A wedding or corporate inquiry form feeds an AI agent that drafts a priced catering quote from the menu and price list. The manager approves it in one click, and the customer gets a branded PDF with e-signature and a deposit link.
Typical results
≈6 hrs/wk
Manager time on quoting saved
1 click
To approve or edit each draft
30%
Deposit collected at signing
Figures reflect typical results for this kind of automation.
The challenge
Catering inquiries arrive with a date, a rough guest count and a long list of questions. The manager builds each quote in a spreadsheet, adding menu tiers, staff hours, equipment rental and travel by hand, and sends it two or three days later. By then many couples and event planners have signed elsewhere, and prices vary between similar events.
Before and after
Hours from inquiry to quote sent
−98%Manager time on quotes per week
−75%Pricing errors found after sending per month
−100%The automation
The inquiry form captures date, venue, guest count, service style, menu tier and dietary needs. An AI agent built in Make with OpenAI prices a quote from the caterer's menu and price list, adding staffing, equipment rental and travel lines per head and per hour. The manager edits or approves it in one click. Approved quotes go out as a branded PDF with e-signature and a 30% deposit link, and signing creates the event in the calendar and the CRM.
How it works
- 01
Inquiry form submitted
Date, venue, guest count, service style, menu tier and dietary needs arrive in one structured form.
- 02
AI drafts the quote
The agent prices menu, staffing, equipment rental and travel lines from the caterer's own price list.
- 03
Manager approval
The manager reviews the draft, edits any line if needed and approves it in one click.
- 04
PDF, e-signature, deposit
A branded PDF goes out with e-signature and a 30% deposit link.
- 05
Event created
Each signed quote creates the event in the calendar and moves the CRM record to booked.
Starts from
- Event inquiry form
- Menu and price list
Delivers
- PDF quote with e-signature
- 30% deposit link
- Event in calendar and CRM
The impact
Quotes reach prospects in under an hour instead of two or three days, and pricing stays consistent because every line comes from the same price list. The manager saves about 6 hours a week on quoting, and signed events land in the calendar with the deposit already paid.
Questions about this automation
How does the agent price a quote?
It works only from the caterer's own menu tiers and price list, multiplying per-head items by the guest count and adding staff hours, equipment rental and travel by distance band. Dietary needs become line notes or upgrades. The agent never invents a price, and missing details are flagged on the draft for the manager.
Can the manager change a quote before it goes out?
Yes. Every draft waits for approval. The manager opens it, adjusts any line or adds a discount, and approves with one click, which generates the PDF and sends it. Quotes above a set value or with unusual requests can require a second approver. This is a multi-step build, usually rolled out in stages.
What happens after the customer signs?
The signed PDF is stored with the inquiry, and payment of the 30% deposit marks the quote as booked. The event is created in the catering calendar with guest count, menu and venue, and the CRM record moves to booked, so planning starts from exactly the details that were quoted.