How to Get More Clients as a Caterer
Forget the marketing hype. For most catering business owners, more clients comes from doing one thing well: showing up at the top of Google when someone searches for "caterer near me". Here's how.
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Where Caterer Clients Actually Come From
Most catering business owners overestimate social media and underestimate Google. The honest breakdown for a typical caterer: roughly 60% of new clients come from local Google search, 20% from word of mouth, 10% from directories like Bark, and the remaining 10% is everything else combined.
Local Google search
Someone types "caterer near me" and clicks one of the top 3 results in the map pack. Owned, ranking-driven, compounds.
Word of mouth
A friend, neighbour, or family member recommends you. Often they'll still Google-check you before calling.
Directories
Platforms like Bark send paid leads. Useful for top-up — terrible as a primary channel.
Everything else
Social media, leaflets, vehicle wraps, Google Ads, and your existing customer database all combined.
Why Google Reviews Bring You Customers
60% of your clients come from Google search. Catering for events — especially weddings — is a high-trust, high-stakes decision. One bad meal ruins an event. Reviews about food quality, professional service, and flexibility reassure clients investing thousands in their special day. Reviews are the bridge between someone typing your search term and someone calling your number — the higher you rank and the more reviews you have, the wider that bridge gets.
"caterer near me"
Google shows the top three results for this search based heavily on review count, rating, and recency. Most clicks go to those three.
Trust signal
For a catering business, reviews are the first social proof potential clients see — long before they ever talk to you.
Permanent asset
Unlike Bark, Google reviews are free, owned by you, and don't disappear when you stop paying.
Why You're Not Getting Enough Calls
It's almost never because you're bad at the work. It's one of these four reasons — and they're all fixable.
Events are one-off — no repeat business to build on
Wedding catering decisions involve months of research
Clients taste food once at a tasting and decide — reviews fill the gap
You compete with restaurants that also offer catering
Top-ranking caterers typically have 25-60 Google reviews.
The Acquisition Engine Behind the Calls
Customer acquisition for a catering business is mostly a review collection problem in disguise. Fix the collection and the calls follow. Grow Our Reviews handles the collection automatically, so the acquisition takes care of itself.
Finish a event
Wrap up the work the same way you always have. Nothing changes in how you operate.
Add the client
Drop their name and mobile into the app — fifteen seconds, from your phone.
Reviews land
Happy clients post directly to Google. Unhappy ones give you private feedback first.
Examples — From Search to Client
Three real journeys. A homeowner searching for a wedding catering, someone urgently needing a corporate lunch catering, a referral checking your profile before they call. Each one is a client won or lost on what they see.
wedding catering
A client who's just had a wedding catering from you is the easiest review you'll ever ask for — when the moment is right. The system catches that moment.
corporate lunch catering
A client who's just had a corporate lunch catering from you is the easiest review you'll ever ask for — when the moment is right. The system catches that moment.
party buffet
A client who's just had a party buffet from you is the easiest review you'll ever ask for — when the moment is right. The system catches that moment.
private chef hire
A client who's just had a private chef hire from you is the easiest review you'll ever ask for — when the moment is right. The system catches that moment.
Pricing to Get You More Customers
14-day free trial on the plan you choose. Card required. Cancel from the dashboard anytime.
Lite
Enough credits for around 30 events a month.
- Up to 30 message credits per month
- SMS review requests
- Automatic follow-up nudges (can enable/disable)
- Sentiment gate (review filtering)
- Analytics dashboard
- Email support
Starter
Enough credits for around 150 events a month.
- Up to 150 message credits per month
- SMS review requests
- Automatic follow-up nudges (can enable/disable)
- Sentiment gate (review filtering)
- Analytics dashboard
- Email support
Growth
Enough credits for around 300 events a month.
- Up to 300 message credits per month
- Everything in Starter
- Priority support
Common Questions
What's the fastest way to get more clients as a caterer?+
Improve your Google ranking. Reviews are the fastest lever — typical lift in 4-8 weeks of consistent collection. Paid ads are faster but don't compound, so the moment you stop paying, the clients stop.
Should I advertise on Google or build organic ranking?+
Both, in that order. Organic ranking via reviews is the long-term asset. Paid ads make sense once your profile converts — they don't make sense to a profile with 12 reviews.
Do directories like Checkatrade still work?+
For caterers they can — but the ROI rarely beats Google. A pound spent on review collection compounds for years. A pound spent on Bark stops working the moment you stop paying.
How many extra clients can I expect from better reviews?+
A typical catering business moving into the top three local results sees enquiry volume roughly double. From there it compounds — more clients mean more potential reviewers, which means even better ranking.
Your next client is already searching.
They typed "caterer near me" five minutes ago. The question is whether your catering business shows up in the top three or the third page. Reviews decide which.
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Other Hospitality we work with
The same approach works for adjacent hospitality — same automation, different defaults.
More for caterers
Same topic, different angles — useful if you're researching how reviews fit into your wider catering business.
Further reading
Articles from the blog that go deeper into the topics on this page.