Consider Postponing The Final Menu Selection

Buyers of catering from hotels and banquet facilities generally don’t select a final menu until sometime in the last 30 days before the event. This is often called the “finalization.” (These clients have all paid deposits and are definitely using these caterers.)

These hotels and banquet facilities find it’s to their advantage to have buyers hold off on menu selection until close to the event. The buyers don’t mind because they sign the original contract with a clear understanding of how much the various menus and packages will cost. They look upon it as an advantage.

In the off-premise world, the opposite seems to be the rule. The client who doesn’t balk for a second at the on-premise caterer’s rule of waiting until after the sale to pick out the final menu will not even think of saying “yes” to an off-premise caterer until the final menu and every detail is decided. This creates a long and sometimes tedious process of back-and-forth negotiations that slow the final decision for weeks and even months.

Off-premise caterers need to adopt the on-premise idea of putting off menu selection until later, in order to stop the prospect from shopping aimlessly with other caterers or delaying a decision to select a caterer and pay the deposit. This will never happen unless the off-premise caterer makes an attempt to convince potential clients to wait. Here is a script that might help:

“Mr. Jones, with respect to the menu selection, I’ve shown you a wide variety of successful menus and you seem to like many things that you’ve seen. But I’d like to suggest that we wait until thirty days before the event before you make your final menu decision. I will guarantee the prices you’ve seen here today when we sit down to make the final selection. In this way, you will be able to see the newest menus that our chef creates between now and then and I can keep an eye out for special items that will add to your party’s success. Does that make sense to you?”

If you start using this script, some—but not all—of your buyers will follow your lead and will wait to see what newer offering your chef may have before making a final decision on the menu.