Event businesses win and lose work on response time. A couple fills out inquiry forms on five caterers' websites on a Sunday night. A corporate planner needs a proposal for a 200-person holiday party by Wednesday. Whoever replies first with a clear menu, a realistic price and available dates usually gets the tasting, and the tasting usually gets the contract.
InTheory acts as your fractional AI and technology lead. We would pick one expensive recurring workflow, measure how it runs today in Tripleseat, Caterease, HoneyBook or whatever you use, and put a scoped improvement in place. Your sales and event managers keep approving pricing, menus, contracts and anything a client sees.
Leads arrive from the website, The Knot, WeddingWire, venue partners, phone and Instagram. The sales manager is also running tastings, site visits and Saturday events, so replies slip to Monday. Many inquiries are date checks that could be answered in minutes, but they sit in the same queue as complex corporate requests.
Each proposal combines menu selections, per-person pricing, rentals, staffing, bar packages, service charge and tax. Sales staff copy old proposals and edit them by hand, which takes hours and causes errors: last year's prices, the wrong venue fee, a missing staffing line that eats the margin.
Final headcounts, dietary restrictions, timelines, floor plans and vendor contacts change through the planning period. They live in emails, texts and the client's spreadsheet. When the banquet event order is finalized late or incomplete, the kitchen and floor team find out about a gluten-free table or a changed load-in time on the day.
Most event contracts use a deposit, interim payments and a final balance due a week or two before the event. Tracking who owes what, sending reminders and reconciling against QuickBooks is manual, so payments arrive late and staff have uncomfortable money conversations days before a wedding.
We fix one at a time, starting with the one that costs you most. Each page shows the steps, the tools, what stays human and what we would measure.
Reply to every inquiry within minutes with date availability, starting prices and a link to book a call or tasting, then hand the lead to sales with the details already captured.
See the workflow →Build proposals from structured selections, current menu pricing and package rules, so sales managers review and adjust a draft instead of assembling every line by hand.
See the workflow →Follow up on every sent proposal with timely, personal messages, track holds and expirations on dates, and show sales which open proposals are worth a call today.
See the workflow →After the contract is signed, send the welcome, planning timeline, questionnaires and payment schedule automatically, so clients know what happens next and staff are not rewriting the same emails.
See the workflow →Keep clients, venue contacts and internal teams aligned on headcount, timeline and BEO changes, with clear deadlines and a single current version of the event plan.
See the workflow →Track deposits, installment payments and final balances, send polite reminders on schedule, and route exceptions to a person before they become a problem in event week.
See the workflow →Ask happy clients for reviews on Google, The Knot or WeddingWire shortly after the event, and thank planners and venues who refer business in a consistent way.
See the workflow →Answer common questions about dates, capacity, menus, pricing ranges and service areas on your website, and capture inquiry details around the clock for the sales team.
See the workflow →How we deliver this: AI automation for small business or fractional CTO leadership, scoped in writing and run over 90 days. See pricing or the sample scope.
We start with what you already pay for. New tools have to earn their place.
Event companies hold client contact details, payment information, guest lists and dietary or allergy information, which can be sensitive. Card data should go through a PCI-compliant processor, never email or spreadsheets. Allergy and medical dietary needs should reach the kitchen accurately and be confirmed by a person. AI tools should not be given full guest lists without a reason. Alcohol service, permits and Colorado sales tax rules on service charges are areas to confirm with your accountant or attorney rather than automate assumptions.
General information, not legal advice.
Defaults are illustrative for event and catering companies (booked events per month). Change them to your numbers.
a month in staff time, before any lost sales
Illustration only, not a forecast or guarantee. Recovered staff time becomes a cash saving only if spending actually declines or the time goes into paid work. Tool costs are an assumption; we replace every number here with yours before recommending a scope.
They should not if they are written well and used for the right moment. A fast first reply confirming the date, sharing starting prices and offering a call usually feels more attentive than a personal email two days later. The sales manager still runs tastings, consultations and negotiations, which is where relationships are actually built.
Usually not. Tripleseat, Caterease, HoneyBook, Total Party Planner and Planning Pod include lead forms, proposals, payment schedules and reminders that many teams only partly use. A typical first step is to check what is switched off or poorly set up. Changing platforms mid-season is disruptive and only worth it if the current one clearly blocks the work.
It can draft them from structured inputs such as guest count, menu tier, service style and venue, using your current pricing. A sales manager reviews every line, especially custom menus, rentals and staffing, before the client sees anything. Pricing, minimums and discounts stay human decisions, because they depend on the date, the client and the kitchen's capacity.
Inquiry response is often the clearest. It is easy to measure time to first reply and inquiry-to-tasting conversion, and improvements show up within a few weeks. Proposal drafting and payment reminders are other common first projects. We would choose based on where your team loses the most time or bookings today.
The slow season is often the best time to set things up, because the team has time to test and adjust before peak inquiries. Many event companies see heavy inquiry volume in January and February for summer and fall dates. A 90-day engagement starting in the fall would have changes in place for that rush.
In 30 minutes we look at one recurring workflow, what it costs you today and whether there is a credible case to improve it. If there is not, we will say so.
30 minutes with Phil or Martin. No technical brief, no pitch deck. Phil or Martin replies personally, usually within one business day.