Are You Feeling an Energy Crisis?
What does this have to do with Catering my event, you ask? Have you ever walked into a restaurant or an event and just felt an energy drain in the room?
Last week, our restaurant-supply sales rep pulled me aside and said, “Lisa, it always feels so good walking into your kitchen. People are happy, smiling, and always so nice to me. “Great energy” This isn’t the first time I’ve heard this from a vendor or customer.
Energy You Can Feel
He planted a seed with me about the importance of not only the energy we share while we work and the smiles we bring each other, but also the love we put into a dish and the energy of the bartender or server who brings it to you.
Then there is the event planner who puts herself in your shoes and begins to feel the energy she is using to create your dream event.
My mentor of 35 years would coach me and say, “Lisa, future-pace your client. Ask them: If you were thrilled with the event we just catered, what happened?”
Pull out the feelings they will experience when their dream wedding is catered beyond their wildest imagination. When I first heard this decades ago, I remember thinking, “Are you crazy? How am I supposed to do that?”
What Is Most Important?
Decades in, we have a little acronym that we use every day: WMI. It means, “What is most important to you about your event?”
It’s our job to ask, listen, capture and understand the answer right from the beginning. If we knocked it out of the park and you were thrilled with the catering, what did we do for you?
One Size Fits One
To quote one of my favorite authors, Will Guidara, who wrote Unreasonable Hospitality: “One size fits one.”
So true. Your dream event is special to you and only you. It should look and feel completely different from the next person’s.
The Energy Of A Great Event
Do all of you science geeks remember Einstein? Yes, that guy: E=mc². He helped demonstrate how important energy is and how it influences what comes flowing into the events of our lives.
So, after that long ramp-up, when choosing a caterer, do you feel an energy crisis, or do you feel fabulous throughout the planning process?
Do you feel cared for, listened to and heard? Do you feel amazing energy before, during and after your event?
Hey, none of us is perfect, and trust me, you can catch any one of us on a bad day. Yet 99% of the time, we truly enjoy what we do. We love the challenges and the feeling of crossing the finish line with the energy of, “We just won that!”
We knocked it out of the park, and we could feel the win together. This is what we aspire to create with each of you at your next event.
As my nine-year-old grandson so wisely told me, “Chou Chou, if you don’t make a mistake, you’re not a human.” We celebrate the lessons as they come so we can keep getting better at this catering thing we all love to do.
Cheers Y’all,
Lisa
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