LESSON 13: SAMPLING DELI

When you meet a customer for the first time, it’s what you say and how you listen in those first few seconds that establishes their trust in you. How you handle that relationship ultimately contributes to their decision-making process when it comes to shopping for mealtime solutions.

Sampling - In the Service Deli

Utilize the time you have a customer's full attention.

• After they place their order and while they are waiting for it to be finished, offer them a slice of meat, a sample of a salad, and/or a featured item of the day or week.
• This will increase the odds of selling an additional item to the customer, plus it makes the time that they are waiting for their order more enjoyable.
  
  

Tips for sampling from behind the counter

• Ensure product integrity – Keep all products cold and at the temperatures needed to ensure food safety.
• Offer personalized customer interaction.
• Be sure the clerk is the only person handling the sample.
• Ensure samples are handed out properly. For example, salads in a portion cup with a spoon; sliced meat on a pick-up sheet handed directly to the customer.
  
  

*Most importantly, you must be certain that no other customer or outside element has touched or been in contact with the product to sampled.

Product Demonstrations – Outside the department

This can be done in-house, by scheduling a member of the staff, an outside demo company, broker, or manufacturer’s rep.

• Use a check-off sheet to ensure you have all the supplies that are needed to sample.
• Don’t forget portion cups, sampling spoons, etc.
• To ensure products are at the correct temperature when sampling, use chafing dishes for hot items or double bowls with ice under the product.
  
  

Suggestive selling during sampling or behind the counter.

Use the F.A.S.T. suggestive selling technique to help build sales for your department.

F.A.S.T.     

Find out about the situation.

Ask about preferences.

Suggest two specific items and sample them.

Talk about each choice.

Sampling and demos, when done properly, are a way to build the customer’s trust in your suggestions, helps you connect with them and makes their shopping experience more enjoyable.

FAST method © 2011 International Dairy•Deli•Bakery Association