Specifics like these inspire hotel managers and event planners to find relevant solutions for their needs and wants. Put in timely orders, ensure chefs stay up to code, and keep an eye on big picture event concerns to help teams excel. Recognize that successful sales and catering coordinators often order ingredients for hotel event menus, kitchen supplies as needed, and back-office supplies on a regular basis.
Next, make a digital calendar system to organize all three ordering schedules. Color code orders by food, kitchen, and office. Set up automatic email reminders for food orders two to four weeks in advance of events.
Then, crowdsource a list of low inventory kitchen supplies by posting a sign in the food prep areas. Make sure all of your chefs and hotel event staff practice government-recommended food safety tips such as proper surface disinfection and meat temperature monitoring. Prepare a list of general hygiene reminders and place them in areas where your staff can easily review it all. Double-check that everyone who will handle food at the event has a valid ServSafe certification.
Restock hand soap, dishwashing detergent, paper towels, and cleaning supplies at least a week ahead of the event. Keep disposable gloves and hairnets in an assortment of sizes available. Have an emergency first aid kit and working fire extinguisher at the ready. Work together with your chefs to prepare a kitchen layout. Give workers plenty of room to move around without bumping into one another and set up work stations with electric gadgets that are far away from any potential water spillage.
Hire or assign dishwashing and utensil sanitation to one person or team and keep a steady flow throughout the event. Encourage workers who feel under the weather to stay at home. Promote healthy habits such as water consumption and light stretching while on the job. Also, send out a notice ahead of time asking all event catering employees to wear proper non-slip foot attire. Take this opportunity to send out liability forms too.
Keep client order notes and inspiration images in a binder for quick reference during the event. Have sanitized cloths ready to wipe off sauce splatters and thumbprints from dish and platter edges.
Create a mockup presentation tray for servers or whoever is in charge of plating. Greet them yourself or assign a guest check-in team to the task. Provide them with chairs and a table or a podium.
Brief them on the event timeline any other relevant details such as breaks and meal opportunities. Create a coat check system for any event that takes place during the fall or winter. Use event catering software to create an event layout your guests will enjoy.
Add meal preferences and special dietary restrictions to individual guest profiles and assign seating where needed. For example:. Note that unlike the import directory you need not specify the schema name and property IDs as these will be defined automatically when the exports are created. These should already match and no changes should be required. For example, the standard and recommended default settings are:. Receive Directory Name. Send Directory Name.
Batch Start Time. Interface Status. The property has the option of selecting one or all possible statuses. Trace Log. Allow Run of House. Maximum Nights. Host a tasting event for targeted decision-makers event planners, party planners and others and let them see for themselves, not to mention smell and taste, what you have to offer.
Or, for a really hot repeat-business client, you might consider providing an entire meal for free. Obviously, this is a strategy that is best used sparingly and with carefully targeted prospects. On the lower end, another possibility is to host a booth at a Chamber of Commerce or other civic event and allow folks to stop by and try out the goods. Or just pack some extra food with your drivers each time they make a delivery.
They can leave cookies or other goodies with nearby businesses and collect a reward if any of these become customers. Our final catering sales strategy is to make sure your existing catering clients stay with you.
Keep track of who is coming back for more and make sure that they are rewarded, via discounts or other perks, for their repeat business.
When appropriate, cross-promote with your broader hotel or restaurant customers. Target the customers you have not heard from in a while. All told, this series of on- and off-premise sales tactics can help you boost both corporate sales and private parties.
Note: This is where a solid event CRM solution can come in handy, with automated reminders that notify you to reach out to past customers on trigger dates say, an anniversary of the last time they hired you, before their next annual meeting might be happening, etc. While not a catering sales strategy in its own right, focusing on the basics can make all the difference between the failure and success of the strategies you do deploy.
You need a solid catering marketing and sales plan and a well-defined branding and positioning strategy for your business. Are you B2B or B2C? What is your target niche? To make any sales strategy work, you will need a good website with an attractive design and fresh content you were probably already aware of this, but image makes a huge difference in catering sales. To increase sales, you need reliable tools and processes for managing email, cold-calling, and walk-ins. You need a top catering software package to manage the details.
And you will need good printed materials such as menus, brochures and fliers. BTW, some caterers and restaurant group sales managers swear by discounts as an effective sales tactic, but here are some tips on why you should be careful when using discounts for your events and catering services.
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