For Chefs – Top 5 tips for a GREAT proposal
For our Chefs
We often get asked what makes for a good proposal. Well put together proposals can have a significant impact on your success rate, allowing you to win more work on value rather than price.
Here are our Top 5 tips for a GREAT proposal:
1. Catchy title
Give your menu a memorable and interesting title that makes the Customer want to click and learn more. Sometimes this can mean a title that relates to something specific mentioned in their request (e.g. “Girl last supper’ for a Bachelorette party) or a title that relates to the menu (e.g. Classic French Bistro for a French menu). Remember, the customers summary page for a Meal Request just shows the Title, Chef Name and Price for each proposal. If your proposal has a particularly bad title, the customer may not even click on it.
2. Well structured and descriptive menu
Write up the menu in a clear and attractive manner so that Customers can easily understand and imagine what you will cook them. Specifically 3 things help: (a) A concise name for each dish, (b) A description for each dish on a separate line underneath the name of the dish, and (c) Use a row space between dishes. Finally – put yourself in the customers shoes – if you expect people to spend $60 to $150 per head on a dinner, take the time and care to write up your menu nicely so that people can see the value.
3. Short personal note in ‘Additional Information’
This section is open for you to give some more explanation to your menu or why they should choose you as their chef. Most successful chefs use this to introduce themselves with a short personal note covering who they are and why the customer should choose them. This could range from talking about your credentials to mentioning that one of the dishes is your specialty. It is also a good place to mention that they can message you to ask for changes.
4. Competitive price (for what you are offering)
Chefs set their own prices, at least within within the customers budget. Design a menu that you can profitably deliver within the budget. This does not necessarily mean you need to have the cheapest proposal – maybe you are offering a more upmarket experience. The most consistently successful chefs, price competitively on value rather than opportunity. Sure the opportunistic chef will snag the odd job, but this is more by fluke. Value always wins over the long term, especially when you take in to account Customer Reviews.
5. Enticing photos
Photos help bring your proposal to life. It is very rare that a proposal without photos is selected by a Customer. You should always add 2-5 relevant photos to your proposal. Please make sure these photos meet our quality requirements (good lighting, food nicely plated, no writing) so that they are not flagged and the proposal suspended. Proposal photos are shared with the customer over multiple channels – site, email and text.
AND – Get to the customer first
The first 24 hours after a customer has put in a request are the most critical. This is the time when the request is top of mind with the customer, and the easiest time to start them engaging over the messenger. In general, one of the first 3 chefs always wins the job, and it is the chef who is most responsive and compelling over the messenger who has the best chance. We notify you immediately after you receive a message, so try to always reply as soon as possible, and guide the customer to ‘Accept’ your proposal.
I hope you find these tips helpful.
Table at Home
