How to Use ‘Strike Rates’ to Improve Sales Performance
A simple way to measure strengths and weaknesses with team and your menu. Want the Action Sheet ? Click Here
Here’s the thing – maths is not a strong suit for many of your staff, even the manager or head chef. So when you talk about percentages, markups and discounts, they’re probably hoping you don’t quiz them too hard – they might nod, but they’re keen to change the subject! A survey of adults some years ago found that 47/100 (almost half) could not calculate a percentage – chances are, some of them work for you!
What’s a strike rate? It gives a number result in the format of say ‘one in 10’ or ‘3 out of 4’ eg ‘one in 4 people in Australia own a pet’ – we could say 25%, but the strike rate method is much clearer for most people.
If you’re going to build a business driven by numbers and accurate data, you need to have everyone knowledgeable and comfortable with the figures that they’re responsible for. When staff are more numerate and ‘financially literate’, you will get understanding and buy-in with results that are expressed as numbers..
Chances are that you like numbers, because you’re in business and they drive your profit. But many of your staff aren’t great with figures – maybe that’s why they went into hospitality instead of finance! The simpler you can make critical numbers, the better – explaining results as a ‘strike rate’ makes the point much more directly.
Here’s how to coach your staff about strike rates…
Explaining results as a ‘strike rate’ makes results much clearer, here are 2 examples:
Not so clear: ‘only 26% of customers are ordering dessert’
Clearer: ‘only 1 in 4 customers are ordering dessert’
Not so clear: ‘62% of customers have one drink at the bar then leave’
Clearer: ‘3 out of 5 customers have one drink etc etc…’
Here are some examples from under-performing businesses:
At a seafood restaurant, only 1 person in 12 ordered dessert.
At a pizzeria, only 1 customer in 8 ordered a side salad.
Only 1 customer in 4 orders herb or garlic bread with their meal.
Only 1 wine drinker in 5 also ordered mineral water at a restaurant.
Out of 120 function inquiries last month, only 20 became bookings – one in 6.
And sometimes the results are good:
2 out of every 5 customers will order a second coffee if asked.
Complaints have gone down from 1 customer in 100 to 1 in 350.
2 out of 5 take-away customers add a drink to the order if suggested
When you talk about results in terms of ‘strike rate’, you will get much better buy-in when presenting important numbers. It can also be more motivating if you’re pushing a sales competition, or highlighting a disappointment eg ‘when we get to one in 3 customers ordering dessert, there will be a bonus;’.
Your strike rate numbers are in POS data, dockets and bookkeeping info, but often in a mess of spreadsheets and percentages. Start with a couple of sales strike rates that show under-performance, and use your sales scripts and menu redesign to push for improvement.
Want to get some 1 on 1 help? Talk to one of our coaches
Want the Action Sheet ? Click Here
Here’s the thing – maths is not a strong suit for many of your staff, even the manager or head chef. So when you talk about percentages, markups and discounts, they’re probably hoping you don’t quiz them too hard – they might nod, but they’re keen to change the subject! A survey of adults some years ago found that 47/100 (almost half) could not calculate a percentage – chances are, some of them work for you!
What’s a strike rate? It gives a number result in the format of say ‘one in 10’ or ‘3 out of 4’ eg ‘one in 4 people in Australia own a pet’ – we could say 25%, but the strike rate method is much clearer for most people.
If you’re going to build a business driven by numbers and accurate data, you need to have everyone knowledgeable and comfortable with the figures that they’re responsible for. When staff are more numerate and ‘financially literate’, you will get understanding and buy-in with results that are expressed as numbers..
Chances are that you like numbers, because you’re in business and they drive your profit. But many of your staff aren’t great with figures – maybe that’s why they went into hospitality instead of finance! The simpler you can make critical numbers, the better – explaining results as a ‘strike rate’ makes the point much more directly.
Here’s how to coach your staff about strike rates…
Explaining results as a ‘strike rate’ makes results much clearer, here are 2 examples:
Here are some examples from under-performing businesses:
At a seafood restaurant, only 1 person in 12 ordered dessert.
At a pizzeria, only 1 customer in 8 ordered a side salad.
Only 1 customer in 4 orders herb or garlic bread with their meal.
Only 1 wine drinker in 5 also ordered mineral water at a restaurant.
Out of 120 function inquiries last month, only 20 became bookings – one in 6.
And sometimes the results are good:
2 out of every 5 customers will order a second coffee if asked.
Complaints have gone down from 1 customer in 100 to 1 in 350.
2 out of 5 take-away customers add a drink to the order if suggested
When you talk about results in terms of ‘strike rate’, you will get much better buy-in when presenting important numbers. It can also be more motivating if you’re pushing a sales competition, or highlighting a disappointment eg ‘when we get to one in 3 customers ordering dessert, there will be a bonus;’.
Your strike rate numbers are in POS data, dockets and bookkeeping info, but often in a mess of spreadsheets and percentages. Start with a couple of sales strike rates that show under-performance, and use your sales scripts and menu redesign to push for improvement.
Want to get some 1 on 1 help? Talk to one of our coaches
Take one menu item and work out the strike rate and value of increased sales:
Check the other useful blog posts on the Foodie Coaches website…