Answer restaurant catering inquiries and turn them into booked, paid events
A catering inquiry comes in by call, email or form. The agent asks the questions, quotes from your menu, sends the deposit invoice and books it.
- Reach it by
- Phone
- Web
- Who can use it
- Anyone who wants to order catering; the owner and catering manager for approvals
- Works in
- Your phone line · Email · Your website form · Square or QuickBooks invoicing · Google Calendar
The problem
Catering inquiries come in during the lunch rush. A voicemail, a website form, an email to the general inbox. By the time someone calls back two days later, the customer booked somewhere else.
When you do catch them, the details live on a notepad. Headcount, date, allergies, pickup or delivery. Then someone builds the quote by hand, chases the deposit and forgets to tell the kitchen until the day before.
What your agent does
- A customer calls
- Or emails
- Or fills out the form
- Your agent asks the questionsDate, headcount, menu, allergies, pickup or delivery, budget
- Quote from your catering menuYour prices, minimums and delivery fee
- The catering manager approvesThen the quote and deposit invoice go out
- Event on the calendar
- Order sheet to the kitchenItems, quantities, prep day, allergies
What you get
- Every inquiry answered the same day, including during service
- Quotes built from your real catering prices and minimums
- Deposits collected before the date is held
- The kitchen gets the order sheet with time to prep
Who approves what
The agent builds the quote, but the owner or catering manager approves it before it's sent. Quotes from your standard menu under an amount you set can go out on their own. Custom menus, discounts and dates you might not have staff for always come to a person first.
Common questions
- Can it handle custom requests?
- It takes down the request and sends it to the catering manager with everything else the customer said. The manager prices it, and the agent puts it into the quote and follows up.
- What if the date is already full?
- You tell the agent how many catering orders you can take per day or per shift. When a date is full, it offers the nearest open dates instead of booking it.
More for restaurants
One menu change, every channel
Call or text one change. The agent updates Square, and Square syncs it to DoorDash, Uber Eats and Grubhub.
Catch vendor price creep
Snap or forward each distributor invoice. The agent checks every line against your agreed prices, flags increases and shorts, and enters the bill.
Cover a sick call-out
A cook texts at 5am that they're out. The agent finds who's free and won't hit overtime, texts them in order, and updates the schedule.
What job would you hand to an agent?
Book a free 15-minute call. Tell us the job that eats your week and we'll tell you how an agent would handle it and what it would cost.