Warning: If you ARE a caterer, you will be offended, if you are a Mobile Bartender, chances are you have been offended BY a caterer!

In my experience as a Mobile Bartender, I have often noticed that myself and my bartending staff has always run into problems with caterers.  It seems that there are power struggles and ego-trips at play with both parties…especially when YOU have been hired by the Host, NOT the caterer.

Caterers and party planners like to have full control of everything and so they may start telling you how to do your job or treat you like one of their employees.

This quick article is intended to help YOU (the Mobile Bartender) “deal” with caterers during your events.  So, let’s ALL put our egos aside and take some advice that does work:

1.  Caterers ARE Control Freaks! They have to be, that’s why they are so good at what they do! So you must accept that fact and understand how their mind works if you want to have a pleasant night while working with them

2.   You BOTH want the Same End Result Both you and the caterer want the event to be as spectacular as possible.  As long as you aware that you and the caterer/party planner want the same outcome, you can begin to work better together.

3.  Be Proactive-Introduce yourself! As soon as you arrive at the event (or even a few days beforehand) introduce yourself to the caterer or whoever is in charge.  It is also good to meet any staff that the caterer may have brought along)

4.  Offer Your Assistance Do your best to finish setting up your bar-area early so you can offer help and assistance to the caterer.  They will appreciate this.

5.  Kill them with Kindness! If you find a caterer that is being rude or treating you poorly, react by “killing them with kindness!”  Compliment them on their work, their staff, their attention to detail.  They LIVE for these compliments,so shower them! hint that you are looking for caterers to refer to your clients-take their biz cards

6.  Use Leverage! You are the MOST-desired bartender in your area (or at least you present that image!).  Ask your caterer for some of his/her business cards and mention that you have A LOT of clients always asking for good caterers so you want to refer them business!  <—Your Social Proof just went through the roof and they will now treat you with more respect!!

**I hope that you NEVER have any problems with caterers or any type of event planners, but if you do, NOW you will be prepared! Use these tips and you will see a big difference!

Word of mouth is one of the MOST Powerful Forms of Advertising! What others say about you has WAY more value, than what you could ever say about you, your company or your services.

It makes sense, right?! Ford tells you they have the fastest, sleekest, most popular car on the road, and you may take in the information, but does it really convince you? Then your best friend Mike pulls up in THAT car and does nothing but RAVES about how this is the fastest sleekest, most popular car on the road. A little more convincing, right?! Well why is that?!

Well, you like, know, and TRUST your good friend Mike, BUT you also know that he has NO hidden agenda for praising this new car. We tend to not trust salepeople and television commericals, etc because we know that whatever they are feeding us, they have the intention of SELLING us something.

So Why Does This Matter?

When you are marketing your Bartending Business and your services, YOU may be the BEST bartender in the World, and you provide AMAZING service, and your drinks kick butt, but how well can you (the salesman) convey that message in a way that your potential clients will believe what you say! As part of your Marketing Strategy, you NEED Testimonials (on your website) of Past Clients who can rant and rave about you. THIS is what gets potential new clients excited! THIS is what works! THIS is what sells your customers!

What is a Testimonial?

A Testimonial is any form of feedback or praise from a past client or customer that describes how AWESOME your services were and recommends you to others! They are a form of Social Proof: “Well, if SHE liked this company, I’m sure I will be pleased with this company too!”

How To EASILY Get Testimonials:

It is IMPERATIVE to include testimonials on your website…the good thing: it is EASY to get them (once you’ve had your first bartending event!)

First, make sure you provide outstanding service! If you are not putting the effort in to make people start talking about you, they won’t have anything to say when you ask for that testimonial! This means, be early to your bartending events (not on time!) Be kind, courteous, and treat the guests like royalty. Be funny, outgoing and helpful! Keep your bar clean, make the drinks fast and keep a smile on your face! Do this and put 110% effort in at all times, you will have no problems.

Make sure that when the event is over, you thank your host with sincere appreciation while in person. Within the next 2-3 days (the sooner the better), write them a quick email thanking your host again! Your client will be 100% obligated to return that e-mail and say a few kind words (THAT IS YOUR TESTIMONIAL!) I would highly recommend asking them for their permission to publish this information on your site (at this point, they may be MORE inclined to write you an even better testimonial). The client will ALWAYS say yes, so do not hesitate to ask.

The Money-Maker: Ok, so text is great, but a picture says 1001 words, right?! Get a picture of you and the host right about the testimonial and you will have a bullet-proof marketing tactic!! Either bring your own camera and ask for a pic, OR ask the host to take a picture of the both of you! Its THAT’S simple!

The ADDED BONUS: Now, if you have REALLY hit it off with your client, or they are a family friend or something, I would simply ASK them for a good testimonial, but here is where it gets better! I use a service called AUDIO GENERATOR that allows the client to call a number and leave a VOICE recorded testimonial which you can INSTANTLY add to your site so people can listen to it!! Pretty cool, right?!

So there you have it! Now go out there and get some bartending testimonials for your website.