EventCamp 2019 Beyond the Data: Achieving Sales + Profitability

With 10 locations nationwide and 4,000 events per year, the Rosa Mexicano team has become extremely skilled at driving new bookings.

During this year’s EventCamp, Amira Gertz, Director of Catering & Events at Rosa Mexicano, shared the practical tips that her team has developed to achieve sales and profitability that can be adapted for just about any venue.

The first and most important tip for driving new business starts with your location: Know your neighborhood.

“What I mean by that is: Are you driven by corporate business? Are you driven by social business? Are you in an area with a convention center, an arena, a concert venue? Are you a wedding venue that fits any number of those categories? ” Gertz said. “Know what your neighborhood needs. What’s the drive of the business there? And then systematically, go after that business. Make sure you’re getting your name and your brand across.”

Event professionals can drive more corporate business by contacting their local convention and visitors bureau to find out what conventions or conferences are scheduled for the next few months, and then connecting with those groups to offer your venue as a possible location to visit or to host private dining as a part of those larger events. Get to know the large employers in your area and find out if they are looking for restaurants for regular food orders or catering. LinkedIn is a great way to get your foot in the door with these groups — look for people who coordinate events, work as an office manager, or are part of the marketing team. They’ll be the most likely employees to book events or to introduce you to those that do.

Once you build momentum with corporate business, develop a plan for social business. At Rosa Mexicano, the events team has created a special menu and bar package ready to go for social groups. A group reservation can easily change to a private event with the right menu and bar package.

“A lot of our events are non-private contracted group dinners for 15-30 people. It’s a huge amount of our business, and yet it’s really often people calling to make a large group reservation who get spun into the private dining team and then get turned into a set menu and a bar package. And it’s an incredible revenue driver,” Gertz said.

Check out the rest of the tips by watching the full presentation, Beyond the Data: Achieving Sales + Profitability.

EventCamp 2019: Beyond the Data: Achieving Sales + Profitability from Tripleseat on Vimeo.

Don’t miss the next EventCamp!
We’ll announce our plans for EventCamp in early 2020. Sign up for email updates to be the first to know the details and get access to earlybird ticket rates. You can also access past sessions and tips by viewing EventCamp posts on the Tripleseat blog or by visiting the EventCamp website.