Are you currently catering breakfast? Are you considering it? Well, today we’re kicking off a series of posts that will serve as your guide to catering breakfast. To start, here are some reasons you might want to consider, or not consider, catering breakfast.
• Lower food cost
• Higher profit margin
• Early mornings
It is not uncommon for a company that is having lunch catered to want breakfast provided as well, and vice versa. If you offer both, let them know. When a customer orders lunch, ask them if they need breakfast. When they order breakfast, ask them if they need lunch.
Offering breakfast catering is a lifestyle decision. First question, is your establishment currently capable of providing breakfast? If it is, implementation will be easier.
If you don’t, you’ll need to think about this. Most companies want breakfast delivered anywhere between 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. Let's split the difference and take a look at what an 8:00 a.m. continental breakfast for 20 people is all about.
Really, really important
Always ask the customer:
“What time would you like breakfast set up?"
as opposed to:
"What time would you like breakfast delivered?”
When a customer says,
“I’d like breakfast at 8:00 in the morning” ask, “Does your meeting begin at 8:00?”
If so, they probably want set up earlier, (7:45), so people have time to get coffee and settle in, which could mean you pulling up to their building closer to 7:30 a.m.
Make it your responsibility to find out what time breakfast needs to be set up. It matters—a lot.
For one, if you are delivering to a company on the 17th floor with tight security, slow elevators, and a notoriously overcrowded loading dock, you may need 20 minutes from arriving at the building to being the customer’s office.
I strongly urge offering complete set-up—unpacking, unwrapping, and laying everything out, as part of your service. It can be a huge help to the customer, especially if they usually do it themselves. Setting-up adds a professional touch; it could give you an immediate leg up on your competition — and it is EASY! More on breakfast catering in next week’s blog!
Michael Rosman is a member of the Catersource consulting team. If you would like information about him coming to your business to address your specific needs, please email Carl Sacks at [email protected]. His book, Lessons Learned From Our Mistakes – and other war stories from the catering battlefield is available through the Catersource store.
You can visit Michael’s website at www.TheCorporateCaterer.com email [email protected].
