Empowering Restaurant Success: Laura Wilber on Dinova's Business Dining Strategy

In this episode, Jeremy interviews Laura Wilber of Dinova. Laura explains her role in connecting 560 global companies and the US Department of Defense with a network of 25,000 restaurants that cater to business travelers. She highlights the value of having a business dining strategy, especially when consumer confidence and traffic are trending down. Dinova helps restaurants attract business diners, who often spend more when using company-issued credit cards. Laura also discusses the program's inclusivity, extending benefits to quick serve restaurants and high-end dining alike. She shares how restaurant operators can join Dinova's network to increase their visibility and sales. The episode underscores the important role Dinova plays in driving restaurant success.

00:00 Introduction and Guest Introduction

00:08 Laura Wilbur's Background and Role

00:53 Dinova's Services and Impact

01:42 Sponsorship and Event Details

02:04 Business Dining Strategy Insights

03:30 Incentives for Business Travelers

05:16 Restaurant Operator Involvement

08:09 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Episode Transcript

Jeremy Julian (00:00):
Laura, why don't you introduce yourself to our
audience for those that mightnot have heard the full podcast
that we did.
But we're gonna talk a littlebit about what's going on at
RLC, but.
I'd love for our listeners tohear who is Laura Wilber.

Laura Wilber (00:08):
Thank you so much for asking Jeremy.
So my name is Laura.
I believe that showing up is 80%of success, and when we show up
consistently at places likethis, we are unstoppable.
And I'm in the business ofshowing up for my restaurant
clients and bringing friends,and by friends 21 million
expense account diners who aretraveling for business.

(00:31):
Looking for great restaurantsfor dine-in carryout, catering,
and in some cases private eventsand even buyouts.

Jeremy Julian (00:38):
you're, you are so articulate, and one of the
things I love about talking toyou is just how articulate you
are about what Dinova does.
So I guess I, I buried the leadthere.
Tell me who do you work for andhow does that even manifest
itself in today's day and age?

Laura Wilber (00:52):
Okay, thank you.
so I work for de.
Corporate dining, and we arecontracted by global companies
and government agencies to findgreat restaurants for their
teams traveling for business.
The company started 16 yearsago, and it started because one
company said.
hey, if we shifted our spendingto this one restaurant, would

(01:15):
they give us some considerationfor that?
Would they give us some sort ofkickback or loyalty rebate?
The answer was yes.
And over the past 16 years,we've been working to grow that
network.
we're now hired by 560 globalcompanies, incredible.
Plus the US Department ofDefense.
And we have about 25,000restaurants benefiting from

(01:37):
incremental sales because thesecompanies are shifting their
spending to their partners.

Jeremy Julian (01:41):
Love that.
So I guess first and foremost, Ishould say thank you.
We're at RLC.
While we're recording this, youguys probably hear some
background noise, but.
You guys ended up sponsoring theinfluencer alley, so thank you
for that opportunity.
'cause I probably wouldn't behere if it wasn't for your
organization, making sure thatwe could come out and record
some of this content.
So I appreciate that piece.
You're

Laura Wilber (01:58):
very welcome and thank you for having me chat
with you.
It's always such a pleasure,Jeremy.

Jeremy Julian (02:03):
It's awesome.
so we've been talking a lot orwe've been hearing a lot this
week at RLC, just about trafficand traffic being a struggle for
people.
Traffic is trending down,consumer confidence is trending
down.
I guess as a restaurant ownerand operator, what value can
Dinova bring to somebody likethat might be seeing the horizon
that says, Hey, I'm gonna needto make sure that I'm getting

(02:25):
acquisition.

Laura Wilber (02:26):
Okay.
it's really honestly a goodtime, to two.
To really consider, do you havea business dining strategy?
a lot of operators havebenefited from taking price and,
but traffic has remainedrelatively flat and now that
it's almost down by almost 5% asof the omic talk that we saw
yesterday morning or yesterdayafternoon, it's really great

(02:50):
time to invite these businesstravelers and diners into the
restaurant.
And thankfully there's a turnkeysolution that's Dinova that
helps them do that.
the nice thing too is that ifconsumers are pulling back on
how frequently they're diningout.
They're still the restaurants Italk to every day.

(03:10):
Still, the majority of them saythat weekends they're still
doing great.
Yep.
And that's, they don't want tocannibalize any of that week,
that, weekend inventory.
But the business travelernaturally wants to be home for
dinner by Friday night withtheir family if they can.
So they're dining out primarilyearly and midweek.
Yeah.
And then the other cool thing isthat when somebody's paying with

(03:32):
a company issued credit card,they spend 50 to 200% more than
a guest paying with their ownmoney.
So they're just not as pricesensitive.

Jeremy Julian (03:41):
and you and I talked, when we did the full
podcast about just being in thatselection criteria.
When you're choosing to go outfor a business meal, I get the
privilege of taking clients andvendors out or choosing the
restaurants oftentimes whenwe're going out and if there was
an incentive.
For me and the restaurant waspart of my selection criteria.
It changes the game.
even quite frankly from adiscovery perspective,

(04:02):
especially when we're traveling.
We happen to be in Phoenix rightnow.
I know a half a dozenrestaurants around here, but if
there was something on my list,I.
I would certainly be more apt toselect that.
Is that kind of what you'reseeing from the business
travelers?

Laura Wilber (04:15):
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
So last night we were at OceanPrime.
Oh, poor baby.
I know.
and it's Cameron MitchellRestaurants.
They've been a great partner fora long time at Dinova.
And so that's when we arelooking for where to entertain
our clients.
we co-hosted an event for.
For restaurant operators.
And then tonight we're alsohaving dinner there again

(04:37):
because we love it.
It's also five minutes from thisvenue.
They do an incredible job, butit really, it does help you
narrow, narrow your focus.
the companies, when people aregiven a company card, they're
trained on, hey.
here's our partner, airlinepartner, rental car, partner,
hotel, and dine at one of these25,000 restaurants as a good

(04:59):
steward of company resources,but also you, the corporate card
holder are gonna receive perks.
my Dinova reward points.
Okay?
When you choose a partnerrestaurant, so there's.
There's an incentive for thecompany as far as expense
management, but also for theindividual traveler.

Jeremy Julian (05:16):
And is that also relevant for restaurant
operators that are travelingwhere they might not have, do
you guys have any restaurantclients that you guys have on
the program?
I just want, this is literally aquestion that came up.
Yeah.
In my head, it's Hey, if I'mworking for a national brand and
I need to go out to eat, is thatsomething that also would make
sense to do?
Because there's restaurantoperators that are gonna be
listening to this.
That one wanna be on theplatform to have people dine

(05:37):
there.
Yeah.
But the flip side is also true,I'm assuming, but I don't know.
Yeah, I'd love to understand.

Laura Wilber (05:41):
Yeah, so there is an option for smaller business
owners, and that's MasterCardeasy savings.
Okay.
They're a partner, so if youwant to earn rewards on dining,
I would encourage that.
MasterCard, easy savings.
The enterprise clients that wehave to be an official company
that hires Dinova To run yournetwork, you have to be
spending, you have to have anofficial company card policy and

(06:04):
spend.
I'm not positive what thethreshold is now, but I think
it's around$5 million annually.
On spending at restaurants inorder to, for us to say yes for
it to be a

Jeremy Julian (06:15):
relevant thing.
Okay.
Yeah, that makes sense.
Yeah, we'll run it.
Okay.
And so if I'm a restaurantoperator, how do I get involved
in this program?
How do I get part of thatselection criteria?
Because Ocean Prime is adifferent kind of restaurant
than some of the other ones.
And I was a little bit, misledas it related to what you guys
do.
And I think it's not just thehighest of the high end right
type of experiences.
Tell our listeners a little bitmore about that.

Laura Wilber (06:35):
Thank you.
I will.
So right now we are, we arewaiting for one of our partners
at Jolly Beef Foods, Kevin, tobe interviewed, for another
podcast, and their leadershipteam is here at the Restaurant
Leadership Conference That is anexample of a quick serve
restaurant.
That is fried chicken andspaghetti.
Exactly.

(06:56):
it's, it's.
That's an example of arestaurant that is obviously QSR
quick serve.
I remember when I first broughtthem on, there were some, people
that were saying, that's notbusiness dining, but absolutely
it is because when we'retraveling for business, we need
morning coffee.
Quick drive through if that'sall we have time for.

(07:18):
last call at the bar, Michelinstarred restaurant.
entertainment.
That's an, that's something elsethat we're getting a lot of
requests for Yep.
Is people who want anexperience.
So we've been having requestsfor, golf type experience, like
mini golf.
And hopefully we'll be adding.
That as an option soon.
But as far as a, you asked thequestion about if a restaurant

(07:41):
operator listening wants to getinvolved with Inova or find out
more, it's as easy as reachingout to me, hopefully.
I am on LinkedIn, very active

Jeremy Julian (07:51):
on LinkedIn.
I posted a fantastic articleyesterday about the Technomic
thing, so thank

Laura Wilber (07:55):
you.
And you're probably sick ofhearing, hearing about me or
from me on LinkedIn, but itreally is a great way to reach
me.
And it's just Laura Wilbur.
I think I'm the first one thatpops up Wilber with an er, so
that's a great way to reach me.
But, awesome.

Jeremy Julian (08:09):
Yeah.
thanks for, sponsoring in, theinfluencer ally.
Don't let anybody on my teamthink, call me an influencer
'cause they'll gimme travelabout it.
But, very much appreciate yoursupport for the restaurant
industry as you and I havetalked about offline.
It's just amazing.
How much you guys wanna seerestaurants succeed.
So I love that you guys continueto do that.
And I, I would encourage all ofour listeners out there to check
these guys out.
'cause even if you're a QSR,even if you're, it doesn't

(08:30):
matter.
You don't have to be a Michelinstar restaurant in order to be
part of the program.
'cause everybody needs to eat.
And depending upon what thatcorporate, occasion is, it's
gonna be a different experience.
It's gonna be a dined in, itmight be a catering order, those
kind of things.
So lots and lots of differentopportunities to partner with
you guys.
So thanks for hanging out.

Laura Wilber (08:44):
Thank you.