The food service industry runs at a breakneck pace. While creative, ambitious business leaders chase big ideas and aim to form lasting relationships with customers, it’s imperative for companies to track every detail – from delivery schedules and distributor preferences to sales records.
CRM solutions give organizations the power to manage such details in a central repository, but the programming requirements, logistics and price of some technologies can be prohibitive for small businesses. With a CRM designed for SMBs, however, companies can elevate their sales pitch from a great idea in a home kitchen to a booming business. Below are three ways small food-service companies are using CRM to grow their companies and increase ROI:
- Manage remote employees and move operations to the cloud
Tisano, a family-run herbal tea company that created the first and only chocolate tea, identified the need for a sales and customer management solution after a few trade shows brought in more than 3,000 contacts. After a few CRM solution trial runs, the company began using a solution to help users assign tasks, determine which accounts deliver the greatest ROI and bring new staff up to speed. As a result, the team has improved remote employee management, closed numerous deals with nationwide distributors and moved most operations to the cloud, saving approximately $5,000 per month.
- Turn a restaurant into a reliable community fixture
Local restaurants are a fixture of every community, highlighting the flavors and culture of their home region while introducing new options for the residents they serve. A responsibility to remain personally connected with customers and fellow businesses comes with the territory.
Seven Hens, a Georgia-based restaurant chain and catering service, found itself struggling to manage customer and order information with a spreadsheet-based system after it opened its second store. Using a CRM solution, the team was able to advance operations, simplify processes for a fast-growing staff base, focus on long-term goals to grow the business and root itself firmly in strong community relationships.
- Build lasting, personal relationships with customers
Catering is a unique part of the food service industry – by nature, a catering business weathers busy seasons and event-based schedules, while essentially creating a temporary restaurant for every client. College Chefs, a company that employs professional chefs to serve fraternities and sororities on college campuses, adopted a CRM to help personalize customer service and keep employees on the same page. Even as students cycle through university careers and contacts change, the company is able to maintain lasting client relationships and provide individualized service while expanding its operations.
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