A significant portion of my week is spent with prospective clients. I spend an hour reviewing their website, catering menu, marketing plan and materials. During a Go To Meeting, I also share all of the “best practices” to growing and running a catering profit center.
Most people want to know the same thing: How do I get more new catering clients?
Though this is a very important skill set to have and very necessary to replace lost catering sales and grow your overall business, it is only a part of what you need to focus on.
Taking care of existing catering clients is the most important sales and marketing duty you and your team have. From how your phones are answered to how the delivery driver looks and smells, there is a whole host of systems that can fall under the marketing umbrella.
And yes! I said smells. Have you ever had to interact with a person who smells like an ashtray? Sometimes the smoke works its way through the mint gum.
A few weeks ago on a consult call, I was reviewing the importance of what I call the anniversary reminder. While at Corky’s, I would file away all of the large catering tickets in my tickler system by month. So if I booked your holiday party in October, I would file the ticket away to pop up in my files next October.
The theory is to reach out to your catering customer to rebook the event the following year. Besides being a sure fire way to make catering sales, you are helping out your client. Most people have 101 things on their to-do list. If you can take that holiday party off their list, then you’re a hero.
Restaurant Catering Systems has built in an automatic anniversary reminder system into our catering software. After you book an order, a pop-up prompts you to set the reminder to rebook.
This particular prospect for our system revealed they lost a $7,000 catering sales last holiday season, because they failed to have an anniversary reminder system. Though they were lucky enough to have won the business back this year, nothing will make up for last year’s lost $7,000 event.
This prospect was excited to see this feature in our system. If she had our system last year, the profits on that one rebooked event would have more than paid for our services.
Even if you don’t invest in our catering software system, you can create your own anniversary reminder.
Stop chasing the bright, shiny new catering clients and make sure you are getting everything you can from your current ones. It will allow you to really grow your catering sales!
NOTE: In the spirit of working to help our community of RCS Catering Software clients (and future clients), we are putting together an extraordinary catering conference for restaurants called Caterpalooza!
This two day catering conference will be held in Nashville, Tennessee, March 7th & 8th, 2016. I expect this event to fill up.
Though the complete website is not completed and some of the speaking slots are to be filled, I encourage you to grab a spot or two.
Just go to www.Caterpalooza.com
We will also be crowning our RCS Catering Spokesperson. If you are a current RCS client and interested in competing, please check out this link for all of the info:
http://caterpalooza.com/contest
My team and I hope to see you in Nashville!
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.
