I don't always encourage upselling after entrees... but it depends.

I'm happy to get people dessert, I just don't encourage it. It's often way more advantageous that I clear that table and focus on starting a new tab with a new table.

Just a reminder, this is higher-volume, more casual restaurant training. It’s not for fine-dining where you should absolutely offer dessert because people come for a big dining experience.

Desserts at my restaurant were 8-15 dollars. Coffee was 3 dollars.

One dessert and four coffees: 27 dollars. 20% is $5.40.

A new table that that gets 4 cocktails at $12 each and an appetizer for $15 is $63.

20% of that is $12.60 in addition to the fact that they’ll also be ordering more drinks, entrees, etc.

$12.60 is more than $5.40. Right?

AND 4 cocktails and an appetizer is frankly a lot less work than a dessert and spoons and napkins and cream and sugar and new forks and little plates and a sticky table...

This is simple cost-benefit analysis.

So the way I approach this is after pre-busing plates,

I ask, "How was everything?"
They say good, then I say, “Did everyone get enough to eat?”
They say yes, then I ask, “Anything else I can get y'all?"
Sometimes they say, “yeah, can we see the dessert menu?”
“Absolutely.” (I offer without hesitation.)
Often they say no, then I say, "Alright guys, I'll grab your check here in a bit."

So I want to be clear: I never, ever discourage the guests from getting what they want to include dessert. I'm just not encouraging dessert. Some managers will hate my opinion on this which is fine. This series is not for managers. It’s for servers. But many managers will agree that turning a table generates higher revenue for their business than encouraging people to order ice cream.