How Restaurants Can Get More Catering Inquiries and Bookings

A restaurant can have great food, years of catering experience, a website, Google Business Profile, social media accounts and a restaurant management platform like Toast and still miss catering opportunities.

Why? Because getting more catering business isn't one marketing task.

Someone has to find your restaurant when they're looking for a caterer. They need to land on a page that gives them the information they need. The inquiry process needs to be easy. Someone at the restaurant needs to respond. The follow-up needs to continue until the customer books or says no.

Then you have to deliver a great event. And when the event is over, the marketing still shouldn't stop.

That customer could leave a review, refer someone else, hire you again or give you an actual catering experience you can turn into useful website and social content.

If your restaurant uses Toast, you may already have technology available to help with parts of this process. But having the technology and actually using it to generate and close catering business are two different things.

The bigger question is: What happens from the moment someone starts searching for a caterer until they become a customer, and what happens after the event is over?

Start With How People Find Your Catering Business

If you want more catering inquiries from your website, people first have to find it.

That sounds obvious, but I regularly see businesses focus on website traffic without knowing what people actually searched for before reaching the website.

For a restaurant, searches might include:

• catering Los Angeles
• caterer Los Angeles
• corporate catering Los Angeles
• office catering Culver City
• wedding caterer Santa Barbara
• birthday party catering near me
• holiday catering Los Angeles
• mexican food catering Los Angeles
• catering for 100 people

These aren't all the same search.

• Someone searching for a caterer for 100 people has told you something about the size of the event.
• Someone searching for corporate catering has identified the type of customer and event.
• Someone searching for wedding catering has a completely different need.

And someone searching for catering in a neighboring city may never find you if your website only talks about the city where your restaurant is physically located.

Don't Guess Which Catering Keywords People Use

Keyword research should be part of the process.

Look at searches around catering, caterer, your cuisine, your city, surrounding cities, event types and the questions people ask when planning catered events. But don't stop with a keyword research tool.

If your restaurant already has Google Search Console, look at the actual searches where Google is displaying your website.

You may discover that you're already appearing for catering searches you hadn't considered. You might also discover that you're appearing for the right searches but ranking too low to get much traffic, or getting impressions without many clicks.

That gives you something much more useful than simply saying: "We need better SEO."

You can start asking:

• Which catering searches do we want to be found for?
• Which ones are we already appearing for?
• Which catering pages are Google showing?
• Which nearby cities are generating visibility?
• What questions are potential customers asking?
• What information might be missing from the website?

Connect Google Search Console and Google Analytics

Google Search Console and Google Analytics 4 answer different questions.

• Search Console helps you understand how people are finding you through Google Search.
• GA4 helps you understand more about what happens after they reach the website.

Connect the two. Now you can start connecting the search side of the customer journey with what happens on the website.

For example, someone searches Google, reaches your catering page and then what?

• Do they stay?
• Do they visit another page?
• Do they look at your catering menu?
• Do they interact with the inquiry form?
• Do they submit it?
• Do they click your phone number?
• Do they leave?

Simply knowing that 800 people visited a catering page isn't enough. If 800 people visited and two submitted an inquiry, I want to know more.

Track the Actions That Could Lead to Catering Revenue

Installing Google Analytics doesn't automatically mean you're measuring what matters. You need to decide which actions are important enough to track.

For a catering page, that could include actions such as:

• Catering inquiry form submissions
• Form starts
• Phone number clicks
• Email clicks
• Catering menu interactions
• Quote requests

Other actions that indicate someone is moving closer to contacting the restaurant

In GA4, important actions can be marked as key events.

This lets you move beyond: "How many people visited our website?" and toward: "What did those visitors actually do?"

There's an even more important measurement outside Google Analytics: Did the inquiry become paying business?

Your website analytics might tell you that 40 catering inquiries were submitted. That's useful. But the business should also know:

• How many were contacted?
• How many received quotes?
• How many booked?
• How much revenue did those bookings produce?
• Where did those customers originally come from?

That's how you start connecting marketing activity to actual catering revenue.

Make Your Catering Page a Page That Can Actually Convert

Getting someone to the catering page isn't the finish line. Look at the page from the perspective of someone planning an event.

• Does it explain the types of catering you provide?
• Can someone get an idea of the food available?
• Do you cater different event sizes?
• What areas do you serve?
• Do you provide delivery?
• Setup?
• Staff?
• Buffet service?
• Individual meals?
• Can visitors see photographs of actual catering events?
• Is there evidence that you've handled events like theirs before?

And most importantly: What do you want them to do next?

If the answer is "submit a catering inquiry," make that process as easy as possible.

Put the Catering Inquiry Form Where the Customer Needs It

One small website decision can add unnecessary friction to the inquiry process. A potential customer is already on your catering page.

They're interested. They're ready to tell you about their event. And instead of seeing the form, they see: BOOK CATERING

They click it. Something opens. Or they're sent somewhere else. Then they have to take another action before they can finally give you their information.

Sometimes there are technical or design reasons for doing this. But if the primary purpose of a page is to generate catering inquiries, I generally want to consider putting the actual inquiry form directly on that page.

Don't unnecessarily make a potential customer work harder to contact you.

The form also needs to collect information that helps the restaurant understand the opportunity.

Depending on the restaurant, that might include:

• Name
• Email
• Phone
• Event date
• Event location
• Type of event
• Estimated number of guests
• Type of catering or service needed
• Additional information about the event

Now the restaurant has more than a name and email address. It has information that can make the next conversation better.

If You Use Toast, Find Out What Catering Features You Actually Have

Toast is known as a restaurant point-of-sale system, but its platform goes well beyond processing restaurant orders.

Toast currently offers Catering & Events software with features that can include website lead forms, lead management, customer email communication, quotes and estimates, contracts, invoices, event details, tasks and catering online ordering.

Toast also offers email and SMS marketing, loyalty and other marketing capabilities. That doesn't mean every restaurant using Toast automatically has every one of these features.

Products, subscriptions and configurations can differ. That's why a restaurant owner shouldn't stop at: "We use Toast."

Ask:

• What Toast products are we paying for?
• Which features are included?
• Which have actually been activated?
• Which are configured correctly?
• Who on the staff knows how to use them?
• What customer information are we collecting?
• What happens when a catering lead comes in?
• Who is responsible for responding?
• What can be automated?
• What still needs to be handled personally?

You can have powerful software and still have a broken process.

A Catering Form Submission Is Not a Catering Sale

This is where restaurants can lose business they already worked to get. Think about everything that happened before that inquiry arrived:

Someone needed catering. They searched. They found your restaurant. They clicked. They visited your website. They read your catering page. They decided you might be a fit. They completed your form. They clicked Submit.

That's a qualified opportunity sitting in front of you.

What happens next?

If the answer is unclear, your problem may no longer be marketing. It may be follow-up.

Your First Catering Email Shouldn't Sound Like Nobody Read the Inquiry

Automation can be useful. A quick confirmation lets someone know their inquiry was received. But there's a big difference between: "Thank you for contacting us. Someone will respond shortly." and a response that acknowledges what the person actually told you.

Imagine someone submitted:

• Event: Retirement party
• Date: October 17
• Location: Culver City
• Guests: Approximately 75
• Service: Buffet catering

Your follow-up can use that information. Instead of treating them like another form submission, acknowledge the event.

"Hi Maria, thanks for reaching out about catering your retirement party in Culver City on October 17. I see you're expecting approximately 75 guests and are interested in buffet service..."

Immediately, the conversation feels different. Automation should help you respond faster. It shouldn't prevent you from sounding human.

Email Shouldn't Be Your Entire Catering Follow-Up Strategy

What happens if the customer doesn't respond to the first email?

• Do you call?
• Do you send another email?
• If they've agreed to receive texts, is an appropriate text follow-up part of your process?
• What happens after you send the quote?
• How long do you wait?
• Who is responsible for following up?
• At what point is an inquiry considered lost?

These decisions should not be made from scratch every time a catering inquiry comes in.

Create a follow-up process.

For example, that process might include an immediate confirmation, a personalized response, a phone call when appropriate, another follow-up if you don't hear back, and additional follow-up after a quote has been sent.

The exact timing can depend on the event, how soon it is happening and how the customer wants to communicate.

The larger point is simple: One phone call isn't a follow-up system.

Neither is sending a quote and waiting indefinitely for the customer to call you back.

Track Catering Inquiries From Lead to Booking

Once you have a follow-up process, give each inquiry a status.

For example: New Inquiry > Contacted> Quote Sent> Follow-Up> Booked> Lost

Now you can start asking better questions. If you received 100 catering inquiries and booked 20, what happened to the other 80?

• Did you reach them?
• Did they respond?
• Did they receive a quote?
• Did they choose another caterer?
• Was price the issue?
• Did the event get canceled?
• Did nobody follow up?

This information can reveal problems that another advertising campaign won't fix. You may not need more leads yet. You may need to close more of the ones you already have.

Don't Forget What It Costs to Process the Payment 

Getting a $5,000 catering booking is great. But how much of that revenue are you paying to accept the customer's payment?

Restaurant owners may know what they're paying for food, labor, delivery and other operating expenses without knowing what they're actually paying to process credit and debit card transactions.

Pull out a recent merchant processing statement and look beyond the rate you remember being quoted.

How much did you process in card sales? How much did you pay in total processing fees? What is your effective processing rate? Are there additional fees on the statement? And what do those costs add up to over an entire year?

This becomes even more important as catering sales grow. If your restaurant adds another $10,000, $20,000 or $50,000 a month in catering revenue and customers are paying by card, you're also putting more payment volume through your processing system.

If you don't know what you're actually paying, start by calculating your effective processing rate:

Total Processing Fees ÷ Total Card Sales × 100

You can also use this free payment processing cost calculator to enter your monthly card sales and processing fees and see your effective processing rate and approximate annual processing cost.

If you want someone to take a closer look at the numbers, you can request a free merchant statement review to better understand the rates and fees you're paying and see if there may be an opportunity to save.

If your restaurant uses Toast, understand how payment processing works with your particular Toast agreement before making any changes. Reviewing your statement doesn't mean you have to switch processors. It gives you a better understanding of what you're paying.

The goal isn't just to generate more catering revenue.

You should also know what it's costing you to collect that revenue.

The Marketing Doesn't Stop When the Catering Event Is Booked

Once the customer says yes, the restaurant's job changes from winning the business to delivering the experience.

But from a marketing perspective, you're also creating something valuable: A real customer experience.

Document it. Not intrusively, and not without permission when permission is needed. But have a process for recording useful information about catering work.

That might include:

• Type of event
• City
• Venue or general location
• Number of guests
• Food ordered
• Type of service
• Setup
• Special requests
• Theme, if there was one
• Customer or industry type
• Photos and video, when permitted

Don't rely on someone's memory six months later.

If your restaurant catered a corporate luncheon for 200 employees, a wedding reception, a television production, a nonprofit fundraiser or a retirement party, that's real experience.

Capture it while the information is fresh.

After the Catering Event, Continue the Conversation

The event is over. The invoice is paid. The food was served.

That doesn't mean the customer relationship should end. One of the first things I would do is personally follow up. And I wouldn't make the first post-event communication: "Thanks for choosing us. Please leave a review."

Start with the customer and their event.

"Hi Jennifer, I wanted to check in after Saturday's retirement celebration. It was a pleasure catering the event for you and your family. I hope everyone enjoyed the food and had a wonderful time celebrating your dad. Thank you again for trusting us to be part of it."

Then ask how everything went. That conversation can tell you a lot.

• Maybe everyone loved a particular dish.
• Maybe the setup was exactly what they wanted.
• Maybe there was something you could have done better.

All of that is useful. Most importantly, the customer knows that you didn't stop thinking about them the moment the payment cleared.

Ask for the Review After You've Checked In

If the customer tells you they were pleased with the catering, now you have a natural opportunity to ask for a review.

Make the request about their catering experience.

A detailed review about catering a 150-person corporate event is particularly helpful to another person considering your restaurant for a similar event.

The review becomes more than social proof. It helps future customers understand the kinds of events you've successfully handled.

And don't forget referrals.

Someone who plans events for a company may know other departments or businesses that need catering.

• An event planner may have several clients.
• A production company may have another shoot.
• A customer who hired you for a birthday could eventually need catering for a graduation, anniversary or holiday party.

One catering customer can be worth more than one catering event.

Past Catering Customers Shouldn't Disappear Into Your General Email List

A person who hired your restaurant to cater a 100-person corporate event is different from someone who ordered lunch once.

Treat the data accordingly. Depending on the volume of business, useful groups might include past catering customers, corporate catering customers, private-event customers, holiday catering customers, event planners and people who inquired about catering but never booked.

That makes future communication much more relevant.

Instead of sending everyone: "Holiday catering is available!" you could contact a past corporate customer with something closer to:

"We really enjoyed catering your team event last year. With holiday gatherings coming up, I wanted to reach out in case you're planning another event for your team."

Now you're continuing an existing relationship rather than marketing to a stranger.

Your Catering Calendar Can Create a Content Calendar

There's another opportunity restaurants frequently miss. You just catered a real event.

Why should the photographs and information disappear into someone's phone? That event could potentially become website content.

Suppose your restaurant catered lunch for 150 people working on a television production in Culver City.

There may be an opportunity for an article about: Catering a Television Production in Culver City for 150 People

The article could explain the type of event, the catering requirements, food provided, size of the group, logistics involved and other useful information.

Add approved photographs when available.

Now someone searching for production catering, corporate catering or catering in that area can see evidence that you've actually done this type of work.

That's very different from creating a generic page that says: "We are the best caterer in Culver City."

You're showing real experience.

Don't Create Thin City Pages Just to Rank for Catering Keywords

If your restaurant serves multiple cities, those areas can absolutely be part of your search strategy.

But that doesn't mean creating 25 nearly identical pages where the only thing that changes is the city name.

Your actual catering work can help you build more meaningful local content.

If you've catered events in Culver City, Inglewood, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills and other surrounding communities, document that work.

Over time, your website begins showing potential customers where you've worked, what you've catered and what kinds of events you can handle. Your content grows from the actual business.

One Catering Event Can Become More Than One Piece of Content

Publishing the event story on your website is only the beginning.

A completed catering event might give you:

• A website article
• Photos for social media
• A Google Business Profile update
• An email story
• A short video
• A customer testimonial or review
• An example to add to the catering page
• A future social post when a similar event or season comes around

You don't need to invent something completely different for every marketing channel.

Start with something the restaurant actually did and decide where else that story can be useful.

Use Toast's Other Marketing Features as Part of the Larger System

Catering is only one part of restaurant marketing. Depending on the Toast products a restaurant uses, there may also be email, SMS, loyalty, customer data and other capabilities that can help bring customers back.

Those deserve deeper conversations of their own.

For catering, though, the bigger lesson isn't simply that Toast has features. It's that the restaurant needs a process.

• Technology can help collect the lead.
• Technology can help organize customer information.
• Technology can help send communication.
• Technology can help track events and orders.

Google Search Console can help show how people are finding you. GA4 can help show what people do on the website.

Keyword research can help identify additional searches and markets.

• Your website can turn visitors into inquiries.
• Your team can turn inquiries into conversations.
• Your follow-up process can turn conversations into bookings.

A successful event can turn a customer into a repeat customer, reviewer or referral source.

And the event itself can become content that helps the next customer discover you.

Look at the Entire Catering Customer Journey

If your restaurant wants more catering revenue, don't immediately assume the answer is more advertising.

Look at the entire journey:

Search > Website> Catering Page> Inquiry> Personalized Response> Phone/Email Follow-Up> Quote> Follow-Up> Booking> Event> Post-Event Follow-Up> Review/Referral> Future Event> Content> Search

Then find the gaps.

• Maybe people can't find you.
• Maybe they're finding you for the wrong searches.
• Maybe the catering page isn't convincing them.
• Maybe the inquiry form creates unnecessary friction.
• Maybe GA4 isn't tracking the actions you care about.
• Maybe nobody knows which Google searches are generating catering traffic.
• Maybe inquiries arrive and receive generic responses.
• Maybe quotes aren't being followed up.
• Maybe great catering customers never hear from the restaurant again.
• Maybe dozens of completed catering events have never become a single piece of content.

Or maybe your restaurant is already paying for technology that could help with some of these problems, but nobody has taken the time to find out what's available and build a process around it.

Getting more catering business isn't only about generating more leads.

It's about knowing what happens before the inquiry, what happens after it and what you do with the customer relationship once the event is over.

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