Catering Tips

Summer has hit hard in some areas, not so much in others. Finding where everyone went when school ended can be a
challenge, but a renewed emphasis on catering and boxed lunches (think picnics and small groups) can help fill the
gap.

Here are a few tips from those of you kind enough to give us feedback:

Talk to others. Partners that routinely talk to other partners, corporate members, and customers never seem
to be at a loss for ideas as to how to build catering. Not all ideas are right for each location, but most are.

Ask for referrals. Salesmen of every ilk ask for referrals and most of them get them. Don't be afraid to ask
your existing customers if they know of someone who'd like to try your product for free. Give the refer-er a little
"thank you" as well. The ideal time to do this, of course, is during delivery or during your follow-up call (you
do make follow-up calls, don't you?).

Work your eixsting customers. Bounce-backs and flyers to your most supportive group (existing customers)
creates awareness. Packaged offers make the sale easier. Tip from a partner: Offer "5 people free for caterings of
20 or more". It's a good incentive, but the original party size tends to creep up as people start to think of others
to invite. The greater the size, the less the discount.

Use the fishbowl. Too few of you use the fishbowl for leads at all. Even fewer of you use it to the fullest
extent. There are a few stores for whom a fishbowl is their only form of marketing - and they do pretty well with
it. If you need help, see the first suggestion above.

And for heaven's sake, don't turn down new leads. A recent lead for "Mega Corp" was given to a unit. The manager,
however, said "we already do caterings for Mega Corp, we don't need to give a new person there a free sample."

So, the lead went to someone else. Now this unit has competition within a current customer. Plus, they didn't take
the opportunity to "own" the whole company (this lead had never ordered from the unit before, we checked). Mega
Corp. is, after all, a large company. Penny wise. Pound foolish.

Plan your work so you're more effective. Work your plan so you're more focused. Lack of focus costs more and
generates less in return. Drop us a line or give us a call at 404.588.0863 if
you have questions.