Читать книгу Start & Run a Catering Business - George Erdosh - Страница 27

Being a small caterer, you will be dealing with your clients personally most of the time. (If you have a sales and marketing person, he or she may be the first contact with a potential new client.) From that first contact the deal will be determined mainly by your relationship with that client. It will be your personal interaction that determines whether there will be any future business from that client. This is where your skill in working with people enters the scene. (See Chapter 8 for further discussion on dealing with clients.)

Contact with strangers is intimidating to many people, while others feel immediately comfortable with anyone. But even the most timid person can learn to be perfectly at ease when meeting potential new clients, introducing the business to them, and letting them know what you have to offer and at what price. Evening courses on public speaking are popular, and there are helpful books and audio guides that offer techniques on good communication and presentation skills.

Based on an initial introduction, the client will decide if you are the right caterer. If you are, start selling yourself and your business. A great deal of your success depends on how well you can do that. Catering, particularly small catering, is a very personal business. It is you and not your company that the client will hire. Your reputation and recommendations from satisfied clients will help a great deal, but if you personally don’t impress your client (and the first impression is always the most important), you may not have a deal. He or she may want to talk to someone else before deciding. If you give the right impression, the client may decide right away with a deposit check.

For a small catered affair, that first contact may be the only face-to-face meeting you and the client have until you arrive on the agreed-upon date with the agreed-upon food. If the event is a large wedding, chances are that you will be dealing with the client several times. Some clients will call you daily, even several times a day, for the entire week preceding the wedding. You have to know how to reassure this type of client so that he or she will relax.

With the convenience of email and fax, you may not meet your client in person until the day of the event. If you were recommended, the client may not insist on a face-to-face meeting, and the event may be arranged through the magic of instant electronic transmission, saving time and money for both parties.