Butler’s Pantry featured in St. Louis Business Journal
Friday, September 19th, 2008
Tip No. 1: Use RSVPs to save your company money by Rick Desloge
One of the fastest ways to run up the tab on a corporate event is to not know how many people to expect. “You don’t want to pay for 200 and have 100 people show,” said Richard Nix, Jr., president of Butler’s Pantry.
Nix said he has seen it happen, and with the cost per head ranging from $25 to $100 a person at most business events, it can be an expensive mistake.
Butler’s Pantry handled 1600 catering events last year, and Nix has two rules to get an accurate head count: Ask for an RSVP and don’t be bashful about calling people who have not responded.
Business people get caught up in children’s sports activities and charity events outside of their regular jobs, Nix said. “In today’s busy world, there’s nothing wrong with a follow- up call,” he said. “Not all of us have been trained by Emily Post and follow up on all these invitations.”
By giving caterers and other facility operators current information on those who will come to a business event, food and other costs can be more tightly controlled, he said.
The practice of blanketing invitations to a large group of people is both out of vogue and expensive, said Madeleine Dames, who operates her event marketing and public relations firm, Dames and Associates. One way event planners control their meeting expenses is to keep a handle on the guest list.
“You want to make sure your list is current, with the cost to mail a letter at almost 50 cents,” said Dames, noting first-class postage alone is 42 cents. “The days when you could expect a 20 percent return on mailed invitations are gone.”
Businesses still mail over-sized and other special invitations that can wow invitees, she said, but more often companies are asking whether such invitations justify the additional expense. Businesses that choose more elaborate invitations should make sure their graphic designer knows postal regulations. “I’ve seen pretty fancy mailings get returned,” Dames said.
Dames and Angie Carr, event sales manager for the St. Louis Science Center, said more businesses are using email invitations for events. While they are not appropriate for every occasion, they are less expensive than the postal service, and people tend to respond quicker, Carr said.
Corporate events make up about 60 percent of the volume at the Science Center, she said. The venue has specialized business rental packages to accommodate meetings of 20 people up to 2,000 in various parts of the museum.
Whatever the venue, business people are looking for an effective use of their entertainment dollar, Nix said. In some cases they are finding it by scheduling more, but smaller events.
“Sometimes two parties for 40 can be better than one party for 80,” he said. “You get to socialize with your clients more personally than if you had a large gathering.”
Businesses can limit the number of guests at events by holding them before the end of the work day. Nix said Butler’s Pantry encourages businesses to hold functions from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. “An invitation for an event from 6 to 9 p.m. is tough,” he said, because people are thinking about going home, and logistically it can be difficult for a spouse to attend.
“Inclusion of the spouse is a great thing for after-hours business events,” Nix said. “If (your business) has an event on a Thursday night and doesn’t include the spouse, it’s making a mistake.”
An emerging trend is for departments within companies to hold their own events, Nix said, as managers see the value of contact with their employees.
“We’re seeing more and more lunches and breakfasts for those kinds of gatherings,” with more casual, evening parties scheduled closer to the holiday season, Nix said. Those events are frequently in someone’s home, and range from pot-luck meals to catered events.
