Restaurant Sales Manager

Ruth's Chris Steak House•Walnut Creek, CA

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

Ruth’s Chris is seeking a Restaurant Sales Manager to drive top-line restaurant sales across all revenue centers, with a strong emphasis on private dining. This role involves proactive outreach, lead generation, local marketing, and responding to inbound inquiries. The Sales Manager will understand event objectives, tailor solutions, upsell, generate Banquet Event Orders, and ensure seamless communication of event details to the management team. Key responsibilities include developing and implementing strategies to identify prospects, monitoring strategy effectiveness, engaging with guests and prospects outside the restaurant, closing sales, nurturing client relationships, and supporting event execution. Success in this role requires a deep understanding of the market through research and competitive analysis, as well as developing strategic local relationships. The Sales Manager will collaborate with the General Manager and Executive Chef to develop sales strategies and achieve sales targets. Performance metrics, including response times and sales objectives, are critical. A secondary duty involves supporting restaurant operations as needed, which may include working floor shifts as a Restaurant Manager, conducting facility walkthroughs, and covering shifts for other managers.

Requirements

Grow top line restaurant sales in all Revenue Centers (Bar, Dining Room, Private Dining, and Off-Premises)
Focus on growing Private Dining sales through proactive outreach to potential leads, continual prospecting, driving local marketing efforts and responding to inbound leads.
Answer questions about private dining, understand event objectives and tailoring a solution, upselling, generating Banquet Event Orders, and communicating all event details to the other members of the Restaurant Management Team.
Develop and implement strategies to identify social and business prospects
Monitor the effectiveness of those strategies
Customarily and regularly engage with Guests and prospects outside of the restaurant (e.g., meeting outside the restaurant)
Close sales
Nurture past client relationships
Support the execution of event in the restaurant by greeting the Guests and ensuring Total Guest Indulgence.
Actively manage the sales pipeline through prospecting, cold calls, referrals, and internal maximization of resources.
Conduct in-market research and on-going competitive analysis
Develop strategic local relationships
Work closely with the General Manager and Executive Chef in their restaurant to develop the sales strategy for the restaurant and achieve or exceed sales and margin targets.
Meet or exceed performance metrics including response times and sales objectives.
Support restaurant operations as needed.
Occasionally work floor shifts as a Restaurant Manager
Conduct facility walkthroughs and line checks
Cover Restaurant Manager shifts while other managers are on vacation
Generally support the operations of the restaurant.

Responsibilities

Create quarterly sales and marketing plan and competitive analysis
Fill the sales pipeline by utilizing prospecting tactics
Present, negotiate, and successfully private dining events
Provide Legendary Service to develop Guest rapport, and book repeat Guests throughout the year
Remain fully engaged through internal maximization of table touching, networking in bar/lounge, greeting Guests, and interacting with regulars and dining room VIPs
Maintain active memberships with meeting planner associations and attend networking events to increase private dining and catering awareness
Actively pursue preferred caterer status at local venues
Understand and utilize booking software TripleSeat to track all incoming leads and events
Respond to Guest inquiries promptly, obtain all relevant information from the Guest to send appropriate menu pricing information and secure business.
Generate a Banquet Event Order, contracting the event specifications and follow-up with the host to secure an executed/signed contract and deposit.
Communicate all event details to the local management team, ensuring 100% clarity of details and expectations, validating information and menu, and answering questions.
Develop and execute local events/wine dinners as needed driving additional sales
Keep record of Guest contact information, interactions and transactions in our reservation system.
Maximize private dining revenue center profitability through responsible sales techniques and utilization of approved menus with adherence to established program SOP.
Periodically prepares and reports results, status of accounts, and leads to leadership
Additional duties as assigned