone memorizes it within their first week.
Train sales techniques without being pushy
Nobody wants a pushy server. Teach subtle influence instead:
? Examples of smooth recommendations:
- "The cod came in beautiful today" (high-margin fish)
- "Our pasta dishes are really popular" (solid margins)
- "Can I suggest the entrecôte?" (better margin than ribeye)
- Suggestive selling: "Fries or roasted potatoes with that?" (sides often carry great margins)
- Upselling: "Large portion's just €3 more" (bigger portions = better margins)
- Cross-selling: "This pairs beautifully with our house red" (drinks = high margins)
⚠️ Heads up:
Never badmouth menu items. Instead of "That steak's pricey," try "The bavette's also fantastic and a bit lighter."
Use daily specials strategically
Specials are perfect margin boosters. Your chef gets creative freedom while servers can recommend with genuine enthusiasm.
- Feature seasonal ingredients for lower costs
- Create stories: "Chef sourced this locally..."
- Price competitively while maintaining strong margins
Motivate your team with insight
Show them why this matters. Staff who understand that smart recommendations protect everyone's paycheck will actually care about margins.
? Calculation example for your team:
"Steering just 5 guests nightly toward pasta over steak:"
- Extra profit per night: 5 × €4 = €20
- Weekly (6 service days): €120
- Annually: €6,240
That funds a solid Christmas bonus!
Measure and adjust
Track your dish performance weekly. Rising sales of high-margin items means your training's working. Flat numbers mean you need to pivot.
- Weekly review: Which dishes dominated sales?
- Gather feedback: How do guests react to suggestions?
- Refresh training: Update for new dishes or changed costs
Tools like KitchenNmbrs help you quickly spot which dishes deliver the strongest margins, so your team always has current intel.
How do you train your staff? (step by step)
Calculate food cost of all dishes
Make a list of all your dishes with their food cost percentage. Divide them into: green (under 30%), yellow (30-35%), red (above 35%). This becomes your basis for all training.
Create a simple cheat sheet
Put the green dishes on a list your staff can recommend. Add short sales arguments like 'fresh today' or 'chef's favorite'. Post this where everyone can see it.
Train sales techniques
Teach your team to recommend subtly without being pushy. Practice phrases like 'May I recommend the...?' and 'Pairs perfectly with...' Role-play different situations during team meetings.
Monitor and adjust weekly
Check each week which dishes sold best. If high-margin dishes are increasing, your training is working. Give feedback to your team and update the cheat sheet when the menu changes.
✨ Pro tip
Focus on your 3 highest-volume dishes this week. Train servers to redirect just these popular items toward better-margin alternatives, and you'll capture 60% of potential profit gains within 14 days.
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Frequently asked questions
Should I tell my team about margins and profit?
What if guests still want the expensive dish with low margin?
How often should I update the cheat sheet?
Does this strategy work for drinks too?
What if my team finds this sales approach annoying?
Should I offer bonuses for selling specific dishes?
Sources consulted
- EU Verordening 852/2004 — Levensmiddelenhygiëne (2004) — Official source
- EU Verordening 853/2004 — Hygiënevoorschriften voor levensmiddelen van dierlijke oorsprong (2004) — Official source
- EU Verordening 1169/2011 — Voedselinformatie aan consumenten (2011) — Official source
- NVWA — Hygiënecode voor de horeca (2024) — Official source
- NVWA — Allergenen in voedsel (2024) — Official source
- Codex Alimentarius — International Food Standards (2024) — Official source
- FSA — Safer food, better business (HACCP) (2024) — Official source
- BVL — Lebensmittelhygiene (HACCP) (2024) — Official source
Food Standards Agency (FSA) — https://www.food.gov.uk
The HACCP standards shown in this application are for informational purposes only. KitchenNmbrs does not guarantee that displayed values are current or complete. Always consult the FSA or your local authority for the latest regulations.
Written by
Jeffrey Smit
Founder & CEO of KitchenNmbrs
Jeffrey Smit built KitchenNmbrs from 8 years of hands-on experience as kitchen manager at 1NUL8 Group in Rotterdam. His mission: give every restaurant owner control over food cost.
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