Cimson Aroma Newsletter

In the current economic environment, the worst thing you can do is to hide from your customers. So in the first part of this newsletter we highlight the 3 major reasons why it is so crucial to entertain your clients in the downturn, and how to do it wisely.

Our interviewee this month is the award winning Chef, Marcus Wareing who got his second Michelin star in 2007 and has recently set up on his own at the Berkeley hotel. He told us about his recipe to beat the crunch but also a few interesting cooking tips!

Finally, we provide you with a list of our monthly recommended wines all coming from South Australia.

Have a good read!!

Olivier Bourseau, MD

At the time when it feels right to hide and not spend, we are still very busy because our clients still entertain and believe it is crucial to do so in the downturn. So why do they say this?

• Your clients are the most important thing in your business. So when business gets tougher, you need to be out there and making sure that your customers do not forget about you, and that you make sure your salespeople get even more new clients. Corporate entertainment, and wine tasting events in particular, provide a very good networking and therefore business environment to strike new deals with clients.

• You do business with people you like. This is at the end of the day how business is done around the world, and no matter how much money is spent on brand awareness or other marketing tools, when it comes to services, people come first. And again, the way forward is to meet up with clients and see them often through entertainment in order to build up these crucial relationships which will make them come to you for their next deal.

• Your competition is doing it as we speak. If you do not entertain and see your clients often in the downturn, then it will be too late when the recovery happens.

So how to entertain wisely?

• Spend less on products but don’t compromise on service. For instance, what is expensive in a wine tasting event is the price of the wines provided. But at the same time, you want to put an event which will impress. And this is what Crimson Aroma is about: We never compromise on service by providing you with the best sommeliers in London, and at the same time provide different wine quality levels to fit most budgets. Did you know that it can cost you as little as £50+VAT per head to put an event with us?

• Use office-based venues more often than costly external venues. Most offices have very high quality conference rooms which would be stunning venues for events and savings can be huge. 15% of our events were ran in offices last year against 35% this year, and we expect this trend to continue for at least a year, if not two.

• Finally target your clients more wisely and spend the money on your existing clients, and the good prospects, or the interesting potential clients with upcoming business requirements.

Part 2 - Interview - Marcus Wareing - Chef Proprietor - Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley

Marcus Wareing is one of the UK most respected and successful chefs. He got his second Michelin Star at Petrus in 2007 and has very recently re-opened his restaurant under his own name ending the partnership he had with Gordon Ramsay.

I had the pleasure to meet with him at his newly decorated restaurant at the Berkeley Hotel early November. Marcus came across as someone who is very focused on providing the perfect meal to his clients, and he told us why this is the recipe for success. Marcus also gave us useful cooking tips, and starts this interview on his background and his style of cooking.

Read the intervew here.