# Catering Leads



## chef vanessa

Have you ever used http://www.localcatering.com/ or sites like it??? I just did a drop off this morning from a lead I purchased. It was pretty easy.

What are some of the other sites out there? What has been your experience using them?


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## petemccracken

Local Catering has worked for me in the past, not much repeat business though, generally somebody looking for "cheap".


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## cnchef

Web sites have never got me incredible business, some orders but no good solid clients. I firmly believe in old school pounding the phones, setting up tastings with corporate clients and a very informative and personable sales person.


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## bodhran1965

I stick to word of mouth and website referrals. Advertising gets you responses from people looking for bargains in my experience. Build your clientelle slowly and stick to your strengths. Don't try to make everyone happy.

Ken Harper


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## wine not 0911

I am an alcohol catering type company, check out <spam>

I provide exquisite bar services, professional mixologists or master bartenders, with high end cocktails with all natural/organic ingredients. We specialize in custom beverages, the newest raves on liquor, etc. We have also provided interesting attire depending on the party (we painted latex outfits on our female bartenders).

The Wine Not? llc, provides certified sommeliers for tastings and socials. We have imported some of the finest wines to the basic well known goodies. We have also served the wine from the cellar of a client giving expert knowledge on food pairings, etc.

This is a new venture for society, an alcohol catering business, there are some out there but we have a unique style, high end drinks to the basics, and bring excitement with bar flare, costumes, decor, etc.

Check it out, let me know what you all think?


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## cleverchef

These catering websites have been around since the beginning of the internet. Clients that have alot of money spend, who cater frequently, do not use these sites. (like localcatering.com, directcatering.com) Usually people that use these sites have never had anything catered to them before, and absotutely know nothing about the catering process. People are suckered into these sites because these sites are the first ones that pop up when "caterer" is googled. If you are a caterer looking to get leads from these sites, chances are you are going to get real bottom-of-the-barrow clients, people who don't have much money to spend. My advise is to spend the money on getting your website on the first page of a search engine, it is money much better spent rather than giving it to these losers. There is nobody I know that has ever really snagged a good profitable gig of of one of these sites... and I 've been the catering busines for 20 years. Smarter clients with money look beyond these bloodsuckers and search out caterers with-out the middleman. So, my opinion,.... just spend the extra money and get a great website for yourself


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## cleverchef

And.... BTW, getting your own website positioned on the first page of the search engine in your geographic area is actually more affordable then many think.

Remember, you are only catering with-in a realistic 20 mile radius from your kitchen right?


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## cleverchef

Yeh, I agree, these websites will not get you good paying gigs. They are just middlemen internet bloodsuckers. Read my post


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## sultrychef

I started with Local catering in 2003 got plenty of leads went back and now HUGE difference, could be the economy but like the last person stated not many referrals and they are looking for cheap as of 2011 I received about 3 real leads that came through other than that I am looking for another way/solution...


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## atlantachef

DONT CLICK ON THIS WEB SITE!!!!  It is a page full of links that have nothing to do with catering OR drinks.


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## atlantachef

Refering to the "wine not 0911" or www. drinks in need link.  It isn't what he says it is.


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## atlantachef

I have been with localcatering.com since '04 and they used to generate 20 plus leads a day, but for the last year if they have 10 a month your lucky.  And as a previous commentor said all the leads now want a deal at unrealistic prices.  Customers have lost their minds in this economy!!


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## kuan

atlantachef said:


> Refering to the "wine not 0911" or www. drinks in need link. It isn't what he says it is.


Thank you.


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## tigerwoman

I too have been using these lead generators for about 10 years - since just after 9-11.  It takes a while to learn how to "read" the forms and of course each potential client reads it and fills it out differently.   It HAD been a lucrative source of income for us in the past. - We've gotten multiple jobs that were over 20K - up to 70K even - but that was then and this is now.  It used to be that the clients would put in a price of 15-25 per guest and they wouldn't find anyone to do it at that price - now the ball game is different.

And I too have noticed that the # of requests has declined tremendously which means that Localcatering is not paying for SEO the way they used to (also I heard from an industry insider that they were using what google considers unethical cross linking - so they have lost their ranking - but who knows - just know the traffic has declined)

Thumbtack seems to be the new kid on the block for this sort of lead generating. Not very impressed with the quality of leads.

For now I am not spinning any wheels pursuing these jobs - most of them these days do seem to be tire kickers or I just don't have the energy to weed ... (by the way this has always been the complaint about lead generators and especially sites like thumbtack that encourage you to put in a bid without having direct contact with the client - which is KEY)


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## adair moore

hi

read your advice and am intrigued- could you tell me from experience what you think the best web provider is , and how much you advise paying to set up your website

thanks


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## adair moore

I AGREE

what happened to local catering

they used to be really great

now all they have is cr---p

dont know what to do

any suggestions<

maybe we should start our own lead company together

cant be any worse

my business has gone down alot because of this


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## adair moore

totally agree with you on both the Thumbtack and the L Cat,,

I even called the L C manager and he could not give me an answer as to why the leads dropped off so much,,

is there anyone out there that has a competent computer setup person that could organize a new catering site for us

obviously the need is there


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## adair moore

me too


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## tigerwoman

I think from what I know of the local catering team, they are concentrating their efforts and google $$$$ (SEO) on their medical lead generator sites not on the local catering site, I barely get one led per month in my market from them and have given up with that path.  Buy google ad words or figure out how to get your own SEO up there in your market.   

Did you ever read "who moved my cheese"?

Each of us work in such different markets - there is no "one size fits all" answer.

A few caterers I know from my caterBuzz group have had good results in winning the "best of"  or "top caterer" in their own cities - those contests run by newspapers and magazines require you get the ballots stuffed - use your social media contacts to get people to vote for you. Then when someone does an online search for "best caterer in LA"  guess who pops up.


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## brandon odell

I use localcatering but don't get a thing from them. Thumbtack.com has just recently become the most consistent contributor of leads for websites of that sort for me. Another one that is pretty good for me is WedPlan.net. There is also GigSalad.com. Decidio.com used to send a lot of leads, not as much any more. Eventective.com has never done much for me.

Overall, I think all of them are worth putting profiles on. Getting your website on there helps with your search engine rankings and all the ones I mentioned above are "pay as you get", where you might have to pay a $50 fee to join, but you get the same credit towards purchasing leads. Most give me enough information about the leads up front that I can decide whether or not I want to bother to buy the contact info. The price with most are around $2 for contact info and $5 for exclusive rights to that info.


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## tigerwoman

Ironically a few days after reading this post I went through my junk mail account where the lead generators now come into.

there were not a lot of leads but there was one with ...uh can't remember the name (not localcatering.com but something similar)... but have never got too many emails from them except we once got a 40K job off of this particular site for a private car collector, so the measly few hundred I may have spent over 8 or so years doesn't owe me anything.

Still had enough on the account to buy a lead for 300-400 corporate open house. Anyway this lead looks promising after talking to the executive admin and spinning the numbers and concepts.  Lets hope the boss thinks so too.  She shared w/me that our numbers were competitive  and our offerings and presentation "way more classy". But she still has to sell her boss on spending the money.  I put together a photo collage for each station we proposed - I almost always imbed photos in proposals but this format is "new" for me and I had fun with it.  I have been using the photo collages in my recent blogging too if you want to take a peak, pm me.


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## allen1953

I get tremendous action from online websites.. You must learn how to use them


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## flipflopgirl

allen1953 said:


> I get tremendous action from online websites.. You must learn how to use them


We are all ears....

Spill it.

mimi


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## allen1953

Hi Mimi:

It would take me 10 minutes to explain the inuendos of using online websites for marketing... 'Ive learned a lot, by trial and error


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## flipflopgirl

I have the time.

Plus I imagine there are quite a few baby caterers out there who can prolly use whatever words of wisdom you have to spare...

Just HOW do you get quality gigs from the middle men?

Times are lean (more and more the customers are catering their own events) and I have been hearing rumblings from some local noobs in the biz that they are on the bare edge of hanging in there.

Unless the biz is entrenched (and well known) in an area with lots of yearly charity functions plus deb balls and weddings (or hold a permit to cook at The State Fair of Texas...those guys end up living large on what they pull in those few weeks every fall lol)

Trying to build a thriving catering concern on breakfast meetings and the odd wedding that falls in your lap is not nearly enuf.

So @allen1953 .... what has happened in the 2-3 years since this topic was started that makes throwing a bunch of money at some has been party planners a good investment?

mimi


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## flipflopgirl

I don't need your private class on how  (use the internet) to find and land jobs... but there are surely lots of fledgling caterers out there reading this who would love to post some time on the books.

So expect loads of phone calls at inappropriate times of day.

When this happenes just remember you had that chance to explain it all in 10 easy min on a Chef Talk thread.

mimi


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## ed buchanan

Still use the tried and true way, follow up on wedding announcements in local papers and on line. Plus word of mouth


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## gbautista

Hi guys, just checking out this thread. I do advertising online and specialize in high ticket client acquisition for caterers. These days is all about that data, you can really get it down to a science.


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## atlantachef

OK Gbautista,  I'll bite.... Whats the name of your company and how does it work?  I'm interested!


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## atlantachef

Spoke with the old Local Catering Manager Kofi, a few months back and they are trying to make a comeback. Keep your fingers crossed.  I did extremely well with their leads a few years back.

On another note.... Has anyone else been ripped off by thumbtack??  They have the biggest SCAM going these days.  Their employees makeup customers and post them as real leads and you buy them ($10 to $16 each) and NEVER hear back form 99% of them.  DO NOT TRUST these IDIOTS.  They are not even good at scamming people.  And their come back when confronted is " we would never do that", and your supposed to believe them on their LYING SCUM BAG WORD????  I have probably purchased about 450+ leads at $10 to $16 each since Oct '15 and have gotten 3 jobs.  My close ratio with Local Catering was about 70% and thumbcrap close ratio is .006%.  And GOOD LUCK getting your money back from these LIERS!!!!!  They have LYING and running a SCAM down to a science!!!!


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## gbautista

oh hey, yea sure whats a good email for you? I could do competitor analysis for you and show you what you have in your area. I started my own Digital marketing company specializing in the Catering Niche. www.gabebautista.com Lets connect.


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## jimyra

Another OLD post.  Gbautista where are you located?  How long have you been in business? On your site you make a lot of claims, give us some examples.  What are your rates? Welcome to Cheftalk.


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