So you’ve decided to expand your restaurant or café’s business by entering the catering industry, or maybe you’ve decided to open a catering business from scratch. Whatever the case, you’re going to need to let potential customers know what you’re bringing to the market.

Any successful restaurant or café owner will be aware of the environment in which they operate. Either naturally over time or by implementation they would have crafted a unique service environment that customers experience when they enter the establishment. Catering services should aim to convey that feel and experience in a way that shows the brand is not confined to inside the four walls of your restaurant. If you’re starting a catering business from nothing it’s important to establish the service experience as this is what will appeal to target consumers get you your initial customer base.

Following on from establishing your service experience, communicating your catering business well is essential to its initial growth. The purpose of communication should be to tell customers why they should choose your business to cater for their next party, wedding, office lunch or event.

Here are some more tips that are important to consider when marketing your fledgling catering business

Be consistent

Consistency is the best way to earn customer confidence in your services. In order to do this you should set strict policies and guidelines to be followed by all employees in every catering job.

Focus on experience

Catering should be easy for your customers. Therefore all customer touchpoints, such as ordering, payment and delivery of the food, should be made as easy and predictable as possible, as well as minimizing uncertainty and excessive wait. If the customer has everything made easy for them they’re much more likely to be satisfied with the whole experience.
 

Get feedback from industry experts

Consider consulting or even employing someone from outside your business who has experience in the catering industry. Even if it’s only in a marketing capacity, they will provide invaluable information of what works and what doesn’t in the catering industry and such insights will reduce your risk of going in to the business blind.

Follow up each order with your customers. This will add a personal touch and give you the chance to build personal relationships with them. Doing this will increase the likelihood that customers will order from you again in the future.  

Conduct market research

Getting customers to fill in a survey while the catering experience is fresh in their minds is the best way to gain insight as to what you’re doing well and what you could improve in. the results will allow you to tweak your service to better appeal to customers as well as address their concerns. A great way to get a lot of people to fill out surveys for you is to provide some kind of incentive to do so such as a discount or free drink if you have a restaurant.

Engage customers

Similar to making follow up calls, communicating with customers helps to build relationships. Consider having a sales team that contacts existing customers hoping to lock in a job for their next event or even tries to get new customers by offering incentives for them to try your catering company out. Your biggest potential pool of customers are those that have ordered from you but do so infrequently, as making sure they stay on your books will mean you’ll become their first choice when ordering catering.

Have a loyalty program

A loyalty program of some description can lead to a sustained competitive advantage for one time customers as it may entice them to choose you over a competitor the next time they order catering so they can work towards the reward. The reward itself lets them know they’re valuable customers and is a great way to gain a customer’s repeat business in the long term.