A few weeks ago, my friend Robin Robins brought in Kevin O’Leary, from Shark Tank, to address members of her high end coaching group. She generously invites me to all of her meetings to listen to top speakers in the business world.
One thing Kevin mentioned, that is not a surprise to me, is that the most expensive part of being in business is generating leads and customers. Because of his ties to Shark Tank and media, he is able to bypass traditional advertising.
He has also focused on acquiring synergistic businesses that can cross-pollinate leads and customers. Most of these businesses are in the wedding space. Weddings represent an evergreen niche of buyers spending money based on emotion.
Besides public relations, O’Leary uses content creation shared amongst all of his companies to generate leads and customers. It is a very well calculated business strategy used to rake in the profits.
Every time your phone rings with a catering inquiry, you have prospect who may or may not buy. Failing to capture lead information and add them to your monthly follow up system is like flushing fifty bucks or more down the drain.
Some of my clients proactively generate leads with our Sales Tempo Catering Lead Generation System. The goal is to provide a sampling of food to the decision maker(s) with the goal of getting the first order.
My clients who work the system are finding success. But every free sampling does not lead to a catering sale. What to do was the big question posed by Mark Rogers in last week’s Catering Coaching Call.
I came up with the idea of sending a follow up piece of mail sixty days after the sampling. The grabber in the letter is a $1 Target gift card that can be exchanged for a $25 Target gift card. It is an ethical bribe of sorts.
The fortune is in the follow up. You can’t invest time and money in identifying qualified leads and let them grow cold. Just today, an attendee of my Portland seminar called Nicole in our office to move forward with our system. Looking him up in our database revealed he invested $1,500 in my Catering Magic System in 2005. For eleven years he has been getting my emails and invites to webinars and seminars.
Mark took a stab at the Target gift card letter and asked me to fine tune it. I usually only share my sales letters with clients. Today I am feeling like putting out some catering karma. Hopefully this letter will help you book a few more caterings; at least enough to want to work with us on a deeper level. Below is the letter copy:
Would You Like To Turn $1 Into $25?
Bob – attached is a $1 Gift Card from Target. Feel free to use it now if you’d like, but I’d rather come out in the next thirty days and exchange it for a $25 Target Gift Card. So…what’s the catch?
A few months ago, I came out and brought you a complimentary lunch from my catering company, ABC Restaurant, so you could experience first-hand what it would be like to work together.
Maybe you haven’t ordered catering for your company since then. Or maybe you need a little nudge to give us a shot.
When you call me at 555-555-5555 to place your next order by (THIRTY DAYS FROM LETTER) for at least $150, I will bring you out a $25 Target Gift Card as a new catering client welcome gift. I know once you and your team members give us a shot, you’ll definitely want to add us to your company’s catering rotation.
Look, I know you’re going to love the way we present our food, the awesome flavor and appreciate the punctuality of our drivers. Our entire sales team is dedicated to make ordering and receiving your catering a truly hassle-free experience.
You’re going to look like a hero with our catering and get a nice $25 Target Gift Card for yourself to enjoy. Pick up the phone now and call me at 555-555-5555 to get your next hassle-free catering booked!
Looking Forward To Working Together!
I sincerely hope you can put this letter to work. After all, you never want to give up on a qualified catering prospect.
NOTE: If you are interested in a full day of client nurturing strategies and other catering sales building strategies, please make plans to attend my full day catering seminar in Atlanta on Monday, September 26, 2016.
Complete details at: www.CateringSeminars.com/atlanta
Hope you can make it.
NOTE 2: I’ve had many people inquire about the DVD recordings from Caterpalooza. The 8 DVD set is available and a great tool for you and your team to sell more catering.
Please check it out at: www.Caterpalooza.com/dvd
NOTE 3: Let me encourage you to a join our new Facebook group I created for our industry: Restaurants That Cater. It is open to clients and non-clients alike. Please post your successes and challenges and share your knowledge with our community. There are groups and associations for caterers and for restaurants, but none for restaurants that cater…a very important group that is grossly underrepresented. Click on the link below and request to join:
www.RestaurantsThatCaterGroup.com
Please pass on this link to your colleagues and co-workers in the industry. The more of us, the better!
Well, that’s all for this issue.
To Your Restaurant's Marketing & Catering Success,
Michael Attias
Restaurant Catering Software
P.S. – If you need help growing catering sales, then please go to www.RestaurantCateringSoftware.com and download my free eBook: Cater or Die!
P.P.S. – I make a limited number of time slots available each week for a free Catering Strategy Session with me. (You also get a catering menu critique and free analysis of your website for “Catering Effectiveness”). For complete details and to grab one of the limited spots, please go to:
http://www.restaurantcateringsoftware.com/catering-planning-strategy-session
P.P.P.S. – Please check out my podcast at www.RestaurantCateringSmarts.com
P.P.P.P.S. - Anyone wishing to reprint my articles may do so. Please email me for the bi-line to use for proper author’s credits.
