It’s Not My Job

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“It’s not my job.” I cannot tell you how many times I have heard this. Thirty years of hearing this.

“I am a bartender, I don’t have to clear tables. I am a chef, I don’t want to work the floor and carve beef. I am a salesperson, I don’t go out on deliveries. It’s not my job.”

The best employees are those with can-do attitudes. They recognize that providing excellent hospitality means going above and beyond to take care of the customer. No matter what the task is. They don’t let a title stop them. The best employees just jump in and do.

I have plated up, bussed, expedited, cleared, set up buffets, delivered, waited, bartended, carved, and washed dishes throughout my career as a salesperson. I also learned the more I jumped in, the better I was at my job.

Inspire.

I am sitting in an airport lounge at Heathrow right now. My flight is delayed so I have lots of time to observe people and things. A woman sitting next to me just departed for her gate. She left behind her coffee cup, a plate of crumbs, and a stack of used paper napkins. One of the napkins just hit the floor as she grabbed her bags to go.

Okay, I know, I could’ve picked up the napkin myself because it’s the right thing to do. Instead, I decided to make a hospitality experiment of this and see how long it takes for someone to pick it up.

It’s been ten minutes since the “drop”. I have watched a minimum of eight employees walk by this dirty napkin on the floor. One guy just cleaned up her dirty cup and plate and still left the napkin on the floor.

At first, I assumed these employees just didn’t see it, but now I think this is more of a case of, “it’s not my job”.  The floor sweeper with her broom and dustpan hasn’t walked by yet.

It took about twelve minutes, but the lounge manager just walked by and picked it up. This wasn’t his job, but it was the hospitable thing to do.

Test Drive

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Clients are not always decisive. They want to feel like they are in control of the buying situation. Sometimes the client’s buying cycle doesn’t fit into your “ideal schedule” as a salesperson. That’s sales folks. You need to manage the process. Recognize the client wants “it” to be on their timetable rather than yours. Knowing this, smart salespeople need to try creative techniques for their customers to book sooner rather than later. Educate the customer about realistic deadlines and keep them engaged through the process so you can close the deal.

Seven Sales Ideas to Book that Business:

1. Use Your Event Calendar
Post-covid, customers are still trained to think there are limited dates for your venue and catering services. Understand yield management and that hot dates will go if they do not commit sooner rather than later. Make them have to have you.

2. Use Supply Chain Scarcity
Products and services are scarce and will continue to be. In order to lock in their desired menu or date, make it clear that deadlines are established for a reason and deposits are required to guarantee client-specific wants.

3. Meet the Client in Person
It’s easier for a customer to stall with their decision when communicating via email if they are not as familiar with you. Put in the effort to meet them and develop a connection.

4. Ask for a Minimal Deposit/Retainer to Lock in Your Services
Be flexible with your contract payment terms if it means getting the commitment earlier in the buying cycle. Make the deposit payment process easy for the customer.

5. Listen to Your Client and What is Important to Them
Write down your clients hot buttons and remember them. Think of creative reasons to touch base so they know you are still responsive and “on it”. Reach out just because you can.

6. Ask Your Client When They Plan on Making a Decision
Address any potential hurdles and non-guarantees if the date is later than anticipated.

7. Most Importantly, Ask What Will Make Their Decision
What are the hesitations to commit now? Develop creative ways to tackle and solve those issues now so you can get the sale and move forward.

Inspire.

If you have been reading my blogs the past couple of years, you now know I buy all my jewelry from a fabulous artist and designer in Mexico named Luis Flores (see past blog: “What do you want next”). I met Luis several years ago on the beach in Puerto Vallarta and every year he creates new masterpieces for my lucky fingers.

Luis and I have a routine at this point. He usually knows my arrival date and how long I will be in town. He is an excellent salesperson in that he keeps a mental note of what stones I already have in my inventory. He also knows what I may be “lacking”. Luis loads up his jewelry case in anticipation of selling me new, custom-designed rings he knows I will like. Smart.

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We now have a dance. It starts with me saying “Only two rings this year Luis.” He smirks and shows me a minimum of four. Rascal. He then moves in for the kill. “Amiga, take all these home for a test drive. Just see what you like and you can decide. No pressure. Just bring them back once you have decided.” He lets me take all four home to try and wear for a couple of days. He doesn’t ask for a deposit or money upfront. He sells on trust. He also sells knowing I am going to get comments on the beauty of “my” new rings. He knows I am going to want them all. Genius.  

That rascal has sold me a minimum of four rings every year. I can’t wait to see what he has made for me this year. I love him for it and I keep coming back.

Never Be Late

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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.

Snag That Sale!

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Businesses need to snag every sale they can as soon as the opportunity arises. This means ensuring every resource is available to assist with client communication in order to instantly lock in a customer’s decision to buy. These resources include responsive, educated team members as well as an informative website that is easy to find and navigate.

Responsive, Educated Team Members

Make sure all employees know the client buying cycle process. This includes all department employees that interact with customers, not just the sales team. Quite often the first touch with a new client is a customer service representative, delivery driver or receptionist. Provide resources for these employees to be able to direct the client to a seamless and efficient purchase. For example, if a guest asks your delivery driver about placing another order, provide that driver with business cards with a QR code to your drop off menu for easy, online ordering.

Accessible Website

It is so important to make sure your website is easy for customers to use to make a purchase. Provide contact information with options for the customer to choose based on their communication preference (phone, chat, email, order directly online). Highlight menus, products, deadlines and fees with descriptions or photos of available services. This information prequalifies the customer before they even pick up the phone or click their mouse. Recognize at times we have our own catering “language” so remember to use words that are familiar to a buyer that may be new to ordering catering.

Inspire.

I was traveling this month and arrived earlier than planned at the airport in Sarasota, Florida (area code 941). Rather than hanging out there, I headed outside to find a nearby restaurant or hotel to linger in for the hour or so until my scheduled ride was able to pick me up.

I found a new Hampton Inn about a mile away so I walked in and grabbed a seat in the lobby.  I watched a soccer team of 10 year olds load out with exhausted parents. I watched other guests load their plates with free breakfast buffet items before it closed for the day. I grabbed a cup of coffee myself from the breakfast bar and paid at the front desk. There was a nice, normal buzz of a typical morning in the hotel lobby.

Then the front desk phone rang. I had nothing else to do, so I listened to the conversation. “Hi. Ok. You are trying to block rooms for your wedding? You need to hang up and call Judy. She doesn’t work here at the hotel. Her number is area code 315-xxx-xxxx.”  This entire client interaction took 20 seconds.

Darn it! Why did I have to hear such a bad sales experience on my morning off? This front desk clerk immediately threw the work back to the customer. She was not a solution provider to the guest on the other end of the phone. She lost a great sales booking.

She should’ve grabbed the sale right then, but didn’t. She should’ve offered to put the guest on hold and transfer the call. She should’ve asked the phone caller if they would like Judy to call back within the hour. She should’ve directed the client to the website where they could find information about booking a group online. But she didn’t. I am sure this pleasant Hampton Inn lost an easy sale.

¡Felicidad!

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Do you like what you do every day? Are you fulfilled in your job? Are you happy at work? Guess what? Your customers can tell you if you are.

We are in the hospitality business. Every employee representing your company should enjoy what they do. If they are happy, your customers should receive a positive and memorable service experience and always want to come back.

Now more than ever, team members have myriads of job opportunities to explore. It is way more expensive to recruit, hire and train new employees than to retain existing employees. Determine what makes each individual on your team tick. Every person has different wants and needs to keep them engaged and happy at your business. Step away from your desk today and have a conversation with each team player.

As my previous employer, Blue Plate Catering used to say, “we are happy people making people happy”. Was I happy at Blue Plate, absolutely. Was it time for me to explore new opportunities for my own growth? Yes, I wanted to learn, travel and start a new business on my own. I left Blue Plate happy and continue to keep in touch. As a matter of fact, I was a customer of Blue Plate this past week and really enjoyed working with the team. It made my experience as a customer feel really good. It made me happy.

Inspire.

Everyone always asks me why I love Mexico so much.

When I am living in Puerto Vallarta, I take a quick morning stroll before getting on zoom calls with clients. It gets my energy going as well as allows me to get a few errands done before a busy day.

I remember one day in particular this past February.

My first stop was my favorite lavandería where I dropped off my 4.9 kilo bag of dirty laundry. Maria yelled “hola Jenny!” before even placing the load on the scale. My laundry was going to be ready for pick up that afternoon.

My second stop was my favorite juice stand, where Fernando said “hola amiga” before asking me if I wanted my regular jugo de naranja. The freshest orange juice was squeezed within a minute.

My last stop of the morning was a “pop-up” tamale stand on the corner. (Literally, a tray stand with an Igloo on top with a paper sign TAMALES-PUERCO). I figured I would give this “place” a try. The abuela smiled as she presented me two steaming-hot pork tamales. The tamales were delicious. I remember hoping she was going to be there the next morning.

This stroll kicked off a great start to my day. Every vendor was friendly and happy to provide me their product and service. They smiled and were grateful for my business. By making me feel so special, they created a loyal customer that looked forward to seeing them the next day and each day thereafter.

Be the Abraham

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Make customers want YOU. Be the best in the business. Be the best in your market. Be the best at your company. 

Customers initially reach out because your company has a stellar reputation. Your company provides a product or service that customers need and want. Your company has the resources and infrastructure to deliver a consistent and delicious experience. Make these customers return because of YOU. Deliver above and beyond and be the best. Make them only want YOU.

How do you become the best? By educating yourself, educating your clients, proactively communicating, following up and always, always supporting your team members to deliver excellence. You should be organized and structured. You should manage your calendar as well as your customers calendars. Be their partner, coaching and guiding them through the sales, buying and event planning processes.

Being known as best in the business doesn’t start all at once but professionalism can start on DAY ONE. Your professional brand stays with you throughout your career. It never ends. You should be building and growing every day, even if you have a bad week, month or year. It is never too late to invest in your own education and experiences to be the best. Again, make the clients want YOU.

Inspire.

I decided to get a massage in Puerto Vallarta. I love the booking & reservation process here. It is so simple and effective. Spas hang clipboards (with pens attached to a piece of white string) on their front doors so customers self-sign up for their desired slots. Each masseuse has his or her own clipboard with their name across the top and their available days and times for the week.  

I wanted to try a new spa that has fantastic reviews (both Yelp and word of mouth). So, Sunday afternoon, I looked at my calendar to see my next free time to get the treatment and went to the spa’s front door to make an appointment. I was looking for Saturday at 3pm—so I scanned the eight named masseuse clipboards to see who was free. They all had availability at that time. Who was the best though? Now I had too many options.

I picked Abraham. Abraham was booked solid Monday–Friday. Not one available slot until that Saturday afternoon. He had to be the best—right? His customers were doing the speaking for him, so my decision was easy.

I had my massage two Saturdays ago. I now have a standing weekly massage with Abraham. It is not a relaxing massage. Abraham has identified areas in my back and shoulders that need a lot of work. I am now his project. He is not just a great masseuse, he is a great salesperson. He made me realize I need to work out these knots. He has educated me on how he’s going to do it and I now trust his expertise. He made me want his years of experience and now I do. He is the best masseuse I have ever had.

Your Doors Are Open - You Better Deliver Then

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There is an immense shortage in available human resources today. I know you all are feeling the pain. There is also an increased demand from your customers for excellent and efficient service. Customers have been trapped for a year and are ready to spend. They actually have higher expectations than ever.  They want your product yesterday without hassle. They will pay for your products, services and reputation, assuming you can deliver what you promise.

Are you actually capable of delivering what your team is selling? Do you understand and identify customer expectations based on how you are selling your products and services?

Go through a step-by-step review of your customer’s buying and service experience. Look at what you’ve changed due to your staffing limitations. Perform an operational review of your team and ask them for recommendations to save time and reduce unnecessary steps. Then, make these changes to enhance the customer experience. At that point, you must communicate what’s different to your customers in advance of delivery.

Customers are forgiving but only sooooo forgiving. We are still in the hospitality industry, and customers want a memorable experience, every time. They are paying for it and expect as such. There is a certain threshold for what is and is not acceptable if your doors are open.

Inspire.

I just returned from a week working with clients on the east coast. Getting back in the swing of pre-pandemic office visits and collaborative work was so invigorating, inspiring and exciting. This trip reaffirmed that I absolutely love what I do and working in person in the same room makes all the difference to connect with my wonderful customers.

I stayed in a comfortable, centrally-located conference hotel, rented a car from a leading car rental company and dined out at various restaurants the entire week. I had high hopes for excellent customer service but was also realistic knowing what hospitality companies are dealing with today.

Unfortunately, I experienced a lot of poor hospitality situations this week. I say situations because most team members went above and beyond to try to remedy the challenges. However, these employees had to work harder and spend more time and money on fixing the challenge than if they had just offered me the original product or service. A few examples:

1. Incorrect return date on my airport car rental.  I tried to call the airport rental office and national rental customer service to correct the date, at least ten times. I spent over two hours listening to hold music. (I even called the emergency line as if my car is broke down, but they didn’t even answer.) On the 11th call, a national customer service agent finally answered, put me on hold for another 45 minutes to then disconnect the call. I gave up. I drove back to the airport, returned the car on the wrong date and walked right to the customer service desk to pick up keys for my second car. As I checked out the second car, the agent asked why I didn’t just extend the first car. Ugh. Imagine if they answered the phone. They would have had one less car to clean, one less car to check in and out and one less aggravated customer.

2. No housekeeping service. I was in a very nice hotel for seven nights at an extremely reasonable rate. I had to call on a daily basis for individual toiletry items that could have easily been stocked for me had the hotel thought about the length of my stay. Rather than bringing me everything at once, a housekeeping attendant would bring me single items delivered in a plastic laundry bag and hang it on my outside door knob. I also left my garbage out in the hall each morning so they could empty it. It made the halls look cluttered and messy. Imagine if the hotel had a housekeeping spot-check employee that simply audited each room, refilled supplies, removed dirty glassware and did a quick trash removal.

3. Club service. I know, this is a luxury item but as a business traveler, I select hotels that offer this amenity so I save time. Hotels sell this club service by offering a higher rate or by thanking you for your loyalty for this convenience. Pre-covid, I would grab some fruit, yogurt, coffee and bottles of water throughout my stay. Easy, quick and self-service. My seven-day hotel’s club had a broken coffee machine, bags of potato chips and occasionally, room temperature bottled water. In lieu of this club service, the hotel told me to call down and order anything I want from the room service menu for breakfast, compliments of them. This was unbelievably generous, and I expect very expensive in the long run. Now what used to be a quick grab involved calling the front desk to order, having a room service attendant bring the food and the kitchen making my customized breakfast to order. Imagine if they had the club running even at 50% of normal, the amount of money the hotel could save by minimizing all these steps?

These managers should have identified the basics of customer service and prioritized their limited human resources effectively. The employees spent more time running around to satisfy service substitutions. This made everything more difficult for the employee and the customer. Had they measured the amount of steps each employee took to deliver, they may have realized that the original services would have saved them more time in the long run.

Tell Me What I'm Eating Tonight

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It is so important to identify what makes you unique as a hospitality business today. Once you determine what differentiates you from the competition, the next step is to train your entire back of house and front of house staff to perfect your unique offerings. Making the staff buy into this can be achieved through practice (training) and understanding how to effectively present your products and services to your customers.

It is also important to focus your company’s actual offerings on what you do best. Being the biggest doesn’t always mean being the best. Recognize where your team has the skill set and creative talents to excel. Pair that with figuring out the most effective use of your time as a coach and leader to train them to be even better.

Customers are smart. They will invest their time and money when they know the products and services they are buying are thoughtfully designed and executed efficiently. They will come back if their experience is memorable. They will remember your uniqueness. Think about this as you look at all your company’s products and services on the market. Can you say that each is delivered to perfection?

Inspire.

My favorite place to eat in Puerto Vallarta is an Italian restaurant. People think I am crazy that I like to eat Italian food when I am in Mexico, but when my family and friends come to town, I always take them to Tre Piatti to show them why.

It starts with the service. I am greeted at the door by the host Daniel with a friendly hello and “it is so nice to see you again”. I am seated at a nice table and always introduced to the waiter, only if I have never met this person before.  I am then welcomed by a few others including Henry and Jesus, the bartender Ulises and the two chef-owners, Chanan and Natalie. They all thank me for returning to their place.

After ordering a cocktail, I am offered the menu, which is what makes Tre Piatti unique. “Tre Piatti” means “Three Dishes”.  The menu features three appetizers, three pastas, three entrees and three desserts. That’s it. Twelve plates the kitchen executes to perfection. This may not seem like a lot of options to guests, but this menu changes every two weeks. It’s genius. This makes me want to return every two weeks to see what is new and different. This keeps everything fresh for the guests and the restaurant’s employees.

The irony is I don’t even look at the menu anymore, because I always ask Chef Chanan what I should order for dinner. He tells me what I am going to eat and I do as I am told. I can’t wait to get back to Mexico to eat some great Italian food.

What Comfort Zone?

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I have had a lot of conversations with clients this past month. Both new and existing clients. It is so exciting to see caterers, design companies and venue operators thinking about new strategies, being busy again and getting back to business.

What has been most interesting is how everyone is mixing it up and trying different things. They may have a new, profitable line of business they created in 2020 they want to continue and expand on.   They may have recently hired employees they are excited to train and onboard. They may be having more frequent conversations with their favorite clients and industry partners. They are all thinking about the positive path ahead.

The pandemic forced my clients to seek new opportunities and work in ways they never would have imagined before. 2020 gave them the time to do this. Although way beyond their pre-pandemic comfort zone, they pushed themselves to get where they are today. With hard work, focus and dedication, they survived. Now they have streamlined their businesses to run smarter and be more profitable in the future. Hopefully, it will be more enjoyable as well.

Inspire.

My business is four years old this month. I cannot believe it. It was such a whirlwind of activity and growth my first three years. I traveled coast-to-coast and developed amazing relationships as I continued to expand my client base. I loved every minute of it. January and February 2020 were insanely busy, pacing to be the best year of my business yet. Then March hit.

It was a few unsettling months wondering what was going to happen and if anyone would be interested in investing in a consultant. As the pandemic continued to worsen, I tried to be optimistic but realized I could not rely on my clients to keep me busy in 2020. It wasn’t even about money. I needed something else to keep me active, relevant and engaged.

In May, 2020, I started to have more frequent conversations with a fellow consultant and friend, Francisco Christian of Taylored Hospitality Solutions. It was great talking to someone like me. We talked about what was needed in the industry and who was asking for help. We started having weekly strategy calls to determine how we could help. We explored new, effective mediums for reaching out to the industry. 

Since this time, we have created an affordable consulting partnership called Rebound with Frank & Jen (fultonmarketconsulting.com/consulting-rebound), produced over a dozen free webinars for the International Caterers Association, participated in a podcast for Catersource, developed several additional industry-related zoom workshops and most recently, published an educational, written book series called Catering Chronicles (fultonmarketconsulting.com/ebooks). All this while maintaining our own businesses and client relationships.

I pushed myself out of my comfort zone. I had to try something new to keep myself busy and engaged. It was also great working in tandem with someone I respected and could rely on. I always challenge my clients to think differently, so I had to do the same. I would have never thought at this time last year, I would be calling myself a published author ready to launch our second book next week.

What Do You Want Next?

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As salespeople, it is comfortable to sell and resell the same products & services familiar to our customers. The clients already know what we have and reach out when they are ready to buy. Salespeople are also inclined to have others develop their sellable product line. This includes in-house development people and imaginative competitors with new, successful offerings. We see what these competitors are doing then mirror their product with our own signature twist.

These standard practices of reactionary selling, limited new product generation and following the leader become boring to all parties involved. Eventually, as these salespeople remain stagnant, they will lose their customers to creative competitors.

The most inspiring salespeople are those that do not wait and continuously push their company to innovate and design new products & services. These creatives raise the bar for everyone in the industry by taking risks to be the first to market. When these salespeople encourage their company to think differently, they have more to win.

Save your company hours of product research and development time by simply asking your best customers what they want next. They are your front line research team.

Your customers will tell you what they are looking for and what they are willing to pay. They already know your product and reputation so will provide valuable feedback and ideas. As long as you stay consistent with your brand, expanding your offerings should be a win-win for both parties. When you ask your customer “what do you want next?”, you will make more sales. 

Inspire.

If you have been to Puerto Vallarta, you know the practice of vendors on the beach selling you products as you relax on your lounger. Some of these items include face masks, massages, boat tours, wood cutting boards, grilled red snapper on a stick, oysters and pareos. I am a customer to many of these vendors, but my biggest weakness is buying solid silver rings with various colored stones.

Every year, I usually buy two or three of these rings from the same vendor. He always visits with a case full of jewelry and I pick from a rainbow of options. This past year though, a new vendor approached me and asked to see the actual rings on my fingers. I asked him why. He said, “I think I made those rings. I want to see if my initials are stamped inside the silver”. I thought that was pretty cool, so I took the two rings off my fingers. It turns out Luis Flores was the designer and I had purchased a jewelry box full of his rings from this other vendor for the past decade.

The next day, I brought Luis my ten other rings in my travel case. Nine of these ten rings were his originals.  It was fun watching him see “his” rings again. He was proud of his work as he should be. The quality and designs are all unique and beautiful.

"Jennifer’s collection of Luis Flores Rings"

The other day I told Luis what I do for my career as we talked about selling and customer service. Due to Covid, Luis told me he probably sells one ring each day if he is lucky. I asked him if he was interested in an idea that I thought could increase his sales. (You can’t take the consultant out of the girl–even on a beach day!) I suggested in addition to the case of pre-made rings he carries like every other jewelry vendor, he should walk around with the loose jewels & stones with various silver settings and let customers design with him on the spot. He was already designing each ring, so why not let the customers see endless options of possibilities and feel they were getting an even more custom-created ring?

Luis listened to my idea. The next day he showed up with a large red velvet roll. He unrolled it on my beach chair to reveal hundreds of jewels and stones. Within minutes, six women were surrounding my chair. We were all playing with the stones and deciding which ring we wanted made for us. Luis sold eight rings within a half hour. It was a great sales day.

“Luis Flores Kneeling Down with Gems, Stones and Rings”