Before starting own catering business....

You don't deal with their feelings by concentrating on solving the problem, it takes more. Here are 5 action ideas that deal with the customers' human needs:

1 - Don't let them get to you - Stay out of it emotionally and concentrate on listening non-defensively and actively. Customers may make disparaging and emotional remarks - don't rise to the bait.

2 - Listen - listen - listen - Look and sound like your listening. The customer wants to know that you care and that you're interested in their problem.

3 - Stop saying sorry - Sorry is an overused word, everyone says it when something goes wrong and it's lost its value. How often have you heard - "Sorry about that, give me the details and I'll sort this out for you". Far better to say "I apologise for ......" And if you really need to use the sorry word, make sure to include it as part of a full sentence. "I'm sorry you haven't received that information as promised Mr Smith". (It's also good practise to use the customers name in a difficult situation).

4 - Empathise - Using empathy is an effective way to deal with the customer’s feelings. Empathy isn't about agreement, only acceptance of what the customer is saying and feeling. Basically the message is - "I understand how you feel". Obviously this has to be a genuine response, the customer will realise if you're insincere and they'll feel patronised.

Examples of empathy responses would be - "I can understand that you're angry", or "I see what you mean". Again, these responses need to be genuine.

5 - Build rapport - Sometimes it's useful to add another phrase to the empathy response, including yourself in the picture. - "I can understand how you feel, I don't like it either when I'm kept waiting". This has the effect of getting on the customer's side and builds rapport. Some customer service people get concerned with this response as they believe it'll lead to - "Why don't you do something about it then". The majority of people won't respond this way if they realise that you're a reasonable and caring person.

Catering offers an excellent opportunity to enterprising individuals who have a passion for food and entertaining to start their own small business.

In the following article I:cool: have pointed out 10 areas for consideration before you make a serious commitment to start advertising your services as a caterer.

1) Researching the Market and Education - Begin by researching your local catering market. Take note of what competitors are doing, assess market demand and try to identify market niches that that are not being served. Talk to people who have hired nearby catering businesses in the past and ask them what they felt about the service that they received.

2) Work Experience - If you have not attained a relevant qualification or have not had relevant experience in the food, beverage and hospitality industries then you should aim to get at least several months worth of experience working for a business in the industry.

3) Health Authority Requirements - make sure that you have a complete knowledge of all the local health and safety regulations that you must comply with as a catering business owner.

4) Food Preparation - Think about where you will prepare food for clients. Food can be prepared onsite or offsite and you will have to make sure that you have access to a fairly large kitchen if you are hoping to cater to sizable events.

5) Insurance Companies - Protect yourself and your business with an appropriate insurance policy in case things go wrong and you are liable for damages.

6) Menu planning - Learn about popular food trends, look at the menu offerings of your competitors and start to formulate a variety of menus for all occasions that you can offer to clients.

7) Practice on Friends - Why not have a trial run before setting up your catering business to get some idea of what it takes to cater a function for a large number of people. This is easy to do if you hold a dinner party for a large number of friends or colleagues and ask them what they thought of your food and service.

8) Branding - Start thinking about a suitable name for your new venture and put some thought into how you want customers to perceive your business. How can you stand out against competitors? What about your company values?

9) Funding your Start Up - Try to get a clearer idea of the start-up expenses that you will be facing and decide how you will fund your business. Will you be able to finance the entire project alone or are you going to need another form of funding?

10) The last step in the planning phase of your catering company will be to prepare a solid business plan. Even if you don't need to prove your ideas viability to investors, a plan is still an excellent way of getting all your thoughts and research down on paper in one central document.

Any business model has important steps that you must follow properly in order to proceed in the right direction and to find success. Make sure that you take all of the necessary steps before jumping in to the catering industry.