Catering is Tough to Market

Buying a candy bar is simple. Buying catering is complex because of the many variables and significant costs. To market catering effectively, you need to understand the factors that make it a difficult selling situation:

·         You are marketing something that cannot be taken off a shelf and examined by the buyer.

·         It’s difficult to demonstrate your product or service like you could a camera or a new car. Many buyers don’t understand what catering really is.

·         You may be marketing a product you have never really purchased yourself, so you may not have a good understanding of what goes through the mind of a buyer. Marketing needs to take into account the fears buyers have, such as running out of food at an event.

·         The buyer doesn’t take the party home with them after the sale, like they would a car. They have to trust you to do what you promised—and that is scary. Your marketing needs to keep building trust in your catering. Caterers market what will be.

·         Some of the most expensive cameras still cost less than $2,000, but a wedding may cost $25,000. Buyers tend to get very cautious, simply because of the total amount of money they are spending. Marketing needs to continually work to overcome this element of the buyer’s concerns.

·         Buyers know that they cannot return the catering after the party for a refund or an exchange like they could for certain purchases. This makes the marketer’s and the salesperson’s task even harder.

·         Buyers get an entire proposal and contract to take with them before they say yes to the caterer. This lets the buyer put things under a microscope and compare your bid with those of other caterers. But the bids being compared are seldom at the same quality level as yours. Marketing needs to create, especially with the use of testimonials, that the caterer is trustworthy and has an outstanding track record.