Catering Inquiry Follow-Up: What to Send and When

Catering and private-event leads rarely arrive ready to buy. The person asking is comparing two or three restaurants at once, and the one that answers first and clearest usually wins the order. By the end of this guide you will have a response-time target you can hold your team to, a short set of questions that turn a vague inquiry into a quote, and a follow-up schedule that keeps a quiet lead warm until there is a date on the calendar.

What do you need before you start?

You do not need new software to follow up well. You need four things in place before the next inquiry lands.

• One place inquiries land. A single inbox, phone number, or form, so nothing sits unseen in a personal account.
• A question checklist. The handful of details you must know before you can price an event, written down so every reply is complete.
• A quote template. A simple, itemized format you can fill in fast, with your minimum and lead time already stated.
• A fast way to reach back. Most planners would rather get a quick text than wait on a formal email.

Decide now who covers inquiries, and when. Catering questions arrive at night and on weekends, so a lead that lands at 8 p.m. should not wait until the next lunch rush for a first reply.

That last point matters more than it sounds. A text message is read almost every time and almost immediately: about 98% of texts are opened against roughly 22% of marketing email, and a typical person answers a text in about 90 seconds versus about 90 minutes for an email.¹ For a planner sitting with three quotes open, the restaurant whose answer is already on their phone has a real edge.

How do you do it, step by step?

Work the inquiry like a short, friendly sales conversation. Each step below maps to the numbered checklist under this article.

1. Set a response-time target. Aim to reply within an hour, and within minutes during service if you can. Answering within an hour meets the expectations of 88% of consumers, and speed is what keeps you in the running while the planner is still deciding.²
2. Reply fast and ask the right questions. Thank them, confirm you can likely help, and ask the five things you need to quote: the event date and time, the headcount, the budget or per-person target, any dietary needs, and whether they want delivery, drop-off, or full service.
3. Send a clear, itemized quote. Lay out the menu, the per-person price, delivery or service fees, your minimum, and the deposit. Give one clear next step, such as a link or a reply to confirm.
4. Follow up on a schedule when it goes quiet. Silence usually means busy, not no. Work a short, spaced sequence instead of sending the same message twice.
5. Confirm the booking and hand it to the kitchen. Once they say yes, lock the date, take the deposit, and pass the final headcount and dietary notes to your kitchen with enough lead time.

A good first reply is short and specific. For a lunch inquiry it might read: "Thanks for thinking of us for your team lunch on the 14th. We can absolutely cater 40. A few quick questions so I can send an accurate quote: what time do you need it delivered, is there a per-person budget in mind, and are there any vegan, gluten-free, or allergy needs at the table? Our catering minimum is [amount] and we ask for 48 hours of notice." That one message collects almost everything you need and signals that a real person is on it.

Here is a follow-up schedule that works for most quotes that go quiet. Adjust the timing to how far out the event is.

How do you check that it works?

Pick a few numbers and watch them weekly. You are looking for speed first, then conversion.

• First-response time. The minutes between an inquiry arriving and your first reply. This is the single metric most worth improving.
• Reply rate. The share of inquiries that write back after your first message. A low rate usually points to slow or unclear replies.
• Quotes sent. How many inquiries reached a real, itemized quote. If leads stall before this, your questions are taking too long to gather.
• Booked events. The share of quotes that turn into a confirmed date and a deposit. This is the number that pays the bills.

If first-response time is creeping up during service, that is normal and fixable. The fix is almost never a fancier quote; it is a faster first touch and a steadier follow-up.

What mistakes should you avoid?

A few habits quietly cost restaurants event bookings.

• Giving up after one try. Many sellers quit too soon. A widely cited sales figure puts the share who give up after a single follow-up at 44%, yet roughly 80% of sales close only after several follow-ups.³ A quiet planner is usually still deciding.
• Answering slowly. An hour later, the planner may already have three other quotes in hand.
• Quoting before you ask. A price with no headcount or dietary detail invites a back-and-forth that drags on for days.
• Sending the same nudge twice. Each follow-up should add something: a question, a package idea, or a date hold.
• Letting replies die after hours. Inquiries arrive at night and on weekends. Decide who covers them and by when.

Even with a tight process, catering inquiries arrive while your kitchen is slammed and no one can stop to text back within the hour. That is the gap VYG Conversations fills: a real, trained person answers catering inquiries by text in your restaurant's voice, asks the date, headcount, and dietary questions, and follows up on the schedule above until the planner decides. The agent learns your menu, minimums and policies before sending a text, and every exchange is written back to the customer's profile in Profiles, so the next inquiry starts with context. To see how a real person handles a live catering inquiry, watch a Conversations demo.