Upsell
A suggestion offered during an order for something additional or larger than what was already requested — a side, a drink, a size increase — distinct from a modifier, which changes the item already being ordered.
What separates a suggestion that lands well from one that feels like a script is rarely the idea itself — it's relevance, timing, and how many times it happens in one conversation. It matters more on a phone call than at a counter, since a call has none of the visual cues — a raised eyebrow, a glance at a menu board — that soften an in-person suggestion.
A caller orders a sandwich; one relevant suggestion follows naturally — would they like a drink. Either answer, the call moves straight to reviewing the order. Contrast a version where a dessert prompt and then a loyalty-signup prompt follow immediately after: by the third prompt the caller is waiting out a pitch, not finishing an order they were already committed to.
The most common mistake is assuming more suggestions reliably means more revenue — a caller's patience on a phone call is a real, finite resource, and pushing past a small number tends to cost more in irritation than it gains in occasional acceptance.
Dohos limits how many suggestions a caller hears in a single call to a structural maximum of two, not a setting a restaurant can raise, with the reasoning covered on Orders.
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