You Have To Want To Sell Before You Can Sell!!

The decision to buy is first made in the mind of the salesperson. If salespeople think that they can’t or shouldn’t make a sale, then they won’t. If they think that the fences are too far away for their talent to hit the ball over, then they won’t. If they think that the shopper isn’t going to buy today then they won’t sell anything until tomorrow. It’s just that simple.

What most salespeople do is size up a shopper as soon as they first meet. The salesperson looks at the way shoppers dress, the cars they drive, the houses they live in, the jewelry they are wearing. This is how they decide if the fences are too far away. In this career-killing trap, salespeople determine too quickly that there is no chance of selling a particular shopper today. Even worse, many salespeople believe that the majority of shoppers are “just looking” and don’t plan on buying today.

A professional, knowledgeable, caring sales talent understands that most shoppers are going to purchase from someone sooner or later. In the sales winner’s eyes, sooner is today and the reason they are going to buy today is the salesperson’s ability to “see” the sale in their own eyes first. The fences are never too far for these winners; they will hit home runs!

The salesperson earns the right to close a shopper with the time and energy that he or she has invested. Shoppers must let salespeople explain their prices and procedures for reserving a date. It’s the price they pay for the energy and education we provide to them.

Closing shouldn’t be a chore for the salesperson. When it’s done by skilled salespeople, it can be a beautiful thing—even a work of art (performance art)—when undertaken by skilled salespeople. The best salespeople are always expert closers—and yet have the most clients who love them!

Caterer's Often Come Last In The Mind Of The Buyer!

Sometimes it takes years for a caterer to realize that for many buyers, planning event food and the caterer are not the first or most important thing they are thinking about. Often, the caterer is last on the list of things to secure. Not always, but most of the time.

For example, in planning a wedding the bride may put the wedding dress, location, band or DJ, florist and photographer far ahead of the caterer. Brides, working with their parents, move very quickly to hire or buy those things that pertain to the romance and wonder of the wedding. The caterer tends to come in last.

This is a result of the public’s overall belief that food is not what will make the event memorable. Food is assumed. For a wedding, the gown and the flowers tend to rank the highest in the list of elements that make up the event. Interesting, isn’t it, that buyers putting on events seldom bargain with the florist, DJ or photographer for lower prices? Yet, there is no hesitation in hitting the caterer for a lower price.

Roman On Downsizing Your Volume?

Why? Why not? Profit stems from a ratio of costs and selling price. More sales can bring more profits, but they can also bring more errors and loss of money and less peace of mind. For most caterers, the need to sell more is simply a case of paying the bills with cash flow created by the extra orders, but profit is more important than volume. Create a proper balance between what you need and what you would have if you booked everything that comes along.

To downsize to gain profitability:

·   Raise your minimum order size in some, or all, of your product lines. This will cause some of the very small orders to fade away, leaving more time to work for bigger ones.

·   Limit the number of events you do on a particular day to insure that too many orders are not booked that would result in overtime or the need for extra culinary staff.

·   Tighten up your payment policies. If they don’t pay on time, maybe you don’t need this type of client. Why carry clients who are dead weight?

·   Close one day a week, which gives everyone the same day off.

·   Close for the slower season, especially if past sales history demonstrates that you suffer financially.

·   Decide to be either a social caterer Thursday through Sunday or a corporate caterer from Monday through Friday.

·   Raise your prices on product lines that create the most work.

·   Institute a concept of extra charges for tent events and events that are a long distance from your location.

·   Eliminate any breakfast orders or third-shift catering business that causes you to come early or stay late.

The concept is not to beat-up on your clients or to get tough. Instead, you are only trying to make your business more manageable and user-friendly. These are just suggestions, but they do lead to simple downsizing of your catering business and more profitable sales. A sale has either proper profit or not. The problem becomes serious when the orders you sold on a given day that did not have a proper profitability begin to soak up the profit from the profitable orders. Simply put, the profit from some orders is being used to neutralize the orders that didn’t have profit in the first place.

Note From Michael: The info above represents priceless consulting info. Please know that the info above is part of the problem and solution for many catering companies!