Customer experience is central to the success of food service businesses, where a bad egg white omelet can make or break a career. In order for owners and managers to extend a superior level of service to every customer, they need systems in place that minimize missteps and keep the business moving in the right direction.
Implementing a CRM can be the difference between failure and success in this increasingly competitive industry. Three business owners share their story of how a CRM solution improved their food service operations.
- Elevate your customer service level.
College Chefs employs classically, professionally trained chefs to cook for fraternities and sororities in the U.S. – each of which operates similar to a restaurant. There’s a supervising staff of 10 to 15 people who manage about 100 chefs and 75 customers. It’s a large operation with a lot of moving pieces, so a CRM makes it easy to track customers and keep a historical record of all interactions. For example, if one fraternity loves blue POWERADE, the chef can add the preference to Insightly and ensure it’s always in stock. Since implementing Insightly, the business has tripled in size due in part to the ability to provide superior customer service and cater to the desires of sororities and fraternities.
- Stay organized.
Michael Gurevich is the owner and Schnitzelmaster for Seven Hens, a growing restaurant chain specializing in combining chicken schnitzel with different flavors from around the world. Rather than scrolling through hundreds of lines on every spreadsheet to access information, Gurevich wanted to make the team’s life easier to make his company better. With a CRM, the data was easier to sort through and act on when the time came to process and order. Seven Hens manages more than 300 contracts using Insightly, as well as data related to potential customers in the area. With Insightly, Gurevich can keep track of prospect and existing customer data more effectively, and as a result, he can schedule more meetings and attract prospects.
- Manage growth.
Tisano is the creator and originator of brewed Cacao Teas. The small team faced several business challenges that led them to a CRM, including a struggle to keep pace with growth. For example, after attending a few trade shows, the company found itself with information from more than 3,000 prospects, media representatives, vendors, and other contacts – they couldn’t manage all the relationships via spreadsheets. A CRM helps them to manage both sales efforts and customer relationships from a single dashboard. With Insightly, Tisano can manage remote employees more effectively and move most of its operations to the cloud to save approximately $5,000 every month. The team closed numerous deals with the help of a CRM solution, including one with an interested prospect who was hesitant about the cost. Tisano used Insightly to reformulate the deal with the hesitant prospect, meet their needs, and ultimately make the sale. This capability allowed Tisano to close deals with corporations like Virgin America, Whole Foods Market, and Peet’s Coffee and Tea.
A CRM provides business owners and managers with a single dashboard that offers a complete picture of their customers and their individual preferences, which is important for long-term satisfaction and loyalty. For these food service providers, implementing a CRM made all the difference in daily operations – for the better.
Want to get cooking with Insightly? We offer a CRM used by small and mid-sized businesses from a variety of verticals. Learn about Insightly’s features and plans on our pricing page or sign up for a free trial.
