What the one-day programme covers
1. Make every customer feel welcome from the first HELLO
Participants explore their own communication style and practise adapting the first 30 seconds of a customer interaction. Using the DOPE assessment and HELLO + 3A approach, they adjust their warmth, pace and explanations to observed customer cues.
Practice activity: Deliver personalised welcomes for a hurried takeaway buyer, a detail-focused diner, a sociable café visitor and an undecided customer.
2. Find out what customers really want before taking the order
Participants practise listening carefully, clarifying requests such as “Something light” or “Not too sweet,” and confirming purchasing priorities. They use parrot phrasing and selected SPIN questions to understand the customer’s needs before recommending a menu item.
Practice activity: Uncover hidden requirements involving taste, budget, portion size or time, then recommend an appropriate item and confirm the order.
3. Grow the order by adding value to the customer’s choice
Participants learn to suggest suitable upgrades and complementary drinks, sides, pastries or desserts. They practise connecting each recommendation to a customer preference, explaining the additional price and accepting a decline courteously.
Practice activity: Operate a simulated F&B counter using actual menus and prices, combining a personalised welcome, clarification and a relevant sales recommendation.
4. Turn customer hesitation into a confident purchase
Participants practise responding calmly to concerns about price, value and portion suitability. They learn to clarify hesitation, offer appropriate alternatives and use choice or summary closes to confirm the agreed items, preferences and total price.
Practice activity: Respond to objections such as “The set is too expensive” or “That portion may be too much,” then guide the customer towards a suitable decision.
