Who I work with · Food and drink

Marketing for caterers.

Catering is won in the inquiry. The couple or office manager has already found a few caterers. Whoever looks most trustworthy and answers first gets the tasting.

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How the work actually comes in

The honest version.

Nobody books a caterer on impulse. A couple planning a wedding, a company planning a holiday party, a family planning a graduation all research first. They find you through a venue's vendor list, a search, a friend or a wedding directory, and then they check you out properly: the gallery, the menus, the reviews, whether pricing is even hinted at. They already found you. The checking is where it is won or lost.

Then they inquire with several caterers at once. That is normal, and it means speed and clarity matter as much as the food. The caterer who replies the same day with a clear next step, a tasting date or a rough quote, looks organized. The one who replies a week later looks like they might be a week late on the day itself.

By the numbers. Census County Business Patterns, 2023 counts 34 businesses classified as caterers in Plymouth County, 19 in Bristol County, 32 in Norfolk County and 50 in Rhode Island, and a planner usually contacts several of them before deciding. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023. Counts cover businesses with paid employees.

Where the work leaks

Your Receipt, caterers.

SICC MEDIA

Customer copy

Receipt #E021A4 · CATERERS

  1. 01

    A gallery that does not show events

    LEAKING

    Plates on a white tablecloth tell a planner very little. They want to see a buffet for a big crowd, a plated dinner in a tent, stations at a company event. Show the scale and the setup, not just the food, because the setup is what they are worried about.

  2. 02

    No hint of pricing anywhere

    LEAKING

    Planners expect a custom quote, but a site with no sense of starting points or minimums draws inquiries you cannot serve and scares off people you could. Some signal, like packages starting at a level or a minimum guest count, filters both directions.

  3. 03

    Slow replies to inquiries

    LEAKING

    An inquiry form that drops into an inbox you check after events, often days later. By then the couple has tasted somewhere else. A form that replies immediately with next steps and a tasting link holds your place while you are plating someone else's dinner.

  4. 04

    Venues that do not mention you properly

    LEAKING

    Plenty of bookings start on a venue's preferred vendor list. If those venues show an old logo, a dead link or no photos of your work in their space, that referral path leaks. Keep venue partners stocked with current materials and photos.

Leaks found4
Cost to find yours$0.00

Every leak above is fixable. Most of them this month.

This is the general version

Want yours itemized?

The Receipt looks your catering company up the way a customer would, then prints what is actually costing you calls. Free, about half a minute, no card.

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The leak that costs the most

You missed the call. Now what?

One missed call. Two endings.

  1. You are plating for a wedding. The phone rings. You cannot get to it.
  2. They hit voicemail and hang up without leaving a message.
  3. They tap the next name on Google.
  4. You see the missed call. You call back. No answer.
  5. The June wedding went to whoever picked up.

An example of how it plays out, not a real customer. The text-back is part of automation for caterers.

Timing

The year, for caterers.

Wedding season in New England runs from late spring into fall, and the best dates get booked well ahead. Graduation parties cluster in early summer. Company holiday events fill November and December. January and February are quieter, which makes them the time to refresh galleries, menus and pricing and to follow up on inquiries that went cold. Marketing should run ahead of each wave, not during it.

Where I would start

Automation for Caterers

Caterers win on how fast and how clearly they answer an inquiry, and that is exactly where most lose ground. Instant replies, a tasting booking link, quote follow-up that stops when they respond and reminders before the tasting close the leak that costs bookings before anyone tastes anything.

See the plan →

Everything I do

Ten services, written for caterers.

Or skip straight to your problem

I run and I keep losing jobs to

The list is not everything. Not on it? Pick “a business not listed,” or run the free Receipt. It works for any business.

Service 01Branding for Caterers

A caterer's brand shows up on proposals, tasting cards, buffet labels and the side of a van.

Service 02Websites for Caterers

A catering website exists to produce good inquiries.

Service 03Marketing Planning for Caterers

Weddings, corporate, drop-off, family parties.

Service 04Social Media Management for Caterers

Planners check a caterer's social to see whether the gallery is real and recent.

Service 05Content Design for Caterers

Proposals, sample menus, tasting cards, venue packets.

Service 06Online Ordering for Caterers

Weddings will never be sold through a cart.

Service 07Automation for Caterers

Catering lives on inquiries, and inquiries die in inboxes.

Service 08Voice Agents for Caterers

Catering calls come when you cannot answer: mid-event, mid-prep, late on a Saturday.

Service 09Local SEO for Caterers

Caterers get found through searches like wedding catering, office lunch delivery or catering for a specific venue.

Service 10Paid Ads for Caterers

Catering searches come with a date, a guest count and a budget.

Questions

What caterers ask first.

Should I publish prices on my website?

Some signal usually beats none. A full price list rarely fits catering, because guest count, service style and venue change everything. Starting points, a minimum or sample packages help planners self-select. You get fewer inquiries from people who were never a fit, and the ones who do reach you are ready to talk.

Do wedding directories still matter?

They can, depending on where your couples actually come from. Paid directory listings are ad spend like any other and should be measured the same way: inquiries and bookings, not profile views. Your own site and Google profile need to be strong enough that a couple who finds you on a directory still feels confident when they look you up.

How do I get more corporate catering?

Corporate buyers want different things from couples: reliability, invoicing, dietary labels, delivery windows and an easy way to reorder. That deserves its own page and its own inquiry path, separate from weddings. Office managers who have a smooth first experience tend to come back, so follow-up after the first order matters.

Where they are

Towns with the most caterers.

Middletown, RI · 7Providence, RI · 7Quincy, MA · 4Newport, RI · 4Hanover, MA · 3Hingham, MA · 3Plymouth, MA · 3Scituate, MA · 3Attleboro, MA · 3Abington, MA

Business counts by town, Census category "Caterers". Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ZIP Code Business Patterns 2023.

Close neighbors

Other food and drink businesses I write for.

RestaurantsFood trucksCoffee shops and cafes

Start here

See what your customers see.

Your customers already found you. The Receipt shows what they see when they check you out, and what it is costing you. Free.

Get your free Receipt →Book a 15-min call

Or text (508) 546-9942