How to Execute Your Catering Strategy the Right Way

By Jim Rand

Now that you’ve spent countless hours fine-tuning a strategy and building a foundation for your catering business, you need to follow through. Execution is a big step, and critical for success. The key to proper execution lies in a few areas: listening to your customers, supporting your strategy, and writing solid operating procedures. Focus on these areas as you execute. With a careful, planned approach, your strategic goals can be attained.

1. Listen to What Your Customers Want

Your customers should be front and center of your business. Through your catering, you’re essentially making their lives easier, so it’s important to tend to the things that matter most to them, such as:

• Easy food ordering: Make ordering simple for customers, whether with technology or staff.
• Order accuracy: Getting the order right makes the person who chose you for catering a hero.
• On-time orders: Have orders ready at the agreed-upon time. Lateness throws off everyone’s schedule. Arriving early risks hot food cooling, and cold food warming.

2. Support Your Strategy with a Strong Team and Strategic Investments

Choose the Right Leaders to Execute Your Vision

Choose employees who love customers and want a challenge. Give them clear responsibilities, goals, and time frames for measurable accomplishments. Pay them relative to the size of your catering organization: a premium hourly rate plus tips for a small operation; a salary plus commission and incentives for larger companies.

Properly Invest in Your Catering Business

A profitable catering business requires investment. If you spend 15 percent of revenue on labor in your restaurant, allot that for catering. Also, buy the catering-specific equipment that your catering operation needs.

3. Create Operating Procedures That Are Repeatable and Executable

Creating standard operating procedures (SOPs) is demanding work (read more here). But the procedures are well worth it because they can help your team to achieve the same great results every time. Once you’ve created your SOPs, organize them in an operating manual that’s accessible to employees.

You’ll need to establish the following SOPs:

Order Taking — Phone

• Standard greetings. Let customers know they’ve reached the catering department.
• Menu training. Order takers who know the menu can answer customers’ questions.
• Etiquette for taking food orders. Capture the names of customers and businesses, delivery or pick-up times, addresses, and phone numbers.

If you’re taking orders on paper forms, develop an order sheet that …

• Matches the items and sequencing of your catering menu
• Allows order takers options for order modifiers
• Is a simple checklist. The more order takers can rely on numbers, check marks, or Xs rather than their handwriting, the fewer potential mistakes.

Order Taking — Website

Ensure your catering menu is up to date and your online platform works. Provide online payment options and send customers order-confirmation emails or texts.

Recipes and Assembly

Produce all items using costed-out recipes that are unalterable. Since your catering menu should be derived from your restaurant menu, you have a base from which to build.

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