Building & Paying a Sales Team

Introduction

In a restaurant or pub, the "sales team" is not a bunch of people on the phone. It is your bartenders, servers, hosts, managers, and sometimes the owner on the floor. They sell in real time, table by table, pint by pint, dessert by dessert, and they do it while keeping service smooth. If you want bigger checks and better nights, you need a team that knows how to recommend, upsell, and close without sounding pushy.

The shift is simple to say and hard to do: stop depending on the owner to save every slow night and build a service team that can drive revenue on its own. That means hiring the right people, training them the right way, and paying them in a way that pushes the right behavior.

Recruiting the Right Talent

In hospitality, a great hire is not just someone who can carry plates or pour a beer. You want people who can read a room, stay calm under pressure, and naturally connect with guests. A fast smile, good memory, and clean communication matter more than a fancy resume.

When you interview, look for signs they can sell through service. Ask how they would turn a guest who ordered one pint into a round for the table, a starter, or a shared dessert. Ask how they handle a difficult guest during a packed Friday night. A strong pub server should not just take orders. They should guide the guest toward the better experience.

Training and Development

Once hired, your team needs a clear playbook. Do not assume people know how to upsell in a restaurant just because they have worked in one before. Every menu, drink list, and crowd is different.

Build a training program that covers menu knowledge, food pairings, drink suggestions, allergy awareness, service timing, and how to read guest cues. New hires should practice real service situations, like recommending a house lager over the standard draft, suggesting a sharable starter, or offering a second round before the first drink is empty. Role-play matters. A server who can say, "Our burger goes best with the smoked cheddar fries" will outperform someone who only says, "Anything else?"

A solid onboarding window for a restaurant or pub is often the first 10 to 14 shifts. During that time, new team members should shadow top performers, learn the steps of service, and be tested on menu items, specials, and common guest questions.

Compensation Plans

If you want staff to sell more, reward the behavior that creates more revenue. In restaurants and pubs, that does not always mean a traditional commission plan. It can mean tip pool rules, shift-bonus targets, sales contests, or rewards tied to upsells and guest checks.

The point is to connect pay with performance. For example, a team might earn a weekly bonus if the average check hits a target, or bartenders might get a prize for the most premium spirit upgrades sold during a weekend shift. If your team gets paid the same no matter what they sell, many will stick to the minimum.

Keep the incentives simple. Staff should know exactly what wins: higher average check, more dessert sales, more appetizers per cover, or better drink mix. If the system is confusing, it will not move behavior.

Overcoming Challenges

When you stop relying on the owner to do all the selling, the first few weeks can feel messy. Average checks may dip while the new team learns the menu and service flow. That is normal if you are changing the culture.

The fix is structure. Give your team scripts for common moments: greeting the table, suggesting a starter, offering a second drink, and closing with dessert or coffee. Standardize the sequence of service so every guest gets the same quality experience. A good pub team should know what to say when a guest says, "We're just having a quick drink," and still guide them toward a snack or a second round without being annoying.

Conclusion

A strong restaurant or pub team does more than serve. It sells through hospitality. When you hire for attitude, train for service and menu knowledge, and pay for results, your team becomes a real revenue engine instead of just labor on the schedule.