_{At ezCater, we want to help restaurants grow a successful catering business. Whether you’re in the early stages of building a business or an industry veteran, let us help you dip into the $64.8 billion catering market. In each episode of “The Catering Feed,” we talk to restaurant industry leaders of thriving brands who share insights and tactics to ramp up your catering business.}

When loyal customers walk into your restaurant, they know exactly what to expect. From the menu to the ambience, everything contributes to how guests experience your brand. And that’s what keeps them coming back for more. But how do you make sure catering customers get that same great experience?

Small branding and operations choices make a big impact on how guests perceive your catering brand. And they determine whether customers will place future orders. Your off-premises brand should represent the same positive experience guests find at your restaurants.

In this podcast episode, Allison Casey, the Director of Catering for Luke’s Lobster, discusses how she expanded catering operations by focusing on the guest experience. Allison shares how a few tweaks to catering packaging, staffing, and loyalty programs can better align your catering business with your restaurant experience and generate major ROI.

Episode Takeaways:

• Create brand awareness through catering packaging. Put your logo front and center so guests know who prepared their meal.
• Train your staff to treat catering customers like restaurant guests. Empower everyone on your team to represent your brand to improve the customer experience. This includes your sales people and your delivery drivers.
• Use catering deliveries as marketing opportunities. Bring print collateral and coupons to highlight new menu items or promotions.
• Reward loyal catering customers. Design a catering customer program that rewards order frequency. That way guests will think of you for their next big catering order.

Allison Casey began working at Luke’s Lobster part-time during her time studying International Affairs at George Washington University in Washington, DC when she answered a Craigslist ad looking for teammates who loved Maine, her home state. After graduating, she switched to working for the catering department where she oversaw the Mid-Atlantic market’s events & corporate catering program. In 2018 she returned to Maine as the Director of Catering where she works closely with each of Luke’s Lobster’s 26 domestic locations to build their off-premise sales and convince the world that lobster rolls should be an every-day treat.