Eat. Drink.
Salespeople. When you have a client meeting, be on time.
Drivers. When you are delivering food, be on time.
Chefs. When you are plating up, be on time.
Captains. When you are serving guests, be on time.
Caterers. Our time management skills are our greatest differentiator to all others in the hospitality business. We know how to manage that clock. We are time management experts.
We know how long it takes to get food prepped, packed, unloaded, set up in an auxiliary kitchen (if we are lucky enough to have one), cooked and served within mere hours. We produce endless plates of restaurant-quality food to thousands of guests in a timely manner. We understand the time it takes to get the work done. This includes advance weeks of scheduling staff, confirming client guest counts, placing orders, changing guests counts, adjusting orders and sitting in internal and external meetings to eventually get to the event day.
Salespeople, sell this time management expertise. Instill confidence in your customers that you are the expert. Start by being on time when working with customers. This means scheduled calls, follow-ups, site visits, tastings and meetings. Never be late. This is so frustrating to a customer. It is also disrespectful. If you can’t be punctual during the selling process, why would the customer ever think their event will be organized and on time?
Inspire.
I went to my doctor this week for my annual physical. My appointment was at 10:00am so I arrived at 9:45am as requested and sat in the waiting room until my name was called. I was surprised when I heard the nurse call “Jennifer” at 9:50am. Ten minutes early? Unbelievable!
The nurse took my blood pressure, my body temperature and had me get on the scale. She finished her work within 10 minutes and handed me a paper gown to put on for my exam. I stripped down, jumped on the table and waited for my doc’s arrival. Perfect timing. 10:00 am sharp.
I waited.
And waited.
And waited some more.
At 10:30, my doctor walked in. I was so annoyed. All I could think of during that entire half hour was, why is it always like this? Why is my doctor always late? Why can’t she get her calendar together? Why did I kid myself that my appointment was going to be on time for once? Why has every doctor I have had my entire life always been late? Grrrr.
She’s an excellent medical professional, but certainly not a time management professional. It’s sadly expected and I guess accepted in this industry. It’s frustrating though. Good thing doctors aren’t caterers. They wouldn’t make it in our biz.