"What If Something Goes Wrong" - Buyers Always Worry About This

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Questions On Your Shopper's Mind

There are certain questions that are on the mind of all buyers when they first approach a caterer. Shoppers tend to be reluctant to ask the salesperson these questions because they are kind of intense. Imagine how you would feel if a friend asked, “Did you brush your teeth today?” The questions include:

Is the food good?

Will the caterer let me participate in the planning?

Will they ask me difficult questions?

What does the staff look like? Are they honest? Will they steal something?

Will the caterer embarrass me?

How much extra food do they bring?

Have they ever run out of food?

Will they show up on time?

Is the kitchen clean?

Has anyone gotten ill eating their food?

Will they still be in business on event day?

Who else has bought from them?

What are the things that might go wrong?

How will our place look after they leave?

What happens to my money if I need to cancel?

What will it cost me?

The more of these questions you answer for your shopper without them asking first, the greater your chance of a sale becomes. While they can be answered anytime during your time with the shopper, the sooner you answer them the better. The easiest way to begin the process is by saying, “Mr. and Mrs. Smith, please let me take a moment to answer some of the questions that by best clients have asked.”

Reminder About Marketing

A catering business needs to continually keep its name, products and services in the mind of current, past, and potential customers. There are many ways to accomplish this, including direct mail, email messages, television, radio, personal phone calls, live demonstrations and print media (newspapers, magazines and specialty publications).

Marketing has only two goals: It needs to make your phone ring or get prospective buyers to come into your place of business, and it needs to create a sales opportunity by preparing the shopper to better understand your differences from other caterers.

There are costs associated with all marketing efforts, but some marketing techniques are less expensive than others. The marketing message you offer must be geared towards getting the prospect to contact you for information that will lead to a sale. You need to get your phone to ring, to receive emails, or to have prospects walk through your door to talk to the sales team.

A Short & Simple Thought

Your best clients are not the ones who order the most often. A client who orders two small orders a week is often not as important than the one who orders one large event a month. Catering is a volume business. A client who ordered a small order five days each week would rank higher than one who only bought on two days.

Discussion Points

Look these over and discuss them at your next meeting:

1. One thing is for sure. All shoppers have promised themselves that they are just gathering info and not buying anything today. The salesperson simply needs to build their confidence and trust to get the sale today. Great salespeople always try to sell something today!

2. On an average day, a catering salesperson only has 72 minutes to sell new clients. The rest of the day is spent writing bids, in meetings and maintaining existing sales. So, make your time count!

3. Have your total concentration on success and you will win more sales than the competition!

4. You need to constantly observe and evaluate your competitors. Purchase a competitor's product (without them knowing its you) to see, taste, and evaluate it up close! 

5. Your best advertisement is, and always will be, your last catering job! 

6. Resist putting your address into “first touch” marketing. People are reluctant to purchase from caterers who are “far away”. Instead, use the proper terminology that expresses to the readers that you serve a wide area i.e. “Serving The Greater Cleveland Area” or “Catering To The Tri-Sate Area”.