Pala answers the enquiry. You close the job.
Don’t book, just cook.
A CRM for caterers and event teams. It replies the moment an enquiry lands, asks the questions you would have asked, and leaves you a brief worth quoting from. It runs in production for our own clients today.
However it arrives
- Website form
- Phone
One enquiry, understood
- Event
- Wedding
- Date
- 12 September
- Guests
- 120
- Service
- Sit-down
- Venue
- Barn, north Essex
- Dietary
- Vegetarian options
On your desk
A brief you can price, with the questions already asked and the answers already in it. You quote, and you close.
Qualified
What it does.
It answers, whatever time it is
The enquiry that lands mid-service on a Saturday gets a reply then, not on Monday. From the form on your website, from your inbox, and on WhatsApp.
It asks what you would ask
Date, guest numbers, venue, service style, dietary requirements. One question at a time, the way a person would, rather than a form nobody finishes.
It knows the shape of the job
A drinks reception, a sit-down for eighty, a three-day festival build. Each is a different set of questions, and it asks the right ones.
It remembers the client
The customer who booked you last summer is not asked who they are. Their history sits behind the conversation, so the second enquiry starts further along than the first.
It builds the proposal
Line items, quantities and rates from your own menu, with your terms and your tax handling. You review and send, rather than starting from a blank page after service.
It tracks where everything stands
Enquiry, qualifying, pricing, proposal sent, won or lost. One place to see what is live and what has gone quiet, instead of scrolling an inbox.
What qualifying actually looks like.
Pala tracks what it still needs and what it already has, and writes the enquiry back to you in a sentence you can act on. This is an illustration, not a real enquiry.
Essentials
- Contact
- Event type
- Date
- Venue
- Guest count
Qualifying detail
- Service style
- Dietary needs
- Staffing
- Budget direction
- Decision maker
The brief it hands you
Wedding on Saturday 14 June, a barn venue in north Essex, 90 guests, sit-down service with two vegetarian and one gluten-free. Date and venue are already booked, so intent is strong. Staffing numbers and budget are still open.
It hands over. It never closes.
Pala does the first exchange and the qualifying. The quote, the judgement about whether to take the job, and the relationship with the client stay with you. That boundary is built in rather than configurable, because the moment it starts closing work on your behalf it stops being trustworthy.
Scoped and quoted before anything is built.
The questions caterers actually ask.
Does it talk to my customers as me? +
It replies in a voice you set, and it hands over to you rather than guessing when a question goes past what it knows. You can switch it off on any single enquiry, which is what our own clients do on the jobs they want to run personally.
Does it book the job? +
No, and that is deliberate. It qualifies and prepares; you quote and close. The relationship stays yours, and so does the decision about which work to take.
Where does it get the answers from? +
From your menus, your prices, your service styles and your operating rules, which we set up with you. It answers from that and hands over when a question falls outside it.
Do I need a new website? +
No. It sits on the website you already have. Some clients rebuild later because they want to, not because Pala needs it.
How long does setup take? +
Weeks rather than months. We start with the enquiries, because that is the part costing you the most, and add the rest once the first piece is earning its keep.
What does it cost? +
It is scoped and quoted before anything is built, because the number depends on what it has to handle: your channels, your menus, your pricing and the way you run events.