April 2, 2025 • 49 mins
In this episode of Restaurant Catering Smarts, Michael Attias welcomes Kelly Grogan, Founder & CEO of CRUMBS, a platform helping restaurants grow through smarter local store marketing, online ordering, and catering strategies.
With a background in both hospitality and tech, Kelly shares how CRUMBS empowers restaurants to grow incremental revenue channels—especially catering—by simplifying systems and leveraging community connections. She dives deep into how to build a catering-friendly menu, why simplicity always wins, and how local presence and smart marketing can supercharge your catering sales.
This episode is packed with real-world takeaways on menu design, customer communication, and team-driven growth. Whether you’re launching a catering program or looking to scale one, Kelly’s practical advice and sharp insights will help you drive results.
🎙️ Restaurant Catering Smarts is sponsored by CaterZen Catering Software.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:28):
Hello again, I'm Michael Attias, your host of Restaurant Catering Smarts, and today'sguest is Kelly Grogan, founder and CEO of Crumbs, an innovative platform designed to help
restaurants streamline their online ordering, delivery, and catering services.
Her background in tech and customer.
Focus Solutions has enabled her to develop tools that drive efficiency and enhancecustomer experiences.
(00:52):
Kelly's insights and experiences in both the food service and tech spaces make her avaluable voice in the world of restaurant management.
And we're excited to have her on the show today.
But before we get into asking Kelly a bunch of questions, let's take a minute to recognizeour sponsor.
This episode is brought to you by CaterZen Catering Software, the industry leader inhelping restaurants turn their catering chaos into calm.
(01:14):
Discover why top independent and
enterprise restaurants trust CaterZen to save them time and increase their catering sales.
Go check them out at www.caterzen.com.
Hey Kelly, how are you?
Hey, good morning!
I'm great!
How's it going?
Good, good.
So before I get into the fancy questions, I need you to give me a number between one and athousand.
(01:38):
One in a thousand.
let's go 11.
That's simple.
The higher the question, the deeper.
So you probably picked a good one for first thing in the morning.
9.99.
What's the meaning of life?
If you could be a character in a book or novel, who would you be and why?
(02:03):
You know, that's a great question.
If I had to pick a character in a book, I am going to go with...
This is gonna...
I'm gonna go with The Hungry Caterpillar.
I would love to be The Hungry Caterpillar because I love to eat and I love all differenttypes of food.
(02:24):
And I think what I love most about that book is that it's really about, you know...
taking time, enjoying life, reinventing yourself, and that sometimes you go intohibernation and you reinvent and you come out as a stunning, beautiful butterfly.
So I'm gonna go with the hungry caterpillar.
(02:44):
I've got a young niece and nephew, so maybe that's just because it's top of mind, not mylife inspirations, but.
mean, if I had known, I would have flown you down to Orlando and we could have filmed thisepisode in front of the teacup ride.
Allison Wonderland that yeah, that could have been another one, you know, it's a smallworld
I don't know if I have a character that I would be probably James Bond.
(03:07):
mean, everybody likes every dude likes James Bond.
Every every guy thinks he could be James Bond, but the minute he tries to get out of thatsports car, he wrenches his back and he's got nothing.
Have you ever have you ever done curling, you the ice curling, you know, the the stones?
seen it.
I've watched it, I think, when the Olympics were on, but...
(03:28):
Yeah, so there's a curling place in Nashville and some buddies and I went a couple ofweeks ago.
And, know, when you watch the Olympics, like I'm I'm I have no athletic ability.
But, know, when you want a gold medal because you see all these people winning and you'relike, you know, maybe I could qualify for the fast walking team.
I've got that.
(03:48):
And then you realize I'm too old for that.
But I'm good with the broom.
I could do the curling.
exactly.
Stick to using that and doing that around the house.
No, I'm past Olympic Prime.
I'm in Special Olympics.
Okay, let's get into some questions.
Let's talk about crumbs.
(04:10):
Give everyone a brief bio of how you got started in the food business and how you got tostart crumbs and what that's all about.
Yeah.
You know, I grew up working in restaurants and so you name it from a small little icecream shack during the summer when I had to get like my little piece of paper that my
(04:30):
parents would sign letting me to work, to working in a deli, to you know, you name itfrom, gosh, hostess to busser to server to bartender.
You know, I just spent all of my, I would say youth, working various positions within therestaurant industry and really loved it.
(04:51):
You know, I went to school for sport management and communication, so slightly different.
And just fresh out of college, I started working, I would say, with a sports organizationand was incentivized as a salesperson that the more money that these athletes spent, the
more commission that I would make.
And for me, as a hungry salesperson, I was like, okay, game on.
(05:14):
I'll come up with anything and everything that I can give these athletes.
immediately my mind went to, let's feed them and they have to eat while they're here.
And so I pretty successfully was able to take hundreds of these basketball teams that wewere booking to come to Florida and feed them for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
And that was experiential dining of getting them to come as a team and go to a restaurant.
(05:38):
That was box lunches, court side.
That was, you know, a quick, easy grab and go breakfast as they're running out of thehotel.
And I was very lucky to have, you know, a restaurant group that I was using to feed theathletes kind of pick me up and say, hey, why don't you come work with us?
And that was, I would say the start of it.
And I haven't looked back since.
(05:59):
So for the last 12 years, I've been focusing on how do you get more transactions throughthe four walls?
And that has been with everything from, you know, an individual, you know, mom and poprestaurant that I worked at during the summer to large multi-unit operators to bowling
alley.
and hotels and edible arrangements.
It was all about how do you as a business in the local community connect with others andget them to want to sort of work with you and utilize your services.
(06:28):
And so about two years ago, I decided I really wanted to pursue that and sort of sharethat energy and excitement with restaurant operators that...
maybe don't have the resources to be able to do that on their own.
And so at Crumbs, we focus on helping restaurant operators with their incremental revenuechannels.
(06:48):
catering, group dining, fundraising, local store marketing, and third party deliverysales, everything in between.
And we're really here to be an asset to restaurants to help them take advantage of thosechannels and really sort of make them their most profitable channels within their
restaurant while they focus in on continuing to kind of cook the food and execute it.
(07:09):
Cause that's something I can't do.
So, and you don't want me to do it.
yeah, I can cook, but I don't wanna cook for a thousand people a night.
my God, I have, they called me in my restaurant, Señorita Fingers.
Not because I have beautiful hands, because when it comes to the hot food, I mean, some ofthese guys, have asbestos fingers.
(07:32):
It's nuts, it's absolutely nuts.
But I have a lot of respect.
I could engineer the food.
I want to focus on if you had to break down what you focus on like what percentage of whatyou do with clients is catering versus the other stuff.
would say majority is going to be catering, but I think the interesting thing aboutcatering is that it trickles so much into the local store marketing category.
(07:59):
When you think about growing your catering program and what it takes to sort of besuccessful within your four walls with it, it really does start with the local store
marketing side of things and they go really hand in hand.
And so I would say a lot of people come to us saying, help me grow my catering.
I want more catering sales.
I want to do more.
that once you start peeling back the layers, it does translate into some of those otherareas of the business.
(08:24):
And we will typically implement strategies to say, okay, you want to get more cateringorders, well, let's show you how you can do that through your local store marketing,
through your third party delivery and online ordering, and through any of those otherprograms that you have operational inside of the restaurant.
So definitely catering.
So when you get brought in, are you getting brought in at multiple states?
(08:47):
Let's say somebody's gonna come in, the phone's ringing and they get an order or two aweek, but they know that there's money in it, They see other people crushing it with
catering.
Where do you start?
You know, it's, I think the beautiful thing about catering right now is that everyrestaurant is in a different.
(09:09):
journey when it comes to catering.
And I think all of those sort of have different needs associated with it.
And so if you are just getting started and like you said, right, you're getting a coupleof orders that are coming in, maybe you're on some of those marketplaces and you get an
order and you're excited and it's stressful to kind of get that one order out the door.
(09:30):
But we also work with clients that have thriving, you know, catering programs that aremaking up 50 % of their business.
And, you know, they're at that point where it's like, okay,
we can do more, but how do we get more?
And so we really come in and kind of customize our solution to helping those operatorswherever they are in their journey, depending on what they might need.
(09:53):
I think, you know, for those that have been doing it for quite some time that are seeingthat volume, sometimes they needed an outsider to say, hey, wait a minute, like you're
leaving money on the table by not having X, Y, or Z, or, you know, we went to your websiteand tried to place a catering order and I can't order a tray of cannoli come in.
through and checking out.
And so that's where I think we're able to help operators on all ends of it.
(10:15):
mostly the operators that are like, I'm in phase one of catering, right?
We're getting the orders and how do we do more?
How do we kind of have that infrastructure for it?
And we have a pretty decent checklist that we go through of like, okay, these are the easywins.
These are the things that you don't have to spend any money.
You don't have to put anybody on the streets.
You don't have to make any awkward cold calls, any of that stuff.
(10:38):
Here are some key areas that just by...
having catering sort of visible inside of your four walls and to your network and to yourcommunity, naturally you'll find that your inquiries and your sales will go up from it.
So I'd say that that's where that initial deep dive comes from.
The next one is definitely on the operations side though, because once catering starts tohappen, and I think it starts to catch in your community, you've got to be able to execute
(11:04):
it.
And so that's definitely where we tend to look next is, are you ready to take on morecatering orders?
Do you have those systems in place?
Because that's where I think a lot of people can get caught off guard and you really havethat, you know, that one chance to nail it with a client, you know, for the future.
Where do you see, let's talk about the menu.
(11:24):
What do you see the biggest, I have a bias on this, but I wanna get your perspective.
What do you see the biggest problems these restaurants have just in their catering menus?
Yeah, well I think it starts with, you
you have to be intentional about your catering menu and you need to think about what thecatering menu is truly feeding because that's going to be different than your existing
(11:48):
guests that's coming into the restaurant and placing their order.
It's really not about just taking your menu and multiplying it times 10 and multiplyingthe price and saying, there we go.
You really need to be intentional on what that looks like and defining what that lookslike.
A lot of times, operators
(12:09):
like chicken parm as an example.
You how many pieces does it come with and how many people are you expecting that to serve?
Are they small pieces?
Are they big pieces?
Is it that a different portion?
Is it coming with pasta?
And really being able to define that because what we find is that consumers need itsimple.
They need it easy.
You don't want them doing math.
(12:30):
You don't want them trying to figure out.
You don't want them guesstimating because that's where your expectations will fall shorton it.
And so when defining that, you need to go line item by line item and say, this a fit forour catering menu?
Is this something that we can execute well?
And is this something that's going to be craved by any of our customers?
It's okay to not have all your menu items on your catering menu.
(12:54):
And I think that that's always such a, you know, misconception is that like, our customerslove our quesadillas.
We have to put quesadillas on the catering menu.
And it's like, you don't, you know, it's because it's, it'll be a poor guest.
experience when they don't travel well and they're not what they usually get.
So I'd say, but that's probably where, you know, we see the biggest sort of, you know,issue with it.
(13:15):
And then obviously there's some easy ones of, you have boxed lunches, desserts and drinksreadily available?
Easy wins.
right.
You know, I find when I was engineering menus for people, it was the full tray and thehalf tray.
And you needed somebody who was like the Albert Einstein of food math, right?
(13:38):
Like, you know, full tray feeds 20, half tray feeds 10.
What do you do if you have 15?
Yeah.
Yep.
So I'm definitely a big believer in the per person.
And that takes it for some brands, takes a while for them to sort of, well, how are wegoing to do that?
Well, you figure it out.
(13:59):
You figure out the packaging.
They just want to feed people.
And they want it at the same price every single time.
Yeah, and you know, it's I always the the amount that it feeds is always something thatsurprises me with restaurants Like I love when I get a menu and i'm like, what do mean?
It feeds eight to twelve like is it eight or is it twelve?
(14:20):
Or is it ten and and and make it simple?
Exactly eight hungry caterpillars
feeds you should put feeds eight Michaels 12 Kelly's and they'll know exactly we could bethe face of catering portion size.
Totally, because guests don't, you know, they don't know and gosh, see it, and we see itright on the third parties.
(14:40):
People don't know how to do math.
And so the more you complicate it for them and the more they have to question and havethat anxiety inside of is this going to feed enough?
Is this going to be enough food?
Is the worst part about ordering catering.
And so if you can't make that crystal clear for your customer, they're going to want to gosomewhere else just because it's easier.
Yeah, you know, it's funny is I when I was at myrtec like the shit that comes out of mymouth, I feel like I'm possessed with funny shit and sayings I wasn't well, I now I'm all
(15:11):
over the board.
I was in the Uber the other day.
talking to my friend.
goes.
I'm glad you hung up before you got out because the shit that comes out of your mouth,like, I don't know where you come up with this, these sayings.
And I like to use analogies because people don't pay attention, but they pay attention tothings that are descriptive.
So this is going back a long time ago.
(15:33):
We used to say, you know, our party pack, it's enough barbecue for one and a half goodsize sandwiches a person.
And so people get, that makes sense.
And I go, well, you usually fine is everyone come get a sandwich and
a lot of the bigger guys will come back and get a second sandwich.
Everyone goes, that makes sense.
So I'm going to have enough food, right?
(15:53):
And you've got to paint that picture of what they're getting.
That's it, you know, and that's even where, you the other easy win that we find are likethe catering packages, right?
People just want simple and they, you know, they, if it's their first time ordering fromyou, they may not know that you need to be ordering potato salad or that it doesn't come
(16:16):
with coleslaw or, know, and so by giving them the full picture to say, yes, here's yourall in package, one stop shop, one click, make it simple and easy.
It just makes it that much, not only easier, but I think the
level for the guest is there.
Like, I'm ordering the party package, it's gonna have everything I need, I don't have toworry about do I need something else to go along with it?
(16:39):
And it's, we complicate some of these catering menus by asking the guests to make 25different decisions and they're like, they're a party and all this other stuff.
Make it easy.
the other problem is on the store level, right?
So you've got whoever's answering the phone.
I don't care if it's a phone center or we had hostesses take a lot of our orders and youdon't have time to do food math like, well, what if I get a pan of this and a pan of this
(17:05):
and what about a half pan of this?
And you're sitting there and you never have the same experience twice because it's allsubjective, right?
Whereas if you have a per person, it's like, here are the packages.
What do you want?
And you're done, right?
So anybody can say do you want the good better best package?
What entree do you want or entrees?
(17:26):
Do you want what size do you want and then and then you add an upsell for more premiumentrees because there's nothing worse than the person that has 12 packages I can't get my
head around 12.
I can get my head around three
time to read.
Yeah.
right.
And tell me that, okay, we know that ribs are going to be more expensive than pork orsteaks more expensive than chicken.
I mean, we all get that.
(17:47):
So just put in the low price and let somebody else.
and you nailed it right, like inside of the restaurant, not only for the guest ordering orthe hostess and training on that, but like the operation side.
You want your team to be able to say like, yeah, we've got,
three celebration packages all day long.
And they know that that is three chickens, three canals, three, and so they can executeit.
(18:10):
Cause that's where you run into less issues with missing items.
The second you've got, you know, 20 different things that you need to make sure one hascheese, one doesn't have cheese.
That's where you run into issues operationally and items get missed.
But man, if your team's just churning out packages and those easy to execute items, thatmakes it a lot easier for them to be able to increase their volume with it.
(18:31):
Yeah, I think the concepts that can have more standardization, I think the tough thing islike, I'm not going to mention the chain, but I had a brief conversation with a hamburger
chain and it's like, oh my God, I would not want to be sending out a hundred hamburgers.
Like by the time they get to you, number one, number two is, know, well, 22 of them havepickles, but no lettuce.
(18:56):
And then, you know, and then how do you divvy that up?
I bet when I was working with chains, I was like, do a build your own sandwich bar, likethe chicken breasts in one pan, the burgers in another pan and give them all the fix it
and let them make it the way they want.
That's catering.
So.
way happier that way too.
They, you know, they get to experience, because otherwise it's, my bun was soggy, Igrabbed the wrong one, it wasn't enough of the, like, but the build your own's are just
(19:21):
such an easy win.
And I mean, great on food cost, great for execution.
They're definitely, if you can do it, you should, just because it's, it just, and I thinkpresentation wise, it looks much, much, much better.
Yeah.
a burger that was cooked two hours ago.
I mean, you're not going to get even even if you get a burger in the restaurant by thetime you get your drink and you go to the bathroom and you wash your hands.
(19:47):
I mean, it gets a little I mean, some of it's OK, but, know, a little bit is OK, but notsomething that's been sitting around for.
I don't think since college when my buddies and I took over my his parents were out oftown and we bought like 200 crystals.
We ate on them all weekend.
Yeah, they're still good.
Yep.
(20:08):
You can zap it in the microwave, you can throw it on the stove, you put enough toppings onit, it's fine.
Or your beer, I mean.
Exactly.
Exactly.
That could be a whole nother college catering.
It could be day old food.
They'll take it.
Exactly.
(20:28):
Pizza.
I had I was talking to somebody about food.
Like, do you share food or not?
I'm like.
I don't like to share food.
if I have a significant other, I'll share, but like I'm just not a share, right?
And I said, even in college, I got a anchovy pizza because nobody had asked for a slice.
(20:49):
Exactly.
So you can leave that damn thing all weekend.
You get pepperoni pizza, you're lucky to get a slice of your own.
I hope you at least put it in the refrigerator.
Well, I ate it all, but that's a whole nother thing.
Okay, so we got the menu.
Let's talk about how to get the word out there.
You talk about local store marketing.
(21:10):
What's your definition of that?
And how would you use that to let people know about catering?
Yeah.
You know, it's on the local store marketing side of things.
You want to be present in your community.
You know, it's, it is definitely whether you're trying to grow your catering program ornot.
you have the opportunity with your four walls in your local area to be different thanevery other restaurant that's either next to you around the corner.
(21:38):
And being present is going to drive that regular business as well.
And so knowing your community and actively taking a,
you know, a position to know who's out there, know what's happening, know who the sportsteams are, know the head coach, know the, you know, things like that.
That's what's gonna make a difference when you start sort of promoting and talking aboutyour catering.
(22:01):
So I think it, you know, it really starts there in, in having a team that's prideful oftheir four walls and, wanting to be sort of that, that restaurant that's different.
I think there's, you know, no question, there's a lot of chains and restaurants and thingspopping up.
so competitions out there, right.
You see it on all of the marketplaces and platforms.
And so how do you differentiate yourself?
(22:22):
And, and I think it, a, it starts with kind of being present.
think it also starts with having a trained team, right.
Making sure that your team's excited and
can talk about it and kind of help sort of look for those opportunities.
And I'd say two things.
One, it starts with your four walls.
Do I know that you do catering from the second I walk into your restaurant to the secondI'm leaving it to later on when I'm driving past your restaurant?
(22:49):
Where is that sort of promoted and talked about?
You'd be surprised how much just putting up a sign can do for your restaurant, right?
Whether it's inside or it's outside, acknowledging that you do catering.
and it's sometimes we get lost in the word caterer and it's more like we do parties, wefeed groups of any size, there's a lot of different ways to talk about it.
(23:13):
And then I would say outside of that, it's how are you leveraging customers that arealready ordering from you, managing your database and then hitting the streets and using
your resources to make sure every local business, and I mean every local business,
knows that you cater and you can deliver and you feed groups of all sizes for whether it'sa tray of pasta or it's individual lunches for the five people that are in the office.
(23:41):
Being connected with those businesses in any capacity is going to be really critical tospreading and talking about the awareness of your brand.
Why do you think, you know, I've worked with a lot of chains over the years.
I'll just use them as an example.
There's no secret how profitable catering is.
(24:03):
You could look at some of the brands like a Jason's Deli, a Mo's, know, a MissionBarbecue.
Catering is like part of their DNA, right?
They hire the salespeople, they eat, sleep, breathe it.
I mean, and they, profitability and also their store count, right?
You're getting paid to advertise your brand.
Why do you think a lot of these brands, like, I'm not going to say turn their nose up atit, but they just like, it's almost like you see there's gold out,
(24:30):
in the streets and you're going to walk over the gold and go pick up sand.
Like why do you feel that they're just so tone deaf to it?
It's extra work.
right?
It is a different business unit that if you do not put the attention towards it, it's notgoing to grow.
(24:50):
And so I, I believe it.
And we see it, especially from a training standpoint, just like when you, you know, thisis so like a large chain, right?
You hand out these playbooks and you tell all of your GMs and AGMs, Hey, this month we'refocusing on car dealerships, like go get car dealerships.
And you've got these managers that are like,
(25:13):
I'm trying to deal with a person that didn't show up for work today.
I'm trying to manage my food costs.
I'm fixing the oven that just broke in the back and there's all this noise and things thatare going on and there are like cartilageships like
what do I say?
What do I do?
I don't know how to work with car dealerships.
And so you'll get some managers that'll pick up the phone, they'll call, they'll get hungup on, it'll be a terrible experience.
(25:36):
And they're like, okay, I did it this month and I didn't get anything.
And so I don't care about catering sales, right?
Yes, exactly.
And they're like, this, I hate it.
It doesn't work.
We're not a good, and there's all these excuses because they, it's a poor experience forthem.
And so they're not bought into it.
And
go ahead, keep going.
and so I think that that's where it really starts with is like, it is a cultural shift tosay catering is a priority and we are dedicating resources to do so.
(26:06):
Whether it's through those training programs, it is, you need to commit.
an hour, two hours, three hours, whatever your brand standard is a day, to lean into this,to make it a top priority, you need to invest in it.
And I think that that's unfortunately, when you look at the line items that theserestaurants are investing in, their catering is falling to the bottom of it.
(26:28):
And that's why it's not growing.
But do you think that GM is the person to wave the flag of growing catering sales?
think they need to be.
And if they're not, then I'm going to say they may not be the right GM for you.
I'm gonna push back on you.
So I, you know, there's, there's a saying that somebody taught me a long time ago, youcan't turn chicken shit into chicken salad.
(26:54):
And so they're not, they're not salespeople, right?
A lot of them aren't, they're good leaders, but they're not salespeople.
I'm not saying they can't go lead, like you said, they're focused on operations.
Yeah.
If you look at bringing on a good catering salesperson, right, and think about this, is itinvestment, right?
I'm going to invest in a piece of equipment.
What's my ROI?
I'm going to buy the software.
(27:15):
What's my ROI?
If you break even on a good salesperson, the first year, right, the next year, they'regetting that business back, hopefully, and then more, you're getting an ROI.
And it's probably a 50 % ROI, 75, 100.
And then if you look at what it could bring to the bottom line,
Yeah?
can tell you that some of the clients I work with, they're doubling their profits.
(27:38):
Well, to think about it, am I gonna spend 800,000 to build a second Firehouse subs or am Igoing to invest in a catering salesperson for my four stores or whatever and hustle?
That's how I see it because it's so difficult.
Or if you happen to have some really good employee who likes to sell, will go out there.
(28:02):
a young Michael or Kelly, you know, out there hustling it.
Otherwise, I think now you could have a GM who's a good hustler and a good salesperson.
But I think it's difficult to say, OK, I'm going to put one more damn thing on your back.
But it does take a commitment.
And I don't again, I don't get it.
(28:23):
I've talked to franchise or is about why are you selling franchises to people who canwrite a check?
Go find somebody who lost a job or tired of
corporate sales, they know how to sell, they can find somebody to make sandwiches, theycan find somebody to make pizzas, and they can go out in the community.
They're a six figure baller, ex medical sales, pharma sales, B2B salesperson, and they cancrush it in the franchise space.
(28:54):
you know, they didn't vote for me.
I'm sure they will in the future.
No, I was born in another country, so I can't be president.
I would be I would gladly serve as benevolent dictator, but.
Yeah, I think it's,
I swear, I think it goes back to everybody kind of being in their different space when itcomes to that catering journey.
(29:20):
And I'm sure you probably see it where you'll get some of these operators and groups thathire a salesperson, but they don't give them any tools.
so, right, you hire a person and you're like, go sell catering for me.
And that salesperson is then like, okay, great, but I don't have a menu that works.
I don't have a way to send somebody an invoice.
(29:43):
have a system to and then all of a sudden they end up in this like spreadsheet hell rightand and so is that sort of chicken or chicken or egg right do you hire the salesperson and
then layer in the systems or do you start with systems and then layer in the salespersonwhat do you think is the best approach
salesperson to help develop the system or you come to us one of us?
(30:04):
To to build systems, but you know, the other thing is I see a lot which I think brands areHey, want you to be the catering director aka six hours a day.
You're making sandwiches delivering food Setting up and then two hours a day you canprospect right?
It's like Come on set everybody up for success because there's if you do a good job.
(30:27):
They're so
Much money in it and it's it's free I've told brands before put a hundred percent of yourmoney in catering because you're getting paid to look Costco's got to figure out they got
an army of grandmas across the country Sampling food and they're selling the hell out ofwhatever whatever grandma sampling.
They're selling the hell out of
(30:48):
Yeah, think it's, know, gosh, how many times I've seen that for those catering sales.
coordinators managers and and a lot of times they're stuck like right in the broom closetin in the restaurant somewhere with this like it know archaic laptop that they're trying
to use that noise people coming in and out they're trying to make cold calls and But atthe end of the day, know, I always say that that that salesperson they have one of the
(31:14):
toughest jobs because not only are they trying to juggle bringing in new business anddoing tastings and getting you know people to try and you know, try out the food, but at
the same time they
have so much on the line when that order doesn't go out correctly or you know they runinto issues because they went out and they sold it and there's it's their reputation and
(31:35):
now all of a sudden you had a chef that called out and and they forgot the the lettuce orthe chicken was undercooked or whatever it may be and now all of a sudden who's getting
that phone call
It's the sales rep and the sales rep has to say, I'm so sorry, it'll never happen again.
Like, can I bring you cookies?
Right.
And now not only is your sales person not able to be making cold calls, right?
(31:58):
Not able to go out and get new business.
Now they're backpedaling, trying to keep business.
And so that's where I swear, you know, when you look at the catering side of things, yes,a catering sales person can, can grow sales for you, but man, the easiest way to burn
through them is to have bad operations that all of a sudden
There is nothing worse as a salesperson than having to take that phone call of, my orderdidn't arrive, it showed up late, it was completely wrong.
(32:25):
Like, I, and it happens, right?
We get it, mistakes happen, but those are the worst.
They are absolutely the worst.
mean, and part of that is training and I guess preparation.
So we used an independent courier service and all their drivers would keep backup paperproducts in their car just in case.
great.
Probably one of my favorite stories is we were doing this Ducks Unlimited banquet, I don'tknow, an hour and a half south of Nashville and had this guy, Kevin Mick, old Marine,
(32:55):
know, former Marine, big guy.
And they forgot he forgot the barbecue sauce.
It's like, how do you how do you forget the barbecue sauce?
Like we barbecue restaurant.
I mean, right.
So.
To his benefit, he ran to the grocery store and he got like three different brands andmixed them together.
(33:18):
Exactly.
So he gets an A for effort.
Nobody knew any differently, but you're you're absolutely right.
As a salesperson, you have to believe.
And, know, even in my company, I tell my employees, I don't care if you've got to.
Take your dog for four hours to get doggy dialysis.
I don't want to get a call that you didn't follow up with somebody.
You didn't do something.
(33:38):
And when we sell, it's the same thing.
I tell people I go, you don't understand.
Like I, I, I'm not, I have no debt.
I'm not beholden to private equity or venture back or, or, or partners.
I'm not going to sell just to sell.
Cause I don't need a call in six months saying, Hey, you sold us this bill of goods andthe software doesn't work.
(34:00):
You promise us this.
Like,
there's not enough money to deal with that stress.
Like I want to go to bed at night knowing everybody loves me.
Totally.
And that is like, when you look at the catering side of things, having those systems inplace to be able to know that like, you're not missing an order or you have a checklist
for items that are going out or the team's prepared for it.
(34:21):
Like, cause it is, that is the easiest way to...
prevent your catering program from growing by providing poor experiences.
you have one shot to get it right with a customer.
Some customers are very generous and they'll give you a second one, but outside of that,man, it...
There is no wiggle room because I've been there where I order food for a party, an office,a meeting, whatever it was, and you're standing there and 30 people are staring at you
(34:49):
like, where is our food?
Because in that scenario, those 30 hungry individuals, they're not blaming the restaurant.
They're looking at you, right?
They're looking at that office manager.
And so that office manager is like, Suzy, where is the order?
Do know who Mike Roman is?
I don't know.
(35:10):
So this is where history, you know, the real students of the game study history as farback as it goes.
Right.
So I guess the OG caterer was Moses.
He got the Jews to go in the desert for a barbecue.
But besides that, I don't know that there's any biblical documentation about how he set upthe buffets.
But Mike Roman had a company called Cater Source.
(35:33):
He had a big catering company in Chicago and he started consulting company.
You know, the Cater Source show.
He had he had a newsletter he used
travel around the country and do like seminars and hotels, you 10, 20 people.
And then he put on a big trade show and he was just, he died a while ago.
Gentle giant, very smart.
And one of the things he said is people are not buying food.
(35:56):
they're buying lack of embarrassment, right?
Like I don't care if your food's a 10, if it shows up late, if I can't get last minuteorders, you leave stuff off an order.
I can't be embarrassed.
That admin is not getting stock options because the box lunches showed up on time.
But if they don't show up on time, you look like a fucking, like who can't order lunch?
(36:18):
I mean, it's like one of the easiest things that you should be able to do is get lunch ontime, right?
It is a thankless job ordering lunch.
you know, because that's the thing, that stress of did I get a notification?
Is it on its way?
Did I order enough food?
Did I write all of those questions?
It's such a thankless job.
(36:38):
And man, when you are in the line, you know, in the heat like that and it doesn't show upor it shows up wrong or they dropped the queso in the parking lot, it is like,
It's a day-runner.
It's a day-runner, and I understand somebody saying, just don't think I'd ever order fromthat restaurant again.
You know?
It's just not, to your point, it's not worth the embarrassment.
(36:59):
It's not worth the stress.
I've got a million other things to do, you know?
there's a million people who will do a good job, for sure.
Now more so, for sure.
Okay, so I want one more tip of building catering sales, and then I'm gonna ask you oneother question.
I would say catering sales, one of my favorite activities to do with any groups that wework with is, who do you know?
(37:27):
And so we've got a worksheet of probably 20 questions and
And what I love about this is that this allows the GM, this allows as a team exercise toget to know those individuals that are working inside of your four walls, the ones that
are providing the great guest experience, talking about catering, helping you to getorders out the door.
(37:48):
And so we go through a process of who do you know, right?
Who do you know in the community?
Because you're obviously choosing to work at my restaurant in this area.
So I wanna know.
Where do your parents work?
Where do your kids go to school?
Where'd you buy your car?
Who do you bank with?
Who do you, where do you work out?
Where do you live?
Who bought you, you know, those types of key questions that allow you to connect with yourteam.
(38:13):
that's awesome.
And I love it because again, two birds with one stone, right?
Yes, you are learning about instantly learning 20 questions about this new team memberthat just joined you.
You've got a better relationship with them.
You get to know them.
But now you can say, hey, Jimmy.
I know you said your kids go to Harrison High School around the corner.
(38:33):
Any chance you could help me get connected to the secretary that's sitting in the front?
Or can you help me drop my flyer off?
And now all of sudden, you've got other people growing the sales program for you.
They're bought in on it.
They feel like they're part of the success.
And you've got, if you've got 10 employees times 20 questions, you've got your lead listright there.
Start right there with that list.
(38:54):
It's the easiest ones you can go after.
my God, my brain's thinking of email marketing and some other stuff, but we can discussthat.
That is awesome.
Okay, so let's talk about follow-up marketing, right?
Because everybody, since I've been in the marketing game, everyone's like, get a newcustomer, get a new customer, get a new customer.
(39:15):
But a lot of companies across the board, right?
They don't do...
reach out to inactive customers, stay in front of customers.
Why do you think that is?
time and systems.
I'm sure you ask everybody they would love, yeah of course we would love to do that.
Of course we want to be following up with our customers.
(39:38):
Of course we always want to provide a best guest experience but time gets in the way andyou know I think it's and something we always talk about is right catering needs to be
intentional and you need to either A have the systems in place and invest in setting thatup or
you need to take the time and put it on your calendar and make it a non-negotiable to say,okay, you know, maybe we don't have a great CRM system.
(40:04):
Maybe we don't have, you know, a database, but I do know that I can carve out time onTuesday afternoon after I did my payroll, after I put my food order in, and I can say,
okay, I'm calling every guest that ordered last week, and I'm just calling to say thankyou or.
In addition to that, I'm calling and there's tons of to schedule it, but Tuesdays are fororders from last week and maybe Wednesdays are from orders this time last year.
(40:32):
so building that time into your schedule, just like you do with those regular standardoperations, right?
Like you have to build it in, you have to document it and commit to it.
That's the only way the follow-up happens unless you get a good system, but.
You know, it's funny, I am so geeked out on AI.
Like I eat, sleep, and breathe.
(40:53):
I'm going to share something I just learned the other day.
And I truly believe at the end of the day, we're all going to die from AI because we'regoing to, we're, I won't get into the.
the whole guts of this.
But if we sit around and have nothing to do, we will turn to debauchery and destruction.
Right.
So I think that I think the wise people are buying land someplace.
(41:16):
I have a small plot in Costa Rica and
They will turn to homesteading right like hey, I need a purpose.
I'm gonna raise chickens.
I'm gonna paint I'm gonna go fishing.
I'm gonna do something productive besides sitting in the government provided basementImagine that they're gonna take warehouses and turn them into basements with lazy boy
(41:36):
recliners and video and then it's almost you know, you're just gonna be I don't knowthey'll just have food in a tube that they bring to you all day long and you just waste
away and then If you're pissed off, then you knock out kill a bunch of people in the roomor whatever but
The smart people are going to say, look, I need to think I need to be engaged.
so go find yourself some third or fourth world country that you can get a thousand acresand set up shop, because that's where where it's going to be.
(42:05):
Or be friends with Elon Musk and end up on Mars.
I don't I don't know what other stuff you have.
So.
the option.
Yeah, so we're doing a lot of research in the AI voice.
We've got some stuff we're working on that's going to be really cool.
But do you know what a voicemail drop is?
(42:28):
that where you kind of like you kind of pre-program them and it like pushes them all out?
Sort of it drops the it rings the phone once and leaves a voicemail.
So they don't talk to somebody right They have a service that will do it in your voice andyou can mail merge in field so I can say hey Kelly This is Michael from Corky's barbecue.
(42:49):
Just wanted to check on your order If you know, hopefully it was perfect if it wasn'tplease call me back.
Well shit, you've just done all your calls
It's amazing.
It is ridiculous what's coming out.
So we're trying to figure out, I think they have voice AI to like qualify leads and someother stuff.
(43:10):
When they have outbound, sign me up.
Sign me up.
Yeah, we've looked at a couple.
We've looked at a couple solutions for sort of those like outbound calling and then, youknow, it picks up and transfer.
But I it's it's just not it's still not as, you know, authentic.
And we've got some systems that will auto populate some of those like, you know, those andI tell our salespeople all the time on the A.I.
(43:37):
replies and stuff.
You can, you have to be so careful because some people, as I'm sure you can, I mean, wecan spot it a mile away right now.
And, and it's so important to use AI, but not become reliant on AI.
Like you were just talking about, right?
It is using it in the right areas and ways.
(43:58):
Yes.
Eventually, you won't be able to Yeah
is definitely a helpful tool.
it gets your mind working enough is how I think about it.
Is that you want to use it to help fuel those different types of initiatives andactivities.
And it can be a...
(44:19):
prompt that we just used for a client was, you know, give me a, you know, two sentence,thank you note, follow up, right?
That's on brand.
That's coming from me.
That's fun, exciting, and appreciative.
And it, and it's going to help take away some of that, you know, that thinking process,but it's still going to be intentional enough where that operator has to take it, has to
send it and wants to, you know, kind of share it.
(44:42):
And so I think there's definitely some ways that it can help that process, but nothingwill replace having to have follow up happening.
some capacity.
You want to say thank you, right?
Thank you goes a long way in catering sales.
I used to have Gail, who is my office manager, she took most of the catering orders.
She would, she'd have to write thank you notes every afternoon.
Handwritten thank you notes.
(45:04):
It makes a big, big difference.
We talk about, you know, putting, even putting that, you know, trying to convert some ofthose marketplace orders, a handwritten thank you note in there.
So they know it's not just some robot on the other side that's executing their order.
It goes a long way.
And while that may not translate into another catering order, or that may translate intomaybe another one from that platform, I would be willing to bet that the person that
(45:30):
received that would be more inclined to walk into your four walls.
and want to meet the team or place an order or order for their family because they feelappreciated.
They felt like this person recognized me, you know?
Yeah.
And I think a lot of people don't realize you think of marketing is something cute andclever.
Marketing is anything that touches a prospect.
(45:50):
It could be how clean your parking lot is.
What's the vibe I get when I drive by?
What was the courier like who set up the food?
Every little thing goes into people's perception.
It's all marketing, right?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
as we're sort of winding down any last caterpillar thoughts?
(46:13):
Kat, I guess it's almost lunchtime, right?
So what am I having for lunch today?
Well, you know what?
Here, that's That's the segue that I'll use.
I would say, can put money into advertising and marketing all day long.
And you can send out emails.
You can put up a poster.
(46:34):
You can run Google Ads, Facebook Ads.
But it's
guests want to try and know your food and know what the expectations are.
And so don't shy away from the tasting side of things, of getting your food into the handsof those offices, those employees, those local businesses.
A food drop does go a long way.
There's a lot of ways that you have to make it profitable and schedule it and go about it.
(46:59):
Your food is what will keep customers continuing to come back in addition to obviously theservice and the relationships.
But you want to make sure that your food is your best sales tool.
So get it out there, get it into people's mouths, make them eat it, make them crave it,make them understand that, you know, gosh, we could have this for catering.
That's what I'm craving.
That's what I'm wanting.
So take the time to get your food out into that local community.
(47:22):
I've sold more caterings because of free food.
will throw one little, I'm gonna throw one little cherry on top of the sundae, which isdon't give people a discount on the first order.
Give them a gift card on the first order.
Nobody gives a shit that their boss is gonna save $30, but if they can get a $30 gift cardon a first order that they can use for themselves, it's what's in it for me.
(47:45):
People don't get that.
couldn't, it drives me crazy when we encounter sales processes that are leading with,here's 10 % free delivery, free, that means nothing.
It means nothing to me, right?
in your prostituting your well, first of all, if you're to do anything, give something forfree.
Don't discount somebody was going, we give a discount.
Well, why don't you give them free cookies and it costs you a tenth of the price of thediscount and then they appreciate the cookies.
(48:11):
But anyway, I'm sure we could talk for days and days.
But, you know, I've got I've got work to do here at the beach.
Life is tough.
I've got lunch to eat, I've got lunch to eat, yeah.
No, I've got, uh, just meeting a couple friends here in the city, so we'll see.
(48:32):
There's plenty of options here.
my god, Samantha and Carrie and no, I'm not going to.
I'm just going to say you're Charlotte.
You're Charlotte.
You know, you'll always be Charlotte to me.
OK, I'm going to get us out of here.
Hello again, I'm Michael Attias, your host of Restaurant Catering Smarts, and today'sguest is Kelly Grogan, founder and CEO of Crumbs, an innovative platform designed to help
restaurants streamline their online ordering, delivery, and catering services.
Her background in tech and customer.
Focus Solutions has enabled her to develop tools that drive efficiency and enhancecustomer experiences.
(00:52):
Kelly's insights and experiences in both the food service and tech spaces make her avaluable voice in the world of restaurant management.
And we're excited to have her on the show today.
But before we get into asking Kelly a bunch of questions, let's take a minute to recognizeour sponsor.
This episode is brought to you by CaterZen Catering Software, the industry leader inhelping restaurants turn their catering chaos into calm.
(01:14):
Discover why top independent and
enterprise restaurants trust CaterZen to save them time and increase their catering sales.
Go check them out at www.caterzen.com.
Hey Kelly, how are you?
Hey, good morning!
I'm great!
How's it going?
Good, good.
So before I get into the fancy questions, I need you to give me a number between one and athousand.
(01:38):
One in a thousand.
let's go 11.
That's simple.
The higher the question, the deeper.
So you probably picked a good one for first thing in the morning.
9.99.
What's the meaning of life?
If you could be a character in a book or novel, who would you be and why?
(02:03):
You know, that's a great question.
If I had to pick a character in a book, I am going to go with...
This is gonna...
I'm gonna go with The Hungry Caterpillar.
I would love to be The Hungry Caterpillar because I love to eat and I love all differenttypes of food.
(02:24):
And I think what I love most about that book is that it's really about, you know...
taking time, enjoying life, reinventing yourself, and that sometimes you go intohibernation and you reinvent and you come out as a stunning, beautiful butterfly.
So I'm gonna go with the hungry caterpillar.
(02:44):
I've got a young niece and nephew, so maybe that's just because it's top of mind, not mylife inspirations, but.
mean, if I had known, I would have flown you down to Orlando and we could have filmed thisepisode in front of the teacup ride.
Allison Wonderland that yeah, that could have been another one, you know, it's a smallworld
I don't know if I have a character that I would be probably James Bond.
(03:07):
mean, everybody likes every dude likes James Bond.
Every every guy thinks he could be James Bond, but the minute he tries to get out of thatsports car, he wrenches his back and he's got nothing.
Have you ever have you ever done curling, you the ice curling, you know, the the stones?
seen it.
I've watched it, I think, when the Olympics were on, but...
(03:28):
Yeah, so there's a curling place in Nashville and some buddies and I went a couple ofweeks ago.
And, know, when you watch the Olympics, like I'm I'm I have no athletic ability.
But, know, when you want a gold medal because you see all these people winning and you'relike, you know, maybe I could qualify for the fast walking team.
I've got that.
(03:48):
And then you realize I'm too old for that.
But I'm good with the broom.
I could do the curling.
exactly.
Stick to using that and doing that around the house.
No, I'm past Olympic Prime.
I'm in Special Olympics.
Okay, let's get into some questions.
Let's talk about crumbs.
(04:10):
Give everyone a brief bio of how you got started in the food business and how you got tostart crumbs and what that's all about.
Yeah.
You know, I grew up working in restaurants and so you name it from a small little icecream shack during the summer when I had to get like my little piece of paper that my
(04:30):
parents would sign letting me to work, to working in a deli, to you know, you name itfrom, gosh, hostess to busser to server to bartender.
You know, I just spent all of my, I would say youth, working various positions within therestaurant industry and really loved it.
(04:51):
You know, I went to school for sport management and communication, so slightly different.
And just fresh out of college, I started working, I would say, with a sports organizationand was incentivized as a salesperson that the more money that these athletes spent, the
more commission that I would make.
And for me, as a hungry salesperson, I was like, okay, game on.
(05:14):
I'll come up with anything and everything that I can give these athletes.
immediately my mind went to, let's feed them and they have to eat while they're here.
And so I pretty successfully was able to take hundreds of these basketball teams that wewere booking to come to Florida and feed them for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
And that was experiential dining of getting them to come as a team and go to a restaurant.
(05:38):
That was box lunches, court side.
That was, you know, a quick, easy grab and go breakfast as they're running out of thehotel.
And I was very lucky to have, you know, a restaurant group that I was using to feed theathletes kind of pick me up and say, hey, why don't you come work with us?
And that was, I would say the start of it.
And I haven't looked back since.
(05:59):
So for the last 12 years, I've been focusing on how do you get more transactions throughthe four walls?
And that has been with everything from, you know, an individual, you know, mom and poprestaurant that I worked at during the summer to large multi-unit operators to bowling
alley.
and hotels and edible arrangements.
It was all about how do you as a business in the local community connect with others andget them to want to sort of work with you and utilize your services.
(06:28):
And so about two years ago, I decided I really wanted to pursue that and sort of sharethat energy and excitement with restaurant operators that...
maybe don't have the resources to be able to do that on their own.
And so at Crumbs, we focus on helping restaurant operators with their incremental revenuechannels.
(06:48):
catering, group dining, fundraising, local store marketing, and third party deliverysales, everything in between.
And we're really here to be an asset to restaurants to help them take advantage of thosechannels and really sort of make them their most profitable channels within their
restaurant while they focus in on continuing to kind of cook the food and execute it.
(07:09):
Cause that's something I can't do.
So, and you don't want me to do it.
yeah, I can cook, but I don't wanna cook for a thousand people a night.
my God, I have, they called me in my restaurant, Señorita Fingers.
Not because I have beautiful hands, because when it comes to the hot food, I mean, some ofthese guys, have asbestos fingers.
(07:32):
It's nuts, it's absolutely nuts.
But I have a lot of respect.
I could engineer the food.
I want to focus on if you had to break down what you focus on like what percentage of whatyou do with clients is catering versus the other stuff.
would say majority is going to be catering, but I think the interesting thing aboutcatering is that it trickles so much into the local store marketing category.
(07:59):
When you think about growing your catering program and what it takes to sort of besuccessful within your four walls with it, it really does start with the local store
marketing side of things and they go really hand in hand.
And so I would say a lot of people come to us saying, help me grow my catering.
I want more catering sales.
I want to do more.
that once you start peeling back the layers, it does translate into some of those otherareas of the business.
(08:24):
And we will typically implement strategies to say, okay, you want to get more cateringorders, well, let's show you how you can do that through your local store marketing,
through your third party delivery and online ordering, and through any of those otherprograms that you have operational inside of the restaurant.
So definitely catering.
So when you get brought in, are you getting brought in at multiple states?
(08:47):
Let's say somebody's gonna come in, the phone's ringing and they get an order or two aweek, but they know that there's money in it, They see other people crushing it with
catering.
Where do you start?
You know, it's, I think the beautiful thing about catering right now is that everyrestaurant is in a different.
(09:09):
journey when it comes to catering.
And I think all of those sort of have different needs associated with it.
And so if you are just getting started and like you said, right, you're getting a coupleof orders that are coming in, maybe you're on some of those marketplaces and you get an
order and you're excited and it's stressful to kind of get that one order out the door.
(09:30):
But we also work with clients that have thriving, you know, catering programs that aremaking up 50 % of their business.
And, you know, they're at that point where it's like, okay,
we can do more, but how do we get more?
And so we really come in and kind of customize our solution to helping those operatorswherever they are in their journey, depending on what they might need.
(09:53):
I think, you know, for those that have been doing it for quite some time that are seeingthat volume, sometimes they needed an outsider to say, hey, wait a minute, like you're
leaving money on the table by not having X, Y, or Z, or, you know, we went to your websiteand tried to place a catering order and I can't order a tray of cannoli come in.
through and checking out.
And so that's where I think we're able to help operators on all ends of it.
(10:15):
mostly the operators that are like, I'm in phase one of catering, right?
We're getting the orders and how do we do more?
How do we kind of have that infrastructure for it?
And we have a pretty decent checklist that we go through of like, okay, these are the easywins.
These are the things that you don't have to spend any money.
You don't have to put anybody on the streets.
You don't have to make any awkward cold calls, any of that stuff.
(10:38):
Here are some key areas that just by...
having catering sort of visible inside of your four walls and to your network and to yourcommunity, naturally you'll find that your inquiries and your sales will go up from it.
So I'd say that that's where that initial deep dive comes from.
The next one is definitely on the operations side though, because once catering starts tohappen, and I think it starts to catch in your community, you've got to be able to execute
(11:04):
it.
And so that's definitely where we tend to look next is, are you ready to take on morecatering orders?
Do you have those systems in place?
Because that's where I think a lot of people can get caught off guard and you really havethat, you know, that one chance to nail it with a client, you know, for the future.
Where do you see, let's talk about the menu.
(11:24):
What do you see the biggest, I have a bias on this, but I wanna get your perspective.
What do you see the biggest problems these restaurants have just in their catering menus?
Yeah, well I think it starts with, you
you have to be intentional about your catering menu and you need to think about what thecatering menu is truly feeding because that's going to be different than your existing
(11:48):
guests that's coming into the restaurant and placing their order.
It's really not about just taking your menu and multiplying it times 10 and multiplyingthe price and saying, there we go.
You really need to be intentional on what that looks like and defining what that lookslike.
A lot of times, operators
(12:09):
like chicken parm as an example.
You how many pieces does it come with and how many people are you expecting that to serve?
Are they small pieces?
Are they big pieces?
Is it that a different portion?
Is it coming with pasta?
And really being able to define that because what we find is that consumers need itsimple.
They need it easy.
You don't want them doing math.
(12:30):
You don't want them trying to figure out.
You don't want them guesstimating because that's where your expectations will fall shorton it.
And so when defining that, you need to go line item by line item and say, this a fit forour catering menu?
Is this something that we can execute well?
And is this something that's going to be craved by any of our customers?
It's okay to not have all your menu items on your catering menu.
(12:54):
And I think that that's always such a, you know, misconception is that like, our customerslove our quesadillas.
We have to put quesadillas on the catering menu.
And it's like, you don't, you know, it's because it's, it'll be a poor guest.
experience when they don't travel well and they're not what they usually get.
So I'd say, but that's probably where, you know, we see the biggest sort of, you know,issue with it.
(13:15):
And then obviously there's some easy ones of, you have boxed lunches, desserts and drinksreadily available?
Easy wins.
right.
You know, I find when I was engineering menus for people, it was the full tray and thehalf tray.
And you needed somebody who was like the Albert Einstein of food math, right?
(13:38):
Like, you know, full tray feeds 20, half tray feeds 10.
What do you do if you have 15?
Yeah.
Yep.
So I'm definitely a big believer in the per person.
And that takes it for some brands, takes a while for them to sort of, well, how are wegoing to do that?
Well, you figure it out.
(13:59):
You figure out the packaging.
They just want to feed people.
And they want it at the same price every single time.
Yeah, and you know, it's I always the the amount that it feeds is always something thatsurprises me with restaurants Like I love when I get a menu and i'm like, what do mean?
It feeds eight to twelve like is it eight or is it twelve?
(14:20):
Or is it ten and and and make it simple?
Exactly eight hungry caterpillars
feeds you should put feeds eight Michaels 12 Kelly's and they'll know exactly we could bethe face of catering portion size.
Totally, because guests don't, you know, they don't know and gosh, see it, and we see itright on the third parties.
(14:40):
People don't know how to do math.
And so the more you complicate it for them and the more they have to question and havethat anxiety inside of is this going to feed enough?
Is this going to be enough food?
Is the worst part about ordering catering.
And so if you can't make that crystal clear for your customer, they're going to want to gosomewhere else just because it's easier.
Yeah, you know, it's funny is I when I was at myrtec like the shit that comes out of mymouth, I feel like I'm possessed with funny shit and sayings I wasn't well, I now I'm all
(15:11):
over the board.
I was in the Uber the other day.
talking to my friend.
goes.
I'm glad you hung up before you got out because the shit that comes out of your mouth,like, I don't know where you come up with this, these sayings.
And I like to use analogies because people don't pay attention, but they pay attention tothings that are descriptive.
So this is going back a long time ago.
(15:33):
We used to say, you know, our party pack, it's enough barbecue for one and a half goodsize sandwiches a person.
And so people get, that makes sense.
And I go, well, you usually fine is everyone come get a sandwich and
a lot of the bigger guys will come back and get a second sandwich.
Everyone goes, that makes sense.
So I'm going to have enough food, right?
(15:53):
And you've got to paint that picture of what they're getting.
That's it, you know, and that's even where, you the other easy win that we find are likethe catering packages, right?
People just want simple and they, you know, they, if it's their first time ordering fromyou, they may not know that you need to be ordering potato salad or that it doesn't come
(16:16):
with coleslaw or, know, and so by giving them the full picture to say, yes, here's yourall in package, one stop shop, one click, make it simple and easy.
It just makes it that much, not only easier, but I think the
level for the guest is there.
Like, I'm ordering the party package, it's gonna have everything I need, I don't have toworry about do I need something else to go along with it?
(16:39):
And it's, we complicate some of these catering menus by asking the guests to make 25different decisions and they're like, they're a party and all this other stuff.
Make it easy.
the other problem is on the store level, right?
So you've got whoever's answering the phone.
I don't care if it's a phone center or we had hostesses take a lot of our orders and youdon't have time to do food math like, well, what if I get a pan of this and a pan of this
(17:05):
and what about a half pan of this?
And you're sitting there and you never have the same experience twice because it's allsubjective, right?
Whereas if you have a per person, it's like, here are the packages.
What do you want?
And you're done, right?
So anybody can say do you want the good better best package?
What entree do you want or entrees?
(17:26):
Do you want what size do you want and then and then you add an upsell for more premiumentrees because there's nothing worse than the person that has 12 packages I can't get my
head around 12.
I can get my head around three
time to read.
Yeah.
right.
And tell me that, okay, we know that ribs are going to be more expensive than pork orsteaks more expensive than chicken.
I mean, we all get that.
(17:47):
So just put in the low price and let somebody else.
and you nailed it right, like inside of the restaurant, not only for the guest ordering orthe hostess and training on that, but like the operation side.
You want your team to be able to say like, yeah, we've got,
three celebration packages all day long.
And they know that that is three chickens, three canals, three, and so they can executeit.
(18:10):
Cause that's where you run into less issues with missing items.
The second you've got, you know, 20 different things that you need to make sure one hascheese, one doesn't have cheese.
That's where you run into issues operationally and items get missed.
But man, if your team's just churning out packages and those easy to execute items, thatmakes it a lot easier for them to be able to increase their volume with it.
(18:31):
Yeah, I think the concepts that can have more standardization, I think the tough thing islike, I'm not going to mention the chain, but I had a brief conversation with a hamburger
chain and it's like, oh my God, I would not want to be sending out a hundred hamburgers.
Like by the time they get to you, number one, number two is, know, well, 22 of them havepickles, but no lettuce.
(18:56):
And then, you know, and then how do you divvy that up?
I bet when I was working with chains, I was like, do a build your own sandwich bar, likethe chicken breasts in one pan, the burgers in another pan and give them all the fix it
and let them make it the way they want.
That's catering.
So.
way happier that way too.
They, you know, they get to experience, because otherwise it's, my bun was soggy, Igrabbed the wrong one, it wasn't enough of the, like, but the build your own's are just
(19:21):
such an easy win.
And I mean, great on food cost, great for execution.
They're definitely, if you can do it, you should, just because it's, it just, and I thinkpresentation wise, it looks much, much, much better.
Yeah.
a burger that was cooked two hours ago.
I mean, you're not going to get even even if you get a burger in the restaurant by thetime you get your drink and you go to the bathroom and you wash your hands.
(19:47):
I mean, it gets a little I mean, some of it's OK, but, know, a little bit is OK, but notsomething that's been sitting around for.
I don't think since college when my buddies and I took over my his parents were out oftown and we bought like 200 crystals.
We ate on them all weekend.
Yeah, they're still good.
Yep.
(20:08):
You can zap it in the microwave, you can throw it on the stove, you put enough toppings onit, it's fine.
Or your beer, I mean.
Exactly.
Exactly.
That could be a whole nother college catering.
It could be day old food.
They'll take it.
Exactly.
(20:28):
Pizza.
I had I was talking to somebody about food.
Like, do you share food or not?
I'm like.
I don't like to share food.
if I have a significant other, I'll share, but like I'm just not a share, right?
And I said, even in college, I got a anchovy pizza because nobody had asked for a slice.
(20:49):
Exactly.
So you can leave that damn thing all weekend.
You get pepperoni pizza, you're lucky to get a slice of your own.
I hope you at least put it in the refrigerator.
Well, I ate it all, but that's a whole nother thing.
Okay, so we got the menu.
Let's talk about how to get the word out there.
You talk about local store marketing.
(21:10):
What's your definition of that?
And how would you use that to let people know about catering?
Yeah.
You know, it's on the local store marketing side of things.
You want to be present in your community.
You know, it's, it is definitely whether you're trying to grow your catering program ornot.
you have the opportunity with your four walls in your local area to be different thanevery other restaurant that's either next to you around the corner.
(21:38):
And being present is going to drive that regular business as well.
And so knowing your community and actively taking a,
you know, a position to know who's out there, know what's happening, know who the sportsteams are, know the head coach, know the, you know, things like that.
That's what's gonna make a difference when you start sort of promoting and talking aboutyour catering.
(22:01):
So I think it, you know, it really starts there in, in having a team that's prideful oftheir four walls and, wanting to be sort of that, that restaurant that's different.
I think there's, you know, no question, there's a lot of chains and restaurants and thingspopping up.
so competitions out there, right.
You see it on all of the marketplaces and platforms.
And so how do you differentiate yourself?
(22:22):
And, and I think it, a, it starts with kind of being present.
think it also starts with having a trained team, right.
Making sure that your team's excited and
can talk about it and kind of help sort of look for those opportunities.
And I'd say two things.
One, it starts with your four walls.
Do I know that you do catering from the second I walk into your restaurant to the secondI'm leaving it to later on when I'm driving past your restaurant?
(22:49):
Where is that sort of promoted and talked about?
You'd be surprised how much just putting up a sign can do for your restaurant, right?
Whether it's inside or it's outside, acknowledging that you do catering.
and it's sometimes we get lost in the word caterer and it's more like we do parties, wefeed groups of any size, there's a lot of different ways to talk about it.
(23:13):
And then I would say outside of that, it's how are you leveraging customers that arealready ordering from you, managing your database and then hitting the streets and using
your resources to make sure every local business, and I mean every local business,
knows that you cater and you can deliver and you feed groups of all sizes for whether it'sa tray of pasta or it's individual lunches for the five people that are in the office.
(23:41):
Being connected with those businesses in any capacity is going to be really critical tospreading and talking about the awareness of your brand.
Why do you think, you know, I've worked with a lot of chains over the years.
I'll just use them as an example.
There's no secret how profitable catering is.
(24:03):
You could look at some of the brands like a Jason's Deli, a Mo's, know, a MissionBarbecue.
Catering is like part of their DNA, right?
They hire the salespeople, they eat, sleep, breathe it.
I mean, and they, profitability and also their store count, right?
You're getting paid to advertise your brand.
Why do you think a lot of these brands, like, I'm not going to say turn their nose up atit, but they just like, it's almost like you see there's gold out,
(24:30):
in the streets and you're going to walk over the gold and go pick up sand.
Like why do you feel that they're just so tone deaf to it?
It's extra work.
right?
It is a different business unit that if you do not put the attention towards it, it's notgoing to grow.
(24:50):
And so I, I believe it.
And we see it, especially from a training standpoint, just like when you, you know, thisis so like a large chain, right?
You hand out these playbooks and you tell all of your GMs and AGMs, Hey, this month we'refocusing on car dealerships, like go get car dealerships.
And you've got these managers that are like,
(25:13):
I'm trying to deal with a person that didn't show up for work today.
I'm trying to manage my food costs.
I'm fixing the oven that just broke in the back and there's all this noise and things thatare going on and there are like cartilageships like
what do I say?
What do I do?
I don't know how to work with car dealerships.
And so you'll get some managers that'll pick up the phone, they'll call, they'll get hungup on, it'll be a terrible experience.
(25:36):
And they're like, okay, I did it this month and I didn't get anything.
And so I don't care about catering sales, right?
Yes, exactly.
And they're like, this, I hate it.
It doesn't work.
We're not a good, and there's all these excuses because they, it's a poor experience forthem.
And so they're not bought into it.
And
go ahead, keep going.
and so I think that that's where it really starts with is like, it is a cultural shift tosay catering is a priority and we are dedicating resources to do so.
(26:06):
Whether it's through those training programs, it is, you need to commit.
an hour, two hours, three hours, whatever your brand standard is a day, to lean into this,to make it a top priority, you need to invest in it.
And I think that that's unfortunately, when you look at the line items that theserestaurants are investing in, their catering is falling to the bottom of it.
(26:28):
And that's why it's not growing.
But do you think that GM is the person to wave the flag of growing catering sales?
think they need to be.
And if they're not, then I'm going to say they may not be the right GM for you.
I'm gonna push back on you.
So I, you know, there's, there's a saying that somebody taught me a long time ago, youcan't turn chicken shit into chicken salad.
(26:54):
And so they're not, they're not salespeople, right?
A lot of them aren't, they're good leaders, but they're not salespeople.
I'm not saying they can't go lead, like you said, they're focused on operations.
Yeah.
If you look at bringing on a good catering salesperson, right, and think about this, is itinvestment, right?
I'm going to invest in a piece of equipment.
What's my ROI?
I'm going to buy the software.
(27:15):
What's my ROI?
If you break even on a good salesperson, the first year, right, the next year, they'regetting that business back, hopefully, and then more, you're getting an ROI.
And it's probably a 50 % ROI, 75, 100.
And then if you look at what it could bring to the bottom line,
Yeah?
can tell you that some of the clients I work with, they're doubling their profits.
(27:38):
Well, to think about it, am I gonna spend 800,000 to build a second Firehouse subs or am Igoing to invest in a catering salesperson for my four stores or whatever and hustle?
That's how I see it because it's so difficult.
Or if you happen to have some really good employee who likes to sell, will go out there.
(28:02):
a young Michael or Kelly, you know, out there hustling it.
Otherwise, I think now you could have a GM who's a good hustler and a good salesperson.
But I think it's difficult to say, OK, I'm going to put one more damn thing on your back.
But it does take a commitment.
And I don't again, I don't get it.
(28:23):
I've talked to franchise or is about why are you selling franchises to people who canwrite a check?
Go find somebody who lost a job or tired of
corporate sales, they know how to sell, they can find somebody to make sandwiches, theycan find somebody to make pizzas, and they can go out in the community.
They're a six figure baller, ex medical sales, pharma sales, B2B salesperson, and they cancrush it in the franchise space.
(28:54):
you know, they didn't vote for me.
I'm sure they will in the future.
No, I was born in another country, so I can't be president.
I would be I would gladly serve as benevolent dictator, but.
Yeah, I think it's,
I swear, I think it goes back to everybody kind of being in their different space when itcomes to that catering journey.
(29:20):
And I'm sure you probably see it where you'll get some of these operators and groups thathire a salesperson, but they don't give them any tools.
so, right, you hire a person and you're like, go sell catering for me.
And that salesperson is then like, okay, great, but I don't have a menu that works.
I don't have a way to send somebody an invoice.
(29:43):
have a system to and then all of a sudden they end up in this like spreadsheet hell rightand and so is that sort of chicken or chicken or egg right do you hire the salesperson and
then layer in the systems or do you start with systems and then layer in the salespersonwhat do you think is the best approach
salesperson to help develop the system or you come to us one of us?
(30:04):
To to build systems, but you know, the other thing is I see a lot which I think brands areHey, want you to be the catering director aka six hours a day.
You're making sandwiches delivering food Setting up and then two hours a day you canprospect right?
It's like Come on set everybody up for success because there's if you do a good job.
(30:27):
They're so
Much money in it and it's it's free I've told brands before put a hundred percent of yourmoney in catering because you're getting paid to look Costco's got to figure out they got
an army of grandmas across the country Sampling food and they're selling the hell out ofwhatever whatever grandma sampling.
They're selling the hell out of
(30:48):
Yeah, think it's, know, gosh, how many times I've seen that for those catering sales.
coordinators managers and and a lot of times they're stuck like right in the broom closetin in the restaurant somewhere with this like it know archaic laptop that they're trying
to use that noise people coming in and out they're trying to make cold calls and But atthe end of the day, know, I always say that that that salesperson they have one of the
(31:14):
toughest jobs because not only are they trying to juggle bringing in new business anddoing tastings and getting you know people to try and you know, try out the food, but at
the same time they
have so much on the line when that order doesn't go out correctly or you know they runinto issues because they went out and they sold it and there's it's their reputation and
(31:35):
now all of a sudden you had a chef that called out and and they forgot the the lettuce orthe chicken was undercooked or whatever it may be and now all of a sudden who's getting
that phone call
It's the sales rep and the sales rep has to say, I'm so sorry, it'll never happen again.
Like, can I bring you cookies?
Right.
And now not only is your sales person not able to be making cold calls, right?
(31:58):
Not able to go out and get new business.
Now they're backpedaling, trying to keep business.
And so that's where I swear, you know, when you look at the catering side of things, yes,a catering sales person can, can grow sales for you, but man, the easiest way to burn
through them is to have bad operations that all of a sudden
There is nothing worse as a salesperson than having to take that phone call of, my orderdidn't arrive, it showed up late, it was completely wrong.
(32:25):
Like, I, and it happens, right?
We get it, mistakes happen, but those are the worst.
They are absolutely the worst.
mean, and part of that is training and I guess preparation.
So we used an independent courier service and all their drivers would keep backup paperproducts in their car just in case.
great.
Probably one of my favorite stories is we were doing this Ducks Unlimited banquet, I don'tknow, an hour and a half south of Nashville and had this guy, Kevin Mick, old Marine,
(32:55):
know, former Marine, big guy.
And they forgot he forgot the barbecue sauce.
It's like, how do you how do you forget the barbecue sauce?
Like we barbecue restaurant.
I mean, right.
So.
To his benefit, he ran to the grocery store and he got like three different brands andmixed them together.
(33:18):
Exactly.
So he gets an A for effort.
Nobody knew any differently, but you're you're absolutely right.
As a salesperson, you have to believe.
And, know, even in my company, I tell my employees, I don't care if you've got to.
Take your dog for four hours to get doggy dialysis.
I don't want to get a call that you didn't follow up with somebody.
You didn't do something.
(33:38):
And when we sell, it's the same thing.
I tell people I go, you don't understand.
Like I, I, I'm not, I have no debt.
I'm not beholden to private equity or venture back or, or, or partners.
I'm not going to sell just to sell.
Cause I don't need a call in six months saying, Hey, you sold us this bill of goods andthe software doesn't work.
(34:00):
You promise us this.
Like,
there's not enough money to deal with that stress.
Like I want to go to bed at night knowing everybody loves me.
Totally.
And that is like, when you look at the catering side of things, having those systems inplace to be able to know that like, you're not missing an order or you have a checklist
for items that are going out or the team's prepared for it.
(34:21):
Like, cause it is, that is the easiest way to...
prevent your catering program from growing by providing poor experiences.
you have one shot to get it right with a customer.
Some customers are very generous and they'll give you a second one, but outside of that,man, it...
There is no wiggle room because I've been there where I order food for a party, an office,a meeting, whatever it was, and you're standing there and 30 people are staring at you
(34:49):
like, where is our food?
Because in that scenario, those 30 hungry individuals, they're not blaming the restaurant.
They're looking at you, right?
They're looking at that office manager.
And so that office manager is like, Suzy, where is the order?
Do know who Mike Roman is?
I don't know.
(35:10):
So this is where history, you know, the real students of the game study history as farback as it goes.
Right.
So I guess the OG caterer was Moses.
He got the Jews to go in the desert for a barbecue.
But besides that, I don't know that there's any biblical documentation about how he set upthe buffets.
But Mike Roman had a company called Cater Source.
(35:33):
He had a big catering company in Chicago and he started consulting company.
You know, the Cater Source show.
He had he had a newsletter he used
travel around the country and do like seminars and hotels, you 10, 20 people.
And then he put on a big trade show and he was just, he died a while ago.
Gentle giant, very smart.
And one of the things he said is people are not buying food.
(35:56):
they're buying lack of embarrassment, right?
Like I don't care if your food's a 10, if it shows up late, if I can't get last minuteorders, you leave stuff off an order.
I can't be embarrassed.
That admin is not getting stock options because the box lunches showed up on time.
But if they don't show up on time, you look like a fucking, like who can't order lunch?
(36:18):
I mean, it's like one of the easiest things that you should be able to do is get lunch ontime, right?
It is a thankless job ordering lunch.
you know, because that's the thing, that stress of did I get a notification?
Is it on its way?
Did I order enough food?
Did I write all of those questions?
It's such a thankless job.
(36:38):
And man, when you are in the line, you know, in the heat like that and it doesn't show upor it shows up wrong or they dropped the queso in the parking lot, it is like,
It's a day-runner.
It's a day-runner, and I understand somebody saying, just don't think I'd ever order fromthat restaurant again.
You know?
It's just not, to your point, it's not worth the embarrassment.
(36:59):
It's not worth the stress.
I've got a million other things to do, you know?
there's a million people who will do a good job, for sure.
Now more so, for sure.
Okay, so I want one more tip of building catering sales, and then I'm gonna ask you oneother question.
I would say catering sales, one of my favorite activities to do with any groups that wework with is, who do you know?
(37:27):
And so we've got a worksheet of probably 20 questions and
And what I love about this is that this allows the GM, this allows as a team exercise toget to know those individuals that are working inside of your four walls, the ones that
are providing the great guest experience, talking about catering, helping you to getorders out the door.
(37:48):
And so we go through a process of who do you know, right?
Who do you know in the community?
Because you're obviously choosing to work at my restaurant in this area.
So I wanna know.
Where do your parents work?
Where do your kids go to school?
Where'd you buy your car?
Who do you bank with?
Who do you, where do you work out?
Where do you live?
Who bought you, you know, those types of key questions that allow you to connect with yourteam.
(38:13):
that's awesome.
And I love it because again, two birds with one stone, right?
Yes, you are learning about instantly learning 20 questions about this new team memberthat just joined you.
You've got a better relationship with them.
You get to know them.
But now you can say, hey, Jimmy.
I know you said your kids go to Harrison High School around the corner.
(38:33):
Any chance you could help me get connected to the secretary that's sitting in the front?
Or can you help me drop my flyer off?
And now all of sudden, you've got other people growing the sales program for you.
They're bought in on it.
They feel like they're part of the success.
And you've got, if you've got 10 employees times 20 questions, you've got your lead listright there.
Start right there with that list.
(38:54):
It's the easiest ones you can go after.
my God, my brain's thinking of email marketing and some other stuff, but we can discussthat.
That is awesome.
Okay, so let's talk about follow-up marketing, right?
Because everybody, since I've been in the marketing game, everyone's like, get a newcustomer, get a new customer, get a new customer.
(39:15):
But a lot of companies across the board, right?
They don't do...
reach out to inactive customers, stay in front of customers.
Why do you think that is?
time and systems.
I'm sure you ask everybody they would love, yeah of course we would love to do that.
Of course we want to be following up with our customers.
(39:38):
Of course we always want to provide a best guest experience but time gets in the way andyou know I think it's and something we always talk about is right catering needs to be
intentional and you need to either A have the systems in place and invest in setting thatup or
you need to take the time and put it on your calendar and make it a non-negotiable to say,okay, you know, maybe we don't have a great CRM system.
(40:04):
Maybe we don't have, you know, a database, but I do know that I can carve out time onTuesday afternoon after I did my payroll, after I put my food order in, and I can say,
okay, I'm calling every guest that ordered last week, and I'm just calling to say thankyou or.
In addition to that, I'm calling and there's tons of to schedule it, but Tuesdays are fororders from last week and maybe Wednesdays are from orders this time last year.
(40:32):
so building that time into your schedule, just like you do with those regular standardoperations, right?
Like you have to build it in, you have to document it and commit to it.
That's the only way the follow-up happens unless you get a good system, but.
You know, it's funny, I am so geeked out on AI.
Like I eat, sleep, and breathe.
(40:53):
I'm going to share something I just learned the other day.
And I truly believe at the end of the day, we're all going to die from AI because we'regoing to, we're, I won't get into the.
the whole guts of this.
But if we sit around and have nothing to do, we will turn to debauchery and destruction.
Right.
So I think that I think the wise people are buying land someplace.
(41:16):
I have a small plot in Costa Rica and
They will turn to homesteading right like hey, I need a purpose.
I'm gonna raise chickens.
I'm gonna paint I'm gonna go fishing.
I'm gonna do something productive besides sitting in the government provided basementImagine that they're gonna take warehouses and turn them into basements with lazy boy
(41:36):
recliners and video and then it's almost you know, you're just gonna be I don't knowthey'll just have food in a tube that they bring to you all day long and you just waste
away and then If you're pissed off, then you knock out kill a bunch of people in the roomor whatever but
The smart people are going to say, look, I need to think I need to be engaged.
so go find yourself some third or fourth world country that you can get a thousand acresand set up shop, because that's where where it's going to be.
(42:05):
Or be friends with Elon Musk and end up on Mars.
I don't I don't know what other stuff you have.
So.
the option.
Yeah, so we're doing a lot of research in the AI voice.
We've got some stuff we're working on that's going to be really cool.
But do you know what a voicemail drop is?
(42:28):
that where you kind of like you kind of pre-program them and it like pushes them all out?
Sort of it drops the it rings the phone once and leaves a voicemail.
So they don't talk to somebody right They have a service that will do it in your voice andyou can mail merge in field so I can say hey Kelly This is Michael from Corky's barbecue.
(42:49):
Just wanted to check on your order If you know, hopefully it was perfect if it wasn'tplease call me back.
Well shit, you've just done all your calls
It's amazing.
It is ridiculous what's coming out.
So we're trying to figure out, I think they have voice AI to like qualify leads and someother stuff.
(43:10):
When they have outbound, sign me up.
Sign me up.
Yeah, we've looked at a couple.
We've looked at a couple solutions for sort of those like outbound calling and then, youknow, it picks up and transfer.
But I it's it's just not it's still not as, you know, authentic.
And we've got some systems that will auto populate some of those like, you know, those andI tell our salespeople all the time on the A.I.
(43:37):
replies and stuff.
You can, you have to be so careful because some people, as I'm sure you can, I mean, wecan spot it a mile away right now.
And, and it's so important to use AI, but not become reliant on AI.
Like you were just talking about, right?
It is using it in the right areas and ways.
(43:58):
Yes.
Eventually, you won't be able to Yeah
is definitely a helpful tool.
it gets your mind working enough is how I think about it.
Is that you want to use it to help fuel those different types of initiatives andactivities.
And it can be a...
(44:19):
prompt that we just used for a client was, you know, give me a, you know, two sentence,thank you note, follow up, right?
That's on brand.
That's coming from me.
That's fun, exciting, and appreciative.
And it, and it's going to help take away some of that, you know, that thinking process,but it's still going to be intentional enough where that operator has to take it, has to
send it and wants to, you know, kind of share it.
(44:42):
And so I think there's definitely some ways that it can help that process, but nothingwill replace having to have follow up happening.
some capacity.
You want to say thank you, right?
Thank you goes a long way in catering sales.
I used to have Gail, who is my office manager, she took most of the catering orders.
She would, she'd have to write thank you notes every afternoon.
Handwritten thank you notes.
(45:04):
It makes a big, big difference.
We talk about, you know, putting, even putting that, you know, trying to convert some ofthose marketplace orders, a handwritten thank you note in there.
So they know it's not just some robot on the other side that's executing their order.
It goes a long way.
And while that may not translate into another catering order, or that may translate intomaybe another one from that platform, I would be willing to bet that the person that
(45:30):
received that would be more inclined to walk into your four walls.
and want to meet the team or place an order or order for their family because they feelappreciated.
They felt like this person recognized me, you know?
Yeah.
And I think a lot of people don't realize you think of marketing is something cute andclever.
Marketing is anything that touches a prospect.
(45:50):
It could be how clean your parking lot is.
What's the vibe I get when I drive by?
What was the courier like who set up the food?
Every little thing goes into people's perception.
It's all marketing, right?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
as we're sort of winding down any last caterpillar thoughts?
(46:13):
Kat, I guess it's almost lunchtime, right?
So what am I having for lunch today?
Well, you know what?
Here, that's That's the segue that I'll use.
I would say, can put money into advertising and marketing all day long.
And you can send out emails.
You can put up a poster.
(46:34):
You can run Google Ads, Facebook Ads.
But it's
guests want to try and know your food and know what the expectations are.
And so don't shy away from the tasting side of things, of getting your food into the handsof those offices, those employees, those local businesses.
A food drop does go a long way.
There's a lot of ways that you have to make it profitable and schedule it and go about it.
(46:59):
Your food is what will keep customers continuing to come back in addition to obviously theservice and the relationships.
But you want to make sure that your food is your best sales tool.
So get it out there, get it into people's mouths, make them eat it, make them crave it,make them understand that, you know, gosh, we could have this for catering.
That's what I'm craving.
That's what I'm wanting.
So take the time to get your food out into that local community.
(47:22):
I've sold more caterings because of free food.
will throw one little, I'm gonna throw one little cherry on top of the sundae, which isdon't give people a discount on the first order.
Give them a gift card on the first order.
Nobody gives a shit that their boss is gonna save $30, but if they can get a $30 gift cardon a first order that they can use for themselves, it's what's in it for me.
(47:45):
People don't get that.
couldn't, it drives me crazy when we encounter sales processes that are leading with,here's 10 % free delivery, free, that means nothing.
It means nothing to me, right?
in your prostituting your well, first of all, if you're to do anything, give something forfree.
Don't discount somebody was going, we give a discount.
Well, why don't you give them free cookies and it costs you a tenth of the price of thediscount and then they appreciate the cookies.
(48:11):
But anyway, I'm sure we could talk for days and days.
But, you know, I've got I've got work to do here at the beach.
Life is tough.
I've got lunch to eat, I've got lunch to eat, yeah.
No, I've got, uh, just meeting a couple friends here in the city, so we'll see.
(48:32):
There's plenty of options here.
my god, Samantha and Carrie and no, I'm not going to.
I'm just going to say you're Charlotte.
You're Charlotte.
You know, you'll always be Charlotte to me.
OK, I'm going to get us out of here.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
Ridiculous History
History is beautiful, brutal and, often, ridiculous. Join Ben Bowlin and Noel Brown as they dive into some of the weirdest stories from across the span of human civilization in Ridiculous History, a podcast by iHeartRadio.