Generate catering quotes and event proposals

How to do it

1. 1

   After your inquiry call, jot down: number of guests, event type, date, menu requests, any special dietary needs, and your prices per item or per person

2. 2

   Open Claude.ai and paste this prompt with your notes filled in:

3. 3

   PROMPT: 'Please write a professional catering proposal based on these details: [paste your notes]. Structure it as: a warm opening paragraph, itemized menu with quantities for [X] guests, total price breakdown, deposit requirements (I usually ask for 50% upfront), cancellation policy, estimated setup time, and a professional closing. My business name is [name] and we are based in [city].'

4. 4

   IMPORTANT BEFORE SENDING: Check all the math yourself. Add up the line items manually. AI occasionally makes arithmetic errors — you are responsible for the numbers on a quote you send to a client.

5. 5

   Adjust the pricing, policy, and any details that do not match your real terms

6. 6

   Copy into a Google Doc, add your logo and contact info, export as PDF

7. 7

   Email to the client — same day responses dramatically improve your conversion rate

Watch out for

• ⚠

  ALWAYS verify the arithmetic yourself before sending — AI can make calculation errors on totals and subtotals. This is the most important gotcha in this recipe.

• ⚠

  The cancellation policy Claude writes is a template — replace it with your actual policy

• ⚠

  Save proposals that went well as a reference prompt for next time — the more real examples you feed Claude, the better the output

• ⚠

  Speed matters in catering: if you can email a proposal within 2 hours of the call, you will close significantly more business than competitors who take days