Posted by Carl Jones on February 20, 1998 at 11:43:37 :
In Reply to: Re: What would you do? posted by Sharon Odmann on February 19, 1998 at 15:08:10 :
: : good advice sharon, i can use most of it...
:
: Thanks!
: : the point is that i HAVE the reputation.... when i dont get an event
: : because a "restaurant" who has just jumped into it, does not know
: : how to price, I CANNOT beat their price....i dont want to.....
: Try relaxing about this. Is there anything you can really do to make the restaurants stop doing shoddy catering? No.
: : the result is a very disappointing event for the guests and an
: : embarrassment to the hosts..... it will be an entire year until
: : i get another shot at it.... i do still get most of the events
: : and have developed a relationship with the clients....
: :
: Too bad for the clients, and perhaps they will learn better. And, as I said before, you need to do some things to help the potential clients remember you.
: : what i have done is create a little booklet called "Writing Effective
: : Catering Specifications... or getting the most from your caterer."
: : which i try to send to committees as soon as i know they are about
: : to let out bids.... this describes the differences in food, service
: : and presentation.... it gives them a checklist to ask caterers...
: : if they bother to use it, they will quickly see the weaknesses of
: : these so called caterers....
: This is not the way to get clients to remember you. You say it yourself "if they bother to use it." That appears to be a waste of time and money, IMHO. What you need to do is to help them remember you by giving them something to eat. They remember taste a whole lot better. And you need to see them more than the once a year as they are beginning to think about their events. You need to be with them, in their heads, all the time.
: And get some stupid give away, like those round jar grippers. People can't buy them too readily in the stores, they work great for jars and to keep the cutting board in place. Put yer real fancy logo on it Carl. How many times will they see it (and your name) in the course of a week? I'm giving you a real valuable tip here, Carl.
: Cheers, we're all in this together.
: Sharon
from Carl
:
I am really relaxed, dont i sound relaxed??? :)
i like the idea of the jar grippers... do you have a source?
email me.... thanks...
as far as taking them food, i do bring gourmet cookies.... but the times i am talking about are
these sealed bids by the city for major events (i get 90% of them, so
why am i griping?--- i want ALL of them!) the one that i am
losing to the unqualified restaurant is really not too upseting if they learn
that they need to send bid invitations to Qualified Caterers only....
hey, at least we are having a good healthy discussion in here
for a change.... :)
Cheerio!
Carl