Hand It Over

Cheers, Nov, 2000 by Mike Sherer

Super- and Ultra-premium spirits and liqueurs languishing on your back bar? Lend them a hand by hand-selling.

If you're like most operators, you have a bottle or two--maybe even dozens--of ultra-premium spirits on your backbar. Their mere presence lends an aura of class to the bar, signifying your establishment's good taste. But often, these expensive products end up sitting on the shelf, gathering dust, waiting for the high roller to walk in the door.

Even if you have only one bottle of these top drawer brands, they constitute expensive inventory. Most likely, they also represent some of the best margins in the bar. So why not put them to work? The fastest, and best, way to get them to move is to hand-sell them. And with the holiday season upon us, customers will be even more inclined to splurge.

Hand-selling is perhaps the most artful of all forms of salesmanship. It requires acute powers of observation, a good sense of timing and great presentation skills. It is more proactive yet not as pushy as up-selling, another way to get a customer to order a higher class spirit. "Sounds difficult," you say, but with practice anyone can learn to do it.

So just what is hand-selling?

"High-end spirits don't sell themselves," said Arnie Millan, owner of Avenue One, a French bistro in Seattle. "You really have to talk about them."

"Hand-selling means getting behind small producers of new and interesting products that we can tell stories about," said John Lancaster, wine director of Boulevard in San Francisco.

"Hand-selling means having an awareness of what we've got and taking advantage of opportunities to sell it," said Bill Hemme, bar manager at Four Farthings, Chicago.

The purpose of hand-selling, in fact, is not just about making a buck, or an extra buck. It's more esoteric than that. While up-selling is a straightforward no-nonsense way to increase check averages, hand-selling is a more subtle attempt to match a customer's tastes with something that will knock his or her socks off.

"We put things out there that people haven't had to give them a memorable experience," Lancaster said, "There are a lot of dining options Out there. This is a way to get people to come back. It's a way to put a capper on a great evening."

Handy Dandy

Hand-selling is reserved for your best stock because typically it is the least known and understood of all the brands in your bar. The spirits your staff hand-sells will be those that require and deserve an explanation about why they are rare, unique and expensive. Well vodka needs no explanation, but customers should be told why a quadruple-distilled vodka made with organic wheat commands a higher price.

What you stock at the upper end in spirits really depends on what type of place you have, where your interests and those of your customers lie. In general, you should stock enough brands in any category to give customers a selection in terms of both price and taste. You may decide, for example, not to carry many single malt Scotches, but concentrate instead on cognacs. Offer a selection at several different price points. If you have a few at one price point, make sure they are distinct enough that servers have a way of helping customers choose one over another, based on their tastes.

"I will carry some things because the quality is such that I have to have it," Lancaster said. "I carry things at different price points to offer our customers value and give people an option, and I choose things based on seasonality."

Last summer, for example, the restaurant pushed its selection of specialty rums with rum-inspired drinks from Brazil. This fall and winter, it will feature warm drinks made with other high end spirits.

"Everything in our restaurant is chosen for a reason," said Avenue One's Millan. "We select products that offer good quality and good value. There's a lot of passion that goes into selecting product."

"There are so many Scotches to choose from, for example, that we only have a few," said Michelle Mace, Avenue One's bar manager. "What we look for is lack of availability, something unique, something that will advance people's palates. Then we try to make sure we have a representative selection--Highland, Lowland, sherry woods, port woods, and so forth."

Inventory can he small or large based on the operation. Grove, a small bistro in New York, has a relatively small inventory of ultra-premiums. "It makes more sense for a neighborhood place like ours to have only a few ultra-premiums to choose from instead of lots like a really expensive bar," said Gabrielle Lowe, Grove's manager.

Other operations offer an inventory that differentiates them from the competition. Maya, a Mexican restaurant in New York, specializes in tequilas. Herradura Gold is the house tequila, there are a dozen margaritas on the menu, and some of the restaurant's boutique tequilas command as much as S100 a drink.

Heartland Brewery, New York, stocks a broad selection of ultra-premium spirits just to compete. "In New York we have no choice but to remain competitive in spirits, not just beer" said Manny Manno, general manager. "The emphasis is always on beer but we have all the convenience of a regular bar. It's well worth it to have 25 vodkas." The brewpub also carries 45 single malt Scotches.