Upselling Creates Better Events

Most salespeople think that the goal of upselling is to make more money. Upselling certainly leads to more money, but the greatest benefit to a catering business is a better event for the client, guests and your company. Think of upselling as a sales tactic that is also a marketing bonanza.

You can upsell just about anything, by offering your clients choices. Here are some of the items that caterers can up-sell:

• Food items

• Multiple entrees

• Garbage removal

• Food presentation

• Unlimited bar service

• Table centerpieces

• Buffet display equipment

• Ice carvings

• Location and/or view

• Table sizes and/or shapes

• Specialty lighting

• Not using chafers

• Color and styles of chairs

• Entertainment

• Time of delivery

• Different plate garnishes

• Flowers

• Executive chef at event

• Glassware, plates, flatware

• Special effects

• Valet parking

• Linens and napkins

• Event-planning

• Bottled spring water

• Size of bride’s room

• Security personnel

• Non-alcoholic bar

 • Earlier or later start time

• Take-away guest gifts

• Plate covers

• Staff serving

• Style of service

• Souvenir menus

• Ratio of staff to guests

• Children’s menus

• An additional event

• Types of hors d’oeuvre

• Event insurance

• Portion size

• Pre- and post-event cleaning

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.

A Reminder To All Salespeople

Out of every 10 complete sales presentations that a company does, three will not buy no matter what you do because they just don’t like what they hear or are not really in a position to buy. Another three definitely will buy from you because of your brand reputation and overall quality. Even if they get a poor presentation, they still will buy from you. The remaining four are the future of your company because they are truly shopping with an open mind and are ready to purchase from the company they feel has the most to offer.

Have you checked out my new website?
http://cateringguru.com/upcoming-education/

Cold Calling Tips

Yes... these are very basic, but they are crucial!

1. Be a good listener

2. Take notes as you talk with your contact.

3. Stay on track.

4. Concentrate on what you say, how you say it and the tone of your voice.

5. Turn a negative response into a sales advantage.

6. Never apologize for calling.

7. Explain your offer in clear terms with WIIFM (what’s in it for me) to the buyer in the forefront.

8. Write a script or checklist to follow during the call.

9. Smile while you are speaking to the potential client; it comes across the phone line.

10. Record your side of the conversation so you can review it later.

Winning Power Phrases To Increase Your Sales 4

From the moment shoppers first call for information to the moment of their decision, let them hear you say, or let them read, a variety of the scripts below. These phrases are important because they highlight certain benefits you can offer.

One of the nice things about . . .

. . . our staff is . . .

. . . this room is . . .

. . . ABC Catering is . . .

My past clients have told me . . .

. . . that this particular menu was well received by their guests.

. . . that the valet parking option gave their event a great start.

. . . that the cheese course added Wow! to the party.

Many Salespeople Are Reluctant To Ask For The Order

One of the axioms of professional selling is that you are supposed to become a friend to the shopper. Salespeople spend great amounts of time endearing themselves to the shopper in order to get on their side and earn their trust. But friends don’t ask other friends for money.

After all this caring, is the salesperson supposed to stop being the shopper’s friend and instead ask for a deposit check? So, some shoppers never really hear from the salesperson an explanation of how their deposit policy works and then ask their "friend" for the sale. Winning salespeople avoid this trap and find a way to ask for and receive a deposit while still maintaining the friendship and trust of the shopper.

CONSIDER WRITING A "GUEST ARTICLE" FOR THE BLOG ON A SUBJECT YOU FEEL PASSIONATE ABOUT. JUST SEND IT TO ME IN A WORD DOCUMENT OR IN AN EMAIL. IF IT IS INTERESTING I WILL PUBLISH IT FOR YOU!

Using The Guarantee To Get The Sale

The guarantee is the number of guests the buyer will pay for, whether that many guests actually come to the event or not. If a client tells you they are having 225 guests at a wedding and only 200 show up, they are still obligated to pay for the full 225.

For the caterer, the guarantee is the basis of how much food, equipment and staff is ordered and prepared. It is the rule of order required for catering to be a professional business.

For the buyer, however, it’s scary. A buyer is told that, even though they are spending $20,000 for a wedding, if Uncle Charlie can’t make it at the last minute due to his health, they are going to be “penalized” and charged the cost of his empty chair. This ticks off the prospect.

My point is not to argue whether this rule is a good one or not, but to show you how the guarantee can be an excellent place to offer a buyer advantages instead of causing them grief and worry.

“Mr. and Mrs. Smith, please let me explain how our company handles the guest guarantee for the wedding. As you both know, most caterers require that the host and hostess provide them with a final number of guests so the caterer will know what to prepare and charge for, whether all of these guests come or not.

At our company, we realize that when inviting several hundred guests to a wedding, even after they confirm by mail that they are coming, a few often still don’t make it for reasons of health, missed airplanes, etc.

So, we handle the guarantee differently than other caterers. We have made it more flexible and realistic for our clients. Let’s say that you give us a final guarantee of 225 guests for the wedding. Even though we will be prepared to serve the full 225, we will permit you to have a leeway of five guests. This means that if only 220 guests come to the wedding, you would only be charged for the 220, not the original guarantee of 225 that you gave to us. We feel that this is a wiser way to treat our clients. Don’t you think that our more customer friendly guarantee policy is an advantage for you?”

It’s the little things that separate one caterer from another in the buyer’s mind. Here’s another unique way to create a win-win situation between the caterer and the buyer:

“Jim and Mary, let’s take a moment and explain to you how our company deals with your guaranteed number of guests for the event. You’ve mentioned to me several times that you are planning for 150 guests for the event. One of the advantages of using our company is that we give you our ‘cushioned guarantee. The cushioned guarantee provides you with the opportunity to be less worried about whether all of your invited guests will be coming. In your case, the cushion will be seven guests. This means you will only be responsible for paying for 143 guests, or the actual number, whichever is higher.

The cushioned guarantee is one of the reasons for our exciting growth as a caterer. It just takes the pressure off our customers. Don’t you agree with me that this is a great idea?”

In both of these examples, the caterer is using a more liberal guarantee policy to achieve a selling advantage over the competition. Hopefully, the shopper realizes the economic and psychological advantages that these different policies offer them.


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Creating Advantage During The Sales Presentation

Use these concepts during a sales presentation to create excitement about the advantages that the shopper might lose if they don’t act quickly to book their event.

·   Price. Price is the most powerful and critical factor when a shopper is thinking about postponing the decision to buy. It is easy to use pricing to encourage a sale if you start creating seasonal pricing—spring prices, summer prices, fall prices and winter prices. When a buyer is talking about an event that will happen next summer, you can offer this year’s spring prices if they make a quick decision.

·   Date. This is especially strong with celebrations like weddings, showers, birthdays, and other social events. Point out that the day the client has selected is a popular one and that most caterers will be getting booked very quickly. Even a one day hesitation to make a decision could lose a venue.

·   Prime space. Banquet facilities use this to create urgency and excitement by offering a special room, on a first reserved basis. If the shoppers wait, they might lose the best room and have to settle for less.

·   Discount. You need to be very careful with this one. Some caterers call it an early bird discount. It is offered to those who make a quick decision so they can close off a date. Explain to them that all caterers like to get their dates filled as early as possible, so they give better prices for those who buy early. If you wait, you usually pay a premium price for catering.

·   Special staff. The caterer explains that by booking quickly, the party can be staffed with the company’s best staff. If they wait, they will get just great staff.

·   Menu. Often caterers offer additional menu items for early booking. The shopper is told that if they come on board now, they can get two more appetizers and a special presentation of their dessert.

·   Equipment. Explain to shoppers that during peak seasons, the best tents, chairs, glassware, etc. are rented early, so waiting too long can have an effect on the appearance of the event.

If these seem negative to you, remember that they are all out of context. You probably would not use them all with the same clients. The point is that the salesperson needs to emphasize reasons for the shoppers to make a positive decision quickly. The only way to break the promise of “not buying today” is to explain that there are wonderful reasons for buying today to gain super advantages!

A Sales Tactic That Isn't For Everyone - But Think About it

Sometimes, the best way to sell up is to sell down. I wish to share with you an idea that I’ve shared with caterers from time to time over the last 10 years. When most caterers hear it for the first time, they usually think it is absolutely silly and certainly something they would never do. But, since 1 can’t think of a time when buyers of catering have been more actively searching for value in their decision of which caterer to choose, I’ve decided that now is another great time to bring it up.

So, here goes. This marketing/pricing idea is only launched whenever a prospect is aggressively seeking lower prices. In this script, which explains my concept, the shopper has been haggling with the salesperson to achieve a lower price. 

The salesperson responds:

“Mrs. Smith, I might have a simple solution for your request to lower menu cost. Let me explain. The price I’ve given you for the menu we’ve just reviewed reflect our labor-intensive, ‘from scratch’ culinary preparation. If our chefs create the menu using high-quality, ‘labor-saving’ foods, we can lower the cost while still pleasing your guests. Would you want me to explain this further?”

During the explanation of the labor-saving menus, the client learns of the many high-quality foods available that offer lower prices since they eliminate costly kitchen labor. The shopper learns that menu items like Chicken Skewers, Duck Confit and many varieties of hors d’oeuvre, to name just a few, are all available pre-made and/or precooked for their menus.

Another benefit is that most shoppers who listen to an explanation of labor-saving menus welcome the discussion as a customer-friendly gesture. Many buyers will embrace your less costly menus, while others will still stick with your from-scratch and more costly ones after the explanation. It does remind buyers that you have the ability to create menus that have different levels of price that still have great impact on the guests.

Shoppers believe that the salesperson’s main goal is to always sell the most expensive items. They are amazed when a salesperson actually makes the case for buying less expensive catering. In my view, now is the time to relax our buyers and try to make a sale no matter what the price level is as long as it is profitable. It has always been my view that the best way to sell up is to sell down.