How Corporations View Caterers - Part #4

Approach the buyer of corporate catering from the point of view that you sell, or can arrange for, everything they need to make their needs, wants, dreams and situations become okay. Be their problem solver. You need to be all things to a corporate buyer. This may not be easy; often, corporate buyers are on a power trip and look upon the caterer as a necessary evil. They may have gotten this attitude because one or more caterers have let this buyer down in the past.

To overcome, or neutralize this, you need to have some sort of a 100% satisfaction guarantee to offer your corporate buyers. At first this might seem too dangerous, but you can be assured that it will increase your overall sales.

It has never been more important to resell and to sell more to our buyers. You need to be in their mind at all times. There are too many other caterers willing to give the time it takes to grow a corporate business in a tough competitive marketplace.

How Corporations View Caterers - Part #3

Corporate catering is usually quicker to sell than social catering like weddings. To be a successful corporate caterer, you need to be looked upon by corporate buyers as a source for solutions and you need to be perceived as different from the other caterers who are also looking to sell their catering to corporations.

Corporate buyers have a unique perspective on caterers:

They don’t believe that caterers will give them the value they wish. 

Other corporate vendors give them “free” stuff for being a loyal customer. You need to make your buyers feel loved. The best way is to stop by and shake their hand. By doing this, you get to know them better and build your relationship with them.

Next, send in some exciting extra food samples occasionally. Everyone likes to get something free. We’re not suggesting that you give a kickback or free food to them to take home for a party they’re giving for friends or family. This could get you in trouble with their, or your, company policy manual. Some caterers use some sort of a “bonus point” system for corporate buyers to offer the entire company a benefit for purchasing from one catering vendor.

How Corporations View Caterers - Part #2

Corporate catering is usually quicker to sell than social catering like weddings. To be a successful corporate caterer, you need to be looked upon by corporate buyers as a source for solutions and you need to be perceived as different from the other caterers who are also looking to sell their catering to corporations.

Corporate buyers have a unique perspective on caterers:

They can get cheaper food from dozens of other places. Isn’t a chicken-salad sandwich the same whether you pay $7.50 or $4.75 for it? To understand the impact of this, ask yourself this question: When you buy Driscoll strawberries for your business, don’t you shop for the lowest price? Isn’t your assumption that a Driscoll brand strawberry is the same no matter where you buy it?

That’s just the point. To your buyers, the brand is the product line, or chicken-salad sandwich, not the caterer who is making it for them. The obvious solution is to stress the benefits of your brand name over others.

You would do this by stressing that your price contains much more than just the words “chicken-salad sandwich.” Your price includes the highest quality purveyors, 6 ounces of salad, safe temperature control, on-time delivery, sanitation and overall quality service. This is hard to do in a society where most people are looking for price advantages.

How Corporations View Caterers - Part #1

Corporate catering is usually quicker to sell than social catering like weddings. To be a successful corporate caterer, you need to be looked upon by corporate buyers as a source for solutions and you need to be perceived as different from the other caterers who are also looking to sell their catering to corporations.

Corporate buyers have a unique perspective on caterers:

They can get catering from dozens of other places. 

Why shouldn’t they keep a lot of caterers on call? After all, why would I order Mexican catering from a German caterer? This has always been a problem for many caterers. Corporate buyers wouldn’t think of eating in the same restaurant each and every day, so why would they want to buy from the same caterer every time they need catering. Obviously, caterers need to provide a wide variety of menu items demonstrating their ability to cater all ethnic styles a buyer may want.

In addition, caterers would be wise to offer a seasonal change of menus. The corporate shopper gets the feeling that your business is constantly changing to offer the latest and best in different cuisines. Your goal is to let your corporate client understand that while there are other caterers, you are the best choice since you offer a source of solutions to whatever they might need and you offer outstanding customer service with on-time delivery.

Roman's Rule #283 About Marketing

The point of marketing is not to sell anything, but rather to prompt a prospect to contact you. Keep your message short and focus on getting the prospect to decide that you are one of the caterers they would be wise to contact and get sales information from before they make a final decision on which caterer to select.

It is usually best to concentrate on getting prospects. Whatever marketing concept you use, try to keep the message hard-hitting, easy to understand and short. We all live in a short-attention-span world, with most people feeling that they can’t waste time to think deeply about many subjects, especially when it comes to choosing a caterer.

You want the prospect to contact you about the menus, prices, and policies they need to put you through their selection process. Good marketing prepares the shopper for the selling information they receive after they make contact.

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Testimonial From A Happy Blog Follower!

Hi Mr. Roman,

I want you to know that I read your blog every day and I love it!!  We all read it here every day.

I wanted to share with you about two events I was bidding on for a venue here in Houston.  I really didn’t think I was going to be able to compete against the catering company I was bidding against since they seem to have a leg up on some aspects of the facility we work together in (they have the exclusive beverage contract).

So I thought I would have nothing to lose by trying out your coaching of letting them know that if they didn’t book with us, I would forward a copy of our recipes for items they may have liked from us, to the other catering company.

The loved it!  She called me and said she had never been told that before and thought it demonstrated such a desire to really take care of them and their important event.  She originally told me that she didn’t have anything to do with the decision process.  She only was gathering the information for the top person choosing.  But after that email, she became our champion and highly recommended us to the person making the choice.  I consequently booked the piece of business with them and am completely delighted (as are they!)

I can’t wait to try more new ways of thinking you are showing!

You make me think outside of my own very small box and you get me going!

Selling really has become a bigger expression for me and it excites me now.  I haven’t been this excited about selling in a long time.  Thanks for showing me a way to tap into my passion again!

Thanks for ALL you do for our industry and who you are for us.  It’s great to have this connection with you!

Warmest regards,

Harold

Harold KellySales & Marketing Director -- Mélange Events