Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:32):
Hello again, I'm Michael Attias, your host of Restaurant Catering Smarts, and today'sguest is Jill Hammett, the newly appointed Chief Operating Officer of CaterZen Catering
Software, the innovative catering software platform revolutionizing the restaurantcatering industry.
With a wealth of experience in both technology and operations, Jill brings a unique blendof strategic insight and operational expertise to her role at CaterZen.
(00:58):
Jill's passion for leveraging technology to improve business processes makes her anexciting voice in the world of catering tech.
And we're thrilled to have her on the show today.
But before we get into asking Jill a bunch of questions, let's take a minute to recognizeour sponsor.
Restaurant Catering Smarts is brought to you by CaterZen Catering Software, the industryleader in helping restaurants turn their catering chaos into calm.
(01:21):
With CaterZen's best in class catering sales and operational tools,
You can elevate your business from depending on personalities to achieving predictablegrowth through proven processes.
Discover why top independent and enterprise restaurants trust CaterZen.
Whether you want a free 30 day trial to see the system in action or a Zoom basedwalkthrough, go to www.caterzen.com and see how you can take your catering game to the
(01:47):
next level.
Now let's dive into this episode of Restaurant Catering Smarts.
Jill, welcome.
Thank you for having me.
No, my pleasure.
Okay, so start off, give me a number between one and 300.
Okay 13.
13.
Sorry, we do not have questions with unlucky numbers.
(02:09):
No, it says, if you could relive your childhood in some other country than your own, whatcountry would you choose and why?
Mmm.
Good question.
Greece.
Just the beauty.
(02:30):
yeah.
Yes.
Superly a dancing queen.
Yeah.
No, I have not.
It's on the bucket list, though.
well I went when all I had was a bucket to put my stuff in and college and it's a wholeanother story.
Okay, so this is very unique.
(02:50):
This is our inaugural episode and I wanted to bring you on for two reasons.
One, to sort of introduce the whole CaterZen planet to you as our new COO.
And so we could talk about that a little bit, but more importantly is you have a wealth ofknowledge in the industry.
And so we can, I want to go down that road as well because I don't want to make thispredominantly about CaterZen You know, having worked with you in the past, you've got so
(03:22):
much expertise to share with the listeners.
So I want to focus a lot on that and you know, we'll talk about your position at CaterZenas well.
Tell me a little about, for the people who don't know you, give us a little bit ofbackground, how you got in the catering industry.
I I started off washing dishes.
(03:42):
I'm guessing you didn't start off at 16 washing dishes.
No, actually, I didn't work in a restaurant until I was like in my 40s.
So yeah, I guess my path to this has been a little bit unique.
So I guess go back, you know, 20 plus years.
(04:06):
I was a stay-at-home mom for, you know, guess about 17 years.
But during that time, I grew up in the Martha Stewart era, you know, where hosting and allof that Martha Stewart was a caterer to begin with.
just everything that went along with that.
(04:29):
Through that, through volunteering,
just a lot of people asking, it's kind of how all of that got started.
Basically, for years I almost just had a little side hustle of helping other people throwa party or do events.
I did a lot of volunteering and doing a lot of different, like event planning and thatsort of thing through schools and fundraisers and all that kind of stuff.
(04:55):
And that really continued just to grow that passion.
Then you move forward.
to about almost about 10 years ago, I had my oldest daughter going off college and myhusband and I were talking and you know, just like any other mom who's starting, know, the
kids are leaving the nest.
I need you to find, you know, some more purpose.
(05:18):
And so I decided that I was gonna look, you know, for what I thought was gonna be apart-time job.
I walked into a new restaurant in my area.
to really have lunch and got to talking to the GM and the area director that was there atthe time.
And I did know, you know, that they were looking for somebody kind of just part-time andjust took this leap.
(05:45):
And what was supposed to be a part-time job, about two weeks in, I got asked to go, youknow, it was a
a new location that had just opened.
As some of you probably know, I worked for Mission Barbecue.
And at that time, there was only, I think, 16, 17 restaurants.
(06:05):
And catering was a newer focus.
And that restaurant was new and had not started catering.
They were going to do an event.
I basically got asked to go just to talk to people because I haven't really ever met aperson I don't mind talking to.
And so that was ultimately my goal.
We got to the location, the area director and the team was trying to kind of put thisthing together.
(06:32):
I can say this because we all laugh about it, but it was kind of a hot mess.
The food was great, but nothing really looked that great.
We took care of the people and the food was great, but it was not.
what you'd consider a high end, you know, catering job.
know, I guarantee it looked better than one of my first caterings when I opened up myCorky's.
(06:55):
No, no, this is a funny story.
So it was a Friday night and my operations manager and I, had two caterings going on.
So we had two catering captains go and one guy, Gerald, everybody loved Gerald.
I mean, he was just, he knew how to take care of people and he'd walk around with the teapitchers and chop up barbecue, whatever.
He had one eight foot table cloth on two eight foot tables.
(07:18):
Yup, that was, we didn't even have, we had a paper tablecloth, so I might top you off inthat one.
but he didn't even have the whole table, but they loved him and they tipped him.
I mean, it's it's crazy.
You know, I'm sure I'm sure there could be a whole book of faux pas in the cateringindustry.
(07:38):
exactly.
So, know, kind of with that, you know, as we were setting up, they started, you know, Iwas like, well, do we have this?
we have that?
And, you know, the area director who ended up, you know, being a great mentor of mine, youknow, was like, hey, have you ever done this?
And I was like, well, not professionally, but, you know, yeah, done a lot of events and,you know, hosted a lot of different things.
(08:01):
And so organically, it just turned into me becoming the catering manager.
So my part-time job took on a whole new life.
That was just for one location at that time.
So we went from basically doing no catering to about a little over a year in, we hit amillion dollars at about one four-wall location.
(08:29):
And what do you, was that mostly full service events, drop off events, a combination?
And you know, I've worked with a lot of operators and they're like, I want to do a milliondollars a year like you did.
And they just think it's like, I don't know, you just click your heels three times andyou're in the land of Oz.
(08:50):
I don't know.
So, and I will say a million dollars,
in a year to build catering sales and this is going back nine, 10 years ago, that's, yeah,that's quite significant.
So maybe you could share with everybody what are some of the things you did, your team didto build that up.
(09:13):
Again, it doesn't happen just because you have a beautiful logo on the building, right?
yeah.
I would say, you know, it was a mixture of things too.
I really personally think the two of the most important things in catering arerelationships and your reputation.
So you do what you say you're gonna do and you always come out, you're gonna makemistakes, things aren't always gonna go perfectly, but at the end of the day, you make
(09:40):
that customer happy.
and they're going to tell everybody else.
And so it really was about, you know, it wasn't just me.
I had a phenomenal gym, a phenomenal team that, you know, we all worked together.
Everyone was promoting catering.
But it really was just about getting out there and utilizing every event that you went to,whether it was even a delivery, you know, or a full service event, you realize that you
(10:09):
were on show.
You were.
you know, selling your catering at that time to whoever, you know, whether it's a 10person delivery that, you know, one person ordered it, nine more people are there that are
potential new customers.
You know, an event of a hundred, same thing, you got one customer, 99 potential newcustomers.
So you need to make sure that you're utilizing that opportunity to really show them whoyou are.
(10:36):
Clearly, yes, your food's gotta be great, you gotta have a consistent product, but youknow, it's...
about how you make those people feel.
You're on time, you do exactly what you're gonna say, and you keep that reputation clean.
And then your customers are gonna start doing the work for you.
You gotta go in there, you gotta knock on doors, you gotta find people, but your customersare doing that for you too because they're recommending you.
(11:00):
So I would say for the two biggest factors is just always out there.
ready to talk to people.
When I led an event, I took that as an opportunity to shake hands and kiss babies.
You're making sure that your team's executing, but you're getting out there and you'rechatting with people.
(11:24):
you're talking and you're not throwing it down the throat.
You certainly, you've got to represent yourself in a professional manner.
But when somebody says, who is this, or asks you a question, you're there at the ready toanswer and be able to let them know what you're doing.
(11:44):
bring up a good point is, I'm gonna call it the warm fuzzy factor for lack of a betterword.
you know, I've worked with you professionally before you came on the team.
Definitely you have that.
I'm gonna say Ina Garten personality not Martha Stewart because she can be a little Shecan be a little abrasive and honestly Martha Stewart's hotter, but Ina Garten takes better
(12:13):
care of her husband I want to come back as Jeffrey in another life.
I mean Jeff Jeffries like Jeffrey just went to the mailbox and I made him his favoritequiche.
I'm like, you know, I Don't even get that on my birthday You have that
Jillian on our team has that.
I don't have that.
I built a million a year just in spite of myself because it's not that I'm not a niceperson.
(12:39):
I don't have that warm, I think it's just like, okay, let's take care of this and move on.
It's just not my personality.
Do you find that that's...
mentor of mine used to say, and I probably won't quote this exactly right because you'rethe king of quotes, not me, but it's not what you say, it's how you make someone feel.
(13:00):
And that's always stuck with me because I really, truly do believe that, you know, becausethat's what they leave remembering.
Not the word that you said, but you know, the feeling.
So when y'all recruited, you know, as the operation grew and you had more markets andwhatever, did you specifically recruit for that personality type and say, we could teach
(13:21):
them catering, but we can't teach them to be warm and fuzzy and engaging?
Yeah, I mean definitely always looking for a person that is good and willing to makerelationships.
So yes, we were definitely looking for that type of person.
you ever read How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie?
(13:43):
I did not.
So, I'm not going say I'm a nerd, but I'll say I'm a nerd.
I never was into sports, never into music.
Like people would quote songs and I don't, I think the only album I ever had was if it wasgiven free.
I mean, just not a music person.
I like cooking.
And I used to go to the bookstore and read business books on the weekends, just sit thereand like literally I would just
(14:07):
care through business books.
And it's a classic.
And you know, the Dale Carnegie course came as a result.
And I remember reading the book and it talked about the most important sound of someone istheir name.
And you're better to be interested than interesting.
So I was going to a friend of mine's college graduation party.
(14:31):
It's back at cookout, barbecue, whatever at the time.
And I said, you know what, I'm gonna find one person that no one would talk to and talk tothem.
And literally I met this guy who's a professor at Memphis State and I talked to him for30, 40 minutes and I really took a genuine interest.
Like I'm sure he had some kind of boring field of study that no one cared about.
(14:54):
And I mean, I thought he was gonna put me in his will by the end of the conversation.
Like he was so.
And I literally didn't say anything about myself and I'm really good about talking aboutmyself.
I've never been shy.
So it's very interesting.
We talk, you I come from the school of techniques and marketing and emails and nichemarketing and all this is equally important, right?
(15:22):
It goes hand in hand, right?
So how much of that growth would you say was the...
Yeah, we gave great food, great service, made relationships, and how much was it?
We actually pounded the pavement, did follow-up marketing, did marketing versusrelationship management.
You know, I'd say it was a lot more heavily influenced by the relationship building.
(15:50):
And the reason that I say that is, you know, part of our program,
this task to go and do certain types of marketing drops and that sort of thing.
Yeah, getting things like that set up.
I certainly did that, but I ended up, instead of just going and looking for those peoplerandomly and doing it more cold call, my books were filled doing that based off of people
(16:21):
that I met while I was executing catering.
And so I really see that they both kind of went hand in hand, but had I not, if I was notthere and putting myself upfront and center, I would have met those people that I could
(16:41):
then in turn take lunch to and chat with and then potentially sell catering.
Yes, a lot.
So what I'm hearing you say, did you take like a lot of the first orders yourself and setthem up?
Yep, yep, actually did that quite a lot.
Another thing that I always found important, know, even once we got busier and I wasn'treally doing those orders, you know, per se on my own, you know, obviously when we
(17:11):
started, you know, it was like, okay, you got to take everything, which was great forgrowing the business.
But you would start to look, you know, at orders that were coming in and seeing a businesswe'd never worked with before.
And maybe there was another driver, you know, scheduled for that, but maybe you could justride along, you know, and go chat and that sort of thing.
(17:32):
So I would try to make that a priority.
If I noticed it was someone that I wanted to do business with.
Because another thing that I found, you know, super interesting was a lot of, A lot ofcustomers that ended up becoming really large clients of mine are doing really large
events.
They ordered catering for like 10 people.
(17:54):
usually first as a tryout.
And I think that's something that a lot of people do.
They start to get busy and they're only focusing on the big and the new.
They quit focusing on their existing customers.
They kind of become complacent with that.
But you cannot dismiss anything that's coming through your door, even if it's small,because that could be the person that's got a thousand person event.
(18:20):
and they just want to taste your food and kind of try it out.
Maybe they're bringing it to a meeting so they can talk about options.
That kind of stuff happens all the time.
My very first thousand person event, they ordered a 10 person delivery and just had itsent.
So you've got to really pay attention to who's ordering and companies that you might wantto work with because it doesn't matter.
(18:43):
A lot of times those really small things will lead into bigger things.
It's a trial.
It's a test.
don't know who's sitting on the board someplace.
Who's a volunteer to church?
Who's in charge of the picnic committee someplace else or their spouse?
So that's definitely any kind of I know people like very particular tips like is there anylike if you're going to start from scratch and build another brand besides those
(19:13):
relationships, is there any outreach that you would do or?
marketing or advertising or promotion to get your name out there.
I mean, I think the best thing is you can do is advertise with your food, no matter what.
I mean, if you're selling catering, that's what it really is all about.
And that's the big thing.
(19:34):
You've got to get out there.
Now, I think things, if you're a full service caterer, things like expos and differentthings like that are really smart to make sure that you put yourself out there for that if
you're trying to get into that market.
Ultimately, you know, your food is what does the talking.
(19:55):
So you want to have that person that's getting in front of them, you know, with your food.
So what role did tech play when you started?
Yep, great question.
So back in 2015 when I started, it was Excel spreadsheets to make invoices and everythingwas, you know, handwritten order sheets and you were calculating up those order sheets
(20:19):
and, know, adding things up at the end of the day.
was very, very basic.
You know, you didn't, you know, it was right here.
phone?
Exactly, Definitely was not ideal by any means.
(20:43):
Filing cabinets with things in it and it was not definitely easy.
technology really, really empowers you to streamline that, to keep all that informationbecause eventually you're not...
(21:04):
you scale so big, you're not going to remember all those specifics about customers,previous orders.
And we live in a day and age now where people just want to be able to call or text, youknow, whether, you know, or go online and say, hey, I want to do the same thing that I did
two weeks ago.
And they don't want the time, you know, for you to have to try to find it, you know, goget a handwritten sheet, you know, and locate it, duplicate it.
(21:33):
So it's really, you know, it's a bonus for everybody.
It streamlines from an execution standpoint, but it really helps the customer whentechnology comes into play.
Yeah, for sure.
So how long before y'all invested in a software platform?
So I was probably a couple of years in before we went to the solution that we had before,Cater Zen.
(22:03):
And, you know, it was a game changer at the time, really helpful, you know, to keep upwith the information, the previous orders, that sort of thing.
And of course, as we continue to grow, catering at the individual locations continue togrow, knowledge powered.
You know, and it was there.
(22:27):
There was no way to really execute that level of catering without having some sort oftechnology.
So let's just talk about the CRM piece if you will, the customer piece.
What, and again, this is, you're just gonna be pulling something out of the air, buthaving a CRM versus not having a CRM and having all that information about a client,
(22:51):
whether it's their order history, being able to get them a copy of the invoice, have noteson them, you so when you're talking to them, you can be personable and remember, because
you can't remember something about all 1,000 people.
What?
If you had to put a percentage on it, does that have a 10 % bump, a 20 % bump in sales?
(23:13):
it's definitely higher.
think, I mean, I would.
customer services, my forte, not necessarily percentages, but I would say it's higher than20 % because...
I think when you're doing smaller amounts of catering, you might be a smaller percentagereturn.
(23:40):
But once you start to get into those big numbers, it's just impossible and you are notgoing to be able to grow without it.
Why do you think, you know, I've always found it interesting, know, restaurant will spend25,000 on an oven, you know, they'll spend 50,000 on a point of sale system, but you tell
(24:01):
them to go invest in a catering salesperson that's sold catering before, or go buy avehicle and wrap it, or go buy some hot bags.
Why are they, why do you feel there's this big resistance?
to invest in that, but they're gonna go spend half a million dollars on a build out of aretail strip center for a little place.
(24:23):
Why do you think there's that resistance?
I think it just comes down to that their restaurant people and catering is kind of scary.
It's the unknown.
And I think a lot of operators, they know that it's going to return, but it's a lot ofwork.
And I just think it ends up becoming more so about that.
(24:48):
It's not safe, you know.
God, I considered it easier than running a restaurant.
For me, I thought it was easier.
I'm going to disagree with you on that one, but...
Well, especially drop off catering, you're just putting food, you know, I thought therewas way easier, maybe barbecue's an easier medium than a lot of things like we didn't have
(25:09):
to do.
you know, people have to make sandwich platters and stuff that's a little bit more workthan putting, you know, 10 pounds of pulled pork in a pan and, you know, what have you.
But I noticed that there's a big resistance, but they want the sales.
And if you look at the amount of profit it can bring in compared to the investment,
It's way cheaper than opening up a second location.
(25:30):
Well, and I think a lot of times catering, we talk about this a lot, is a little bit moreof the long game.
You've got to, the work is upfront, the investment tends to be upfront to positionyourself, but the return might not come right away.
And I think that that's scary, you know, for different people personally.
(25:51):
So if you were looking in the future, we talk a lot about AI and other things.
What are some things you're seeing out there that you think are gonna have an impact inthe next five years?
definitely AI.
I think AI is probably the biggest, you know, and just hopefully a lot more integrationswithin all of the different tech pieces are going to make it simpler.
(26:25):
I think everybody's kind of playing in their own sandboxes a little bit right now when itcomes to like restaurant tech.
And hopefully, you know, there's going to be some more seamless, you know, integrationsand that.
wish there was a menu standard, where everybody followed the same hierarchy of how to setup a menu and modifiers and that, so everybody can just say, hey, we're using the same
(26:49):
template and it doesn't matter who you're playing with, it's the number, the PLU numbers,skew numbers, whatever you want to call it, all play together and you don't have to spend
all this time right there.
And then you can take what you want with the menu, do what you want with it.
Yeah.
What do you see the biggest mistake operators make in catering?
(27:15):
That's a great question.
I mean, not hiring someone with a catering focus at the plan on trying, if they reallywant to have a catering business and grow catering, they have to put somebody in the place
to go out there and grow catering.
(27:37):
It's not just gonna come to you.
And I do think, you know, in the beginning, a lot of people fall in the trap of,
you know, no, need this person to help in the restaurant instead of sending them out.
You know, there's inherent costs with sending them out, you know, especially if they aregoing to give out free food or, you know, marketing materials or whatever it may be that
(28:01):
they're going out to try to do.
There's costs up front.
And I think that one, they either don't hire the right person.
They don't see a return right off the bat.
And then they
just kind of pull that person back into the restaurant, you know, because they'rebeneficial there and they don't put that focus on it.
(28:21):
And they think it's just going to come to them.
I mean, you've got to put in the work to get it to return.
Eventually, you know, if you build up the business again, going back to what I was talkingabout with reputation, you know, you might be able to kind of, you know, sustain on
referrals as long as you're executing at the same level and that sort of thing, but youcan't get that in the beginning.
(28:43):
and I just don't think they're putting that focus.
Yeah, one of the mistakes I see is one, getting started.
Two is they have a really good hostess.
Let's just say they're making $15 an hour.
know different markets pay different.
And they go, well, they're personable.
I can have them sell catering.
They've never sold catering.
They don't know what they're doing.
(29:05):
And then they're serving multiple masters in the restaurant.
I think if you can afford to hire someone with that experience.
Mm-hmm.
It's worth it.
We hired a guy in sales.
He wasn't catering sales, but he had sales background.
And we looked at if we could just break even on them the first year, we'd be happy becausethen we get all that repeat business in the second year.
(29:31):
He would have paid for himself the first year.
And most businesses aren't paying their investment back year one.
You go build a restaurant, three to five year payback maybe, it just depends on theconcept.
well, why wouldn't you be happy?
Hey, I put in all this investment catering, I get it back a year from now and then it'sall profit.
(29:52):
And so I see that as a, as a, as a big one.
One of, one of the reasons I brought you on board, you know, sort of a triple threat.
One, you knew the catering industry.
So, you know, when we're designing software,
(30:13):
I didn't go to MIT or Stanford.
I can barely do a spreadsheet.
So I'm not a tech person, but I understand systems and operations.
I do get the business and I think if you had to pick one, I'd rather be an expert in thebusiness.
(30:34):
So the fact that you'd CaterZen for so long, you knew like when we talk about a solutionfor something, you're just not talking hypothetical as I'm gonna build something as a
techie.
It's like, okay, let me picture this that I'm using it when I'm making a delivery or I'mon the phone with a customer, what's the workflow?
(30:54):
And I think that that shows.
I agree.
Obviously you knowing our system, having it rolled out for, you know, start to finish twoyear process.
That's one thing that it's a simple system to use.
(31:15):
It's not simple to master because there's so many parts and pieces and there could be 20things you want to do in the system and most people only do seven or eight and that's fine
but you sort of need to know everything, you know, in your position.
And I think the
the biggest and it's, I forgot who said, you hire attitude, you train aptitude.
(31:38):
And where did you learn your leadership style?
I didn't really see you as, you were an unofficial leader where you were before.
You didn't have the title, you weren't the VP of catering, but you still, I remember whenI got married, a friend of mine said, goes, I want you to
(31:59):
remember this on the eve of your wedding night, when you get married you are the head ofthe household and your wife is the neck and the neck moves the head.
So I didn't see you as that quote unquote you know the VP of catering but you definitelywere the neck and you knew how to guide and lead people which is probably more valuable
(32:22):
than having a title and that's no disrespect to anybody in a position.
I know the people you work with, all very accomplished people, but you just, where didthat come from?
Like, is it raising two girls and dealing with a husband?
Is it?
think a combination of a lot of things, you know, my childhood, you know, I think Iremember getting a little book from a neighbor about being little Miss Balcy.
(32:52):
That stuck with me.
And, you know, I was always kind of the quiet one in the back, but still who kind of
you know, would pull a lot of strings and that sort of thing.
You know, obviously throughout, you know, when I was still at her mom, I had led a lot ofdifferent, you know, committees or different things that, you know, form some leadership
(33:23):
skills.
But, you know, I mean, clearly I would say the most formative were the last 10 years.
I had
just a really a very, very large amount of very wise mentors that had a leadership stylethat I connected with.
(33:47):
And I paid a lot of attention to that.
And I think it definitely kind of shaped that style more.
And what made you, mean, obviously you had a really, I'm not gonna say cush job, but youhad a very secure, good job.
(34:10):
It's not like you were worried they're going out of business tomorrow and I need to gofind something or my kids are gonna starve kind of thing.
You have a good life, good family.
At this stage of your career, what made you decide to go to something like, totally like,
180 degrees kind of.
(34:33):
Great question.
Kind of the perfect storm, I think I would say.
So, you know, because I got, you know, I kind of started a career later in life, you know,I have to say that, you know, this past year I had a milestone birthday that really makes
you reflect a lot.
(34:54):
yeah.
And I, you know,
it was probably one of the hardest things I've had to do to leave that family, that job,that life that I really did love.
(35:15):
But there was a lot of self-reflection over this past year.
found that when we, part of a small and mighty team that got to roll out painters in, andI really found
how much I love that aspect.
know, once I started doing that, how interested I was in it, how much I really enjoyed thenuances of it.
(35:37):
you know, knowing that that part was gonna kind of come to an end and, you know, justchanges in my life and just changes in kind of, you know, if I have to, shared with you
that my passion,
for events was being dimmed a little bit because of doing it so much, you know, and itbecoming a career that it wasn't as much fun.
(36:02):
And, you know, my oldest daughter was getting married.
I was planning probably the single most important event up until that point that I'd everplanned.
And I realized that some of that was getting a little bit in the way.
And so I just felt like it was time to close that chapter and start a new chapter.
That was, you know, it hard because it's, I like safety and security and it was a big, bigleap for me to make the decision to say, I'm gonna pursue this, you know, and this is
(36:36):
something I wanna do.
So, I know.
obviously, you know, for a tech company to bring so many of the COO who's never been intech, we tend to look at things a little bit differently.
I'd rather hire the right people and train them.
I don't think there's anything that we're doing that's, I mean, you and I aren't doing anyprogramming, so that's the toughest part of it, is saying, what do you see as your biggest
(37:06):
challenges, you know, looking
in the next year, two years, and what do you see the biggest opportunities you have tomake your mark?
Yep.
So challenges I would say is just diving in and really learning the industry more, youknow, not the catering portion, but the catering tech portion and just tech, restaurant
(37:31):
tech in general, understanding that a little bit more, being able to speak that language.
I would say, and I don't really look at that as a challenge.
It's just going to be the biggest thing that I have to come up, you know, get up to speedwith.
so I feel like I can speak well, you know, to that, leaving my mark, you know, obviouslyjust participating, you know, I knew walking in that kidders and had a great team, you
(38:04):
know, I, I knew what I was walking into.
but it can only get better and we can only get better.
And just being a part of.
new integrations, making it work better for our customers, making our customers understandand utilize.
mentioned that they might not be using all the tools in the toolbox, teaching them,getting them up to speed on that so they get better.
(38:33):
And just growing the company is what I see as...
Yeah, what I look forward to is once you get all settled in is how can we create our ownevents?
We did Caterpalooza years ago and it was a lot of fun.
It was a lot of work, but it was a lot of fun to put on the seminar and we had a lot ofclients that asked for it.
(38:57):
And so I think whether it's live in-person training on the software or bringing in,there's a lot of really, really sharp people in the industry that can teach other people
about.
growing and managing their catering business.
So I really want to expand that, you that's why we're doing this podcast.
Cause I think there's a lot of people to learn from and you know, I go by the one ideaprinciple.
(39:21):
All I need is pick up one idea from somebody.
It's worth the time, whether it's going to seminar, listen to podcast or whatever, justthat one idea.
So definitely like super exciting and
I think we're cut on the same cloth that we don't work for money.
(39:43):
Look, we keep score by money and I don't want to dip into my pocket to run the company.
It's not a non-profit.
But I'm not motivated by money as much as when somebody tells you, we've been using yoursoftware and this is the impact it's had.
And it's a feel-good business and the fact that you're helping people and...
(40:03):
when you develop something and somebody that's a peer says, my God, this is better thanwhat we built and they're, you know, or have come from another company and they're 10
times bigger and they go, man, what you've built is way easier and way more intuitive.
that, definitely is exciting.
I mean, I've got friends and, and money lending, like hard money, real estate business.
(40:27):
And, know, or things that just aren't a happy business like
I wouldn't want to be a doctor.
You gotta hear about people's problems.
I'm sure it's great when you solve them, but you gotta listen to people complain abouttheir problems and people that make money, lending money to people or selling cars.
(40:52):
I need something that I feel good about and I can hold my head up and I think that's why Ilike...
the hospitality business because every place that I ever waited tables, I love the food.
It's something you get behind, right?
Right.
Yeah, I think there's a lot to be said about being proud of the product, whatever yourproduct may be.
(41:14):
You have to be behind it, know, 100%.
And, you know, both you and I feel very strongly about that when it comes to K-10.
first job out of college was archive storage sales, storing boxes of records.
Literally, I would have preferred to stab myself in the temple with a rusty pair ofpliers.
(41:40):
It's just like, who cares?
But the people who care about it, I have a friend who got bought out by the company.
that I worked for in college.
After two years, you know, I just got married, just bought house.
My boss said, Michael, you're just not making your numbers.
You need another month.
(42:01):
And I said, Russ, you should probably just fire me today.
And he was a good guy.
He gave me a month's severance and I took everything in a storage box.
I sat in my car and I cried tears of relief.
And then I went to Corky's the next day and...
help them write their franchise manual and the rest is history.
(42:23):
I'm just the kind of person that has to definitely believe.
you know, I look at the brands we work with and the brands we want to work with.
There's a lot of really, really good brands that you can be proud of that, you know, ifyou're serving, you know, if they're serving that food out, they do a phenomenal job.
(42:44):
So that definitely helps when you're selling.
Yeah, it really does.
I feel bad for the people who are trying to sell crap.
Because I've always said, go, I can help you do well, but if you're selling crap with CrapService, all I'm going do is put you out of business quicker.
Because I can't fix bad food or bad service or bad attitude.
(43:08):
Exactly.
My producer put together some questions that is in three point type, must be the same.
She must also come from the credit card company that gives me the receipt, expects to pay$400 for dinner for two, but you can't even read how much it was or what you got.
(43:34):
Let's talk about customer feedback.
Like, I don't deal with criticism too well.
I think you do well talking to customers and getting feedback.
What kind of role does that play, whether it's in catering or any business, in improvingyour business?
you have got to take it seriously.
(43:56):
You you don't know what you don't know.
So I find feedback to be incredibly important.
So you mentioned you don't like, you know, conflict, right?
I'm with you on that.
So there are a lot of customers that if you don't reach out to them and something waswrong and you didn't know about it, they're not going to tell you.
(44:16):
They're not beating down your door telling you and you can't fix it.
The only reason you're going to know is when they're not
coming back to you, right?
So I find feedback to be really important because if you're quick, following up after adelivery, an event, whatever it may be, and you're getting their true feedback, you have
(44:37):
the opportunity to fix it.
And you can gain customers by fixing something appropriately, not ignoring it.
because people understand, you're human, you make mistakes, things happen, right?
So I find it to be incredibly important.
It makes you get better.
(44:58):
And you really need to make that a priority, especially in the beginning, I think, becauseit's how you're going to find out.
Yeah, I'm gonna share a story in a second about that.
I'm gonna sort of leapfrog over that to another aspect of that, and that's improving yourproduct and service offerings.
(45:19):
Because, you know, I consider myself, I mean, literally the first place I worked at was ahigh-end restaurant.
It was like a steak and ale, but it was an independent.
It was really, it was a great place to work.
And they did catering.
And what they specialized in is they would do backstage catering at concerts.
(45:40):
So they'd have the writers and they would do all that.
I wasn't involved, but I peripherally saw how that happened.
And so what I enjoy from customer feedback is how to make your product better.
Because as much as I know about catering operations, every now and then there arecustomers, and I've even had prospects who's never done business with us.
(46:02):
who say, well, does your software do this?
And I go.
No, but that's a good idea.
Let's get on that.
That's a damn good idea.
Even if you're not a customer, it's worth the conversation.
And you know, in any kind of business, catering as well, it's like, did you think aboutthis?
Did you think about offering this or this level of service?
(46:23):
Or can you do graveyard shift?
Well, no, we haven't done it before, but sure, if you're gonna give me a thousand personevent, I'll feed 30 people one a.m.
to get the other 900 and something people.
So I think that's...
Really good.
So before this podcast, I taught restaurants how to double their profits with catering andput together the catering magic system.
(46:45):
And I had a newsletter and an audio newsletter called Restaurant Profit Points.
I introduced literally 10 years.
So 120 episodes, they're somewhere in the vault.
This mythical vault everyone talks about.
It's on the cloud.
I don't know where the clouds are.
Lots of clouds today, but I don't know where the cloud is that holds all this stuff.
And this woman,
(47:07):
I know if they were a catering aggregator or catering company, but She had what's calledthe one three five seven rule.
And I said, what's that?
goes, when I have a customer, I will call them after their first, third, fifth and seventhorder.
I said, okay, why?
Because Because like you said, they're not gonna tell you if something's wrong until theyhave a relationship with you.
(47:32):
So you call them after the first, how was everything?
Could I have made anything better?
Then you skip one, the third, the fifth, the seventh.
By the time you've talked to them and they've done seven orders, you have a relationshipand they're gonna call you up and say, hey, Jill, they consider you a friend or a trusted
advisor.
And they're gonna say, hey, look, normally everything's great, but the brownies were alittle stale.
(47:53):
thanks for letting me know.
And then you find out there's a new person working in the kitchen and they don't know whatbaking soda is or whatever makes brownies dry.
Water, I don't know what you put in brownies.
So, I think that's a very, you've got to get feedback.
And it's more than, we get customers who go, well, can we send a survey out after eachorder?
(48:18):
Well, let me tell you, if I had a dollar for every time someone asked me to fill out asurvey, would you like to stay on hold and fill out a survey?
There's nothing better than that human interaction of, hey, you got a few seconds, I canpick your brain about something.
How did this go?
Anything we could do better?
Yep.
know, and it's also, you know, once you have that, could just say, hey, is there anybodyelse in your company that orders, right?
(48:45):
Because you could have a law firm and they have five admins that are ordering lunches fordepositions and meetings and what have you, and you need to meet all of them and you just
need one person to be your advocate.
So I think it's really great.
No.
you know, especially once you've built relationships with certain people.
They don't mind sharing those, you know.
(49:07):
so as we're getting sort of the end of our inaugural, inaugural, my God, that's a tonguetwister, interview, our first podcast, is there any question that you think I should have
asked you that I didn't ask?
No, considering that you didn't let me know what any of the questions would be.
(49:29):
Okay, so I am going to put you on the spot because I love dogs and you're getting a puppy.
Can you show everybody the puppy you're getting that is nameless until you get the puppy?
I know.
Yes.
She's just the cutest thing.
(49:50):
my god, she is like, okay, my god.
Like literally, I'm gonna steal your dog.
Do you remember Bridesmaids, the movie Bridesmaids?
Everybody gets a golden retriever puppy.
So, any enterprise accounts that sign up by the end of the year, you get a free puppy.
(50:17):
You get a free puppy.
Jill will have to figure out how to get you the puppy.
Kater's Inn will pay for the puppy.
Can't guarantee Santa will deliver by Christmas.
Yup, yup.
I know, I can't wait.
I am so excited.
Anyway, this has been great.
I appreciate it and super excited to have you on the team.
(50:40):
Thanks for being the first interview and sharing with everybody and I'm looking forward towhat 2025 is gonna bring.
Yep, same here.
Very exciting.
I appreciate you.
Thank you.