June 3, 2024 • 38 mins
In this episode of the Restaurant Technology Guys podcast, the host welcomes Lucas Judice, the founder of Freet, a technology company focusing on improving customer experience through a deep understanding of consumer behavior. Originally from Brazil and a former lawyer, Lucas transitioned into technology and entrepreneurship after moving to the U.S. to pursue a master's degree. Freatz stands out by offering a unique method of collecting and analyzing consumer feedback at no net cost to restaurants, using AI to delve into consumer perceptions and behaviors. Lucas explains how Freatz incentivizes customers to provide feedback, leading to actionable insights for restaurants. Success stories are shared, highlighting Freatz impact on enhancing the dining experience and increasing sales by attentive adjustments based on consumer feedback. Freatz approach not only aids in operational improvements but also helps in identifying hidden opportunities for revenue growth. For restaurant operators and owners interested in elevating their customer experience and understanding the 'wow' factor through AI-driven insights, Freatz offers a promising solution.
00:00 Welcome and Introduction to the Guest
00:41 Lucas's Journey from Brazil to Tech Entrepreneur
02:01 The Birth and Mission of Freatz
06:03 Deep Dive into Freatz: Concept and Impact
09:19 Challenges and Solutions in Restaurant Feedback
14:28 Consumer Experience with Freatz
19:02 The Restaurant's Perspective: Utilizing Data for Growth
23:15 Leveraging AI for Enhanced Consumer Insights
31:50 Success Stories and the Freets Model Explained
35:59 How to Connect with Freets and Closing Thoughts
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
This is the RestaurantTechnology Guys podcast.
Helping you run your restaurantbetter.
Jeremy (00:11):
Welcome back to the restaurant technology guys
podcast.
I thank everyone out there forjoining us.
as I say, each and every time Iknow you guys have got lots of
choices, so I appreciate youguys spending time, with us
today, we are joined by atechnologist that, I got
introduced through a mutualfriend and, I think Lucas is
doing some really cool stuff,but Lucas, before you jump into
kind of what you guys are doingon the professional side, Tell
(00:32):
us a little bit about who Lucasis and how did, how did we come
to meet and how, how did you getto where you are today?
Yeah.
Lucas Judice (00:40):
for inviting me to be on the show.
we got introduced by StevenRonnow, good friend of mine here
in LA and a friend of yours aswell.
And then the best connector everthat I met when I moved to the
US, awesome guy.
And then, again, as youmentioned, and then since I
moved to the U S but, and talk alittle bit about myself, I'm
(01:00):
half Brazilian, half American.
I grew up in Brazil with a lotof, good connections there.
We're just not talking aboutPicanha, Xhorasco and that's my
background.
And, I came to the U S about,13, 11 years ago, actually.
And I was working as a lawyer,full time job lawyer.
I had my own law office.
And when I came to the U.
S., I came, especially to take amaster's at USC.
(01:23):
And then after, basically oneyear away from my law office, I
was like, you know what?
I want to do this technologything.
I want to be an entrepreneuragain.
I want to start my own newthing, my own technology
company.
So long story short, Itransitioned from being a full
time lawyer.
To a, intrapreneur within the,market research industry,
(01:44):
customer experience, AI,understanding people.
It's more like we open it and wecreate a company that it's a
big, people understandingcompany.
We understand consumers.
We understand what they think,why they go to places, why they
don't go to places, why they'relike competitors, why they're
like these or that kind ofproduct or service, and then we
transform that.
We transform that intospecifics.
(02:07):
do's and don'ts for operators toboost their, sales, boost their
connection to their clients.
Anyways, again, it's interestinghow, you never thought, I never
thought in my life that I wouldgo from being a lawyer to, a
full time tech, founder, buthere I am after, a couple of
years, dealing and, runningFritz.
that's a position.
Jeremy (02:27):
And I love, entrepreneurial stories like
that.
I had a previous guest on and Itease him from time to time.
Cause he was like, I don't know.
He was like, he went fromWelding or plumbering to being a
marketing guy.
And I'm like, how does thishappen?
So from your story, walk methrough that journey.
What, what took you down thatpath to being, you came to the U
S study, get your master's, law,and then you decided, tell me a
(02:48):
little bit more about why youdecided to start Freedson and
before we dig into deep.
understanding of what it is thatyou guys are solving.
I'd love to hear the originstory of where it came from.
And was it something that youwere frustrated about, or was it
just something that you saw aproblem in the market that you
said, Hey, there's people thatare going to be willing to spend
money on this.
Talk to me a little bit aboutthat.
Lucas Judice (03:06):
yeah, even, even the transitioning from, a lawyer
to entrepreneur that goes back,to my childhood, it's an
interesting story, even thoughit's silly, but that's my story.
to that extent that, when I wasfive years old and I remember
that, like it was yesterday whenI was five years old, I used to
go to my family, beach housestill in Brazil.
And we will, we would go to thebeach and then stay there the
(03:28):
whole day.
But then at some point I wouldstop playing with my friends and
family.
I would go, get, sand out of thegood, I would get sand.
I would get, shells.
And so I would collect a lot ofthings from the beach.
And then I would go back home,get mayonnaise, jar at the time
was all glass, and then I wouldjust.
decorate that thing, go to the,front, front, front porch and
(03:51):
just sell it, like a businessperson, like a salesperson when
I was five years old.
And then, funny story that acouple of years ago, my sister
saw, she found a journal thatshe used to write when she was
younger and then she was like,Oh, Lucas now selling jars and
anyways, it was an awful kind ofjar, but I was there selling.
So I believe that myentrepreneurial, let's say blood
(04:13):
or skin or willingness wasalways there.
and even as a lawyer, I was, amanager, my, I created my law
office.
I opened my office.
I was, the manager was anentrepreneur as a lawyer as
well.
But then my master's year in theU.
S.
It was, even though it was abusiness law masters, it was, I
would say, 90 percent focus onventure capital, balance sheet
(04:34):
and then internationaltransactions and everything way
more, practical,entrepreneurial, lifestyle, but
not necessarily understandinglaw or applying law.
And, a little before comingalso, to take the master's, I
was investing companies inBrazil.
I invested back then in 2012, Iinvested like in four companies.
We wouldn't call them startupcompanies back then.
We would call, Oh, my friendshas a, my, my friends have a,
(04:57):
computer company, whatever.
Nobody would actually call itstartups.
So I was investing thesecompanies.
And then after one year here inthe masters.
I just decided that, you knowwhat, I think that five year old
kid that wants to be, Sally andbeing an entrepreneur, I think
he wants you to get back there.
So I decided to sell my lawoffice.
at the time, as I mentioned, Ihad this, investment, so I
(05:18):
bought the half of the companythat I had with my partner in
the investment company.
And at some point I was doinginvestments in startup
companies, technology companies.
So from 2014 to 2017, I wasinvesting people's, idea.
dreams and at some point it wasagain, you know what I want in
my dream.
I want to invest in my dream,which is, creating my tech
company and pushing forward withall the abilities and skill set
(05:42):
that I, that I have and had atthe time.
And that was how I got to thatmoment in which I decided that I
would open my own company, myown technology company.
And that came fritz.
Jeremy (05:54):
Yeah.
I, and I appreciate that, thatbackstory.
It's always funny to, to thinkback about, so some of those
early days and you talk aboutremembering it, like it was
yesterday that, the five yearold that's Hey, what can I sell?
What can, how can I go, youCreate value for somebody.
Cause clearly, your mayonnaisejar that was a glass that had
sand and shells in it, somebodysaw value in it and said, you
know what, this kid went andworked hard to go make this
(06:14):
happen.
And so talk to us, what isfreets, and I know you and I
chatted about it pre show, but,it comes from the amalgamation
of two different words, but whatis freets?
And then we can talk a littlebit about kind of the problems
that it solves for people.
Lucas Judice (06:25):
So freets, the word freets comes from free
eats, and then just, change thes for the z to make it more,
modern, whatever, and then gotboth words, together.
So that's freets.
again, free eats is an ideathat, If we want to get people's
opinion, if you want to getpeople's understanding, we have
to get that kind of incentiveto, have them share their
(06:46):
opinion.
So that's basically the originof the name, free eats in the
sense that we're going toprovide a free food in exchange
for your opinion, because youropinion matters.
but in other words, what we aresolving here is the lack of
knowledge.
And that also my connection withmy previous years As a lawyer,
I'm always trying to understandto get the most knowledge that I
can, knowledge about everythingthat I can, and then transform
(07:08):
that into, a good, thesis forthe lawsuit, whatever.
So when, we are dealing withunderstanding consumers, we have
to really understand everythingthat is happening within that,
that experience.
So the biggest problem that wesaw in the market today, that's
still a reality, nowadays, isthe lack of knowledge.
And, of course you need, all ofus, we know that we need data,
(07:29):
especially, hospitalitybusinesses.
We know that we need data aboutour consumers if they like, they
don't like and etcetera.
And then we also know that thereare so many sources out there
for consumer perception datathat they're not quite complete.
They're not quite reliable interms of the quality of the data
set.
And they are very limited orsometimes they're so expensive
(07:50):
that no one will actually payfor that.
So there is a big problem in themarket that no one is actually
really pay attention toconsumers.
No one's really understandinghow to wow people, how to get
the most of the experience andhow to give back to these
consumers, which are by the way,the most important people that
you serve to, how to give backtheir experience, what their
(08:11):
expectations actually.
So when you put all of thattogether, it's.
Finding the best way to collectconsumer perception, to
understand consumer perceptionin a reliable way, accurate way,
and then with nice volume ofpeople, of metrics and etc.
(08:31):
And that's how, when you getthat reliability in terms of the
data set they're collecting,that's when you can actually
extract knowledge out of this.
So that's a combination that wewere able to solve.
understanding that there is alack in the market in terms of
consumer knowledge, consumerunderstanding.
And we created that, thatmechanism, that, that method to,
aggregate a lot of data directlyfrom consumers and transform
(08:53):
that into revenue growth, intobetter quality of perception,
into finding hiddenopportunities within, the day to
day operation.
And that's it, just a way to.
To have a, that betterunderstanding.
And by the way, reallyinteresting to mention that
everything at no cost.
Cause if we want to really getpeople's opinion, as I
(09:14):
mentioned, we need the volumeand no one would pay for a huge
volume of information if thatwas too expensive.
So we needed to create a waythat made just a data collection
profitable for everyone involvedor at least no cost for our
clients.
And that's a game changer aswell.
Jeremy (09:31):
and so Lucas, you talk about what you guys are doing,
but what are most restaurantsthat before they engage with
freaks doing, you and I talkedabout it pre show, there's lots
of different places to get thisdata.
and, Historically, at least whenI talk to restaurant operators,
they only hear about the reallybad ones or the really good
ones.
They don't hear about anythingin between.
And that creates a false senseof either dread if they only
(09:52):
hear the really bad ones orthey, it creates a false sense
of security if they only hearabout the people that have
exceptional, experiences.
And the other piece that youtalked about, and I'll let you
riff on it here for a fewminutes is the volume is
typically very low.
single digit percentageshistorically has been how it has
gone versus getting up into the50, 60, 70 percent of people are
(10:13):
giving you feedback.
So talk to me a little bit abouthistorically, how have people
gotten that feedback?
And what is the misnomer aboutjust using Google reviews and
Yelp and open table or whateverthose tools are to get those,
get that data?
Lucas Judice (10:26):
Before I answer that, something that's
interesting to have in mind aswell is that when we talk a
reliable data set, we needvolume, as I mentioned, but
volume divides into two maintype of volumes.
One would be volume of people,which is the one that you were
mentioning that, X percent ofpeople that are actually being
public about, super superdislike that experience.
(10:47):
But also there is a secondcomponent of the volume which is
the number of metrics beingassessed.
if you are surveying someone, ormaybe if you get that poll,
that, that survey that has only,10 questions, your perception is
very limited of what'shappening.
Because as an operator, youdon't have 10 things you have to
pay attention to.
(11:07):
You have 100, 200 things thatyou have to pay attention to.
So in order for you, as anoperator, to understand if,
whatever the temperature, thebathroom, or, the speedness or
the host, or if you want tounderstand who's impacting or
what's impacting your businessor your ability to wow people,
you have to survey everything.
And then you have to drill downto, okay, now that I know 100
(11:29):
things that are happening, whatare the most important things?
So that volume of KPIs, volumeof metrics that you need to
assess, that's also reallyimportant.
So when we go back to themarket, what's there in the
market today?
It's very, in our opinion, it'svery flawed in terms of
understanding consumerperception, and understanding,
the correlation between what areyou doing that is or is not, it
(11:53):
isn't impacting the ability towow people.
you have many, several, you haveseveral tools that are important
to, avoid, a bad review, a badexperience from going public or,
to gather a lot of informationonline that you see some things
on Google Review, Yelp, orTripAdvisor, and then these
platforms will just combineeverything in one platform.
(12:15):
these are amazing tools to helpthe operators to actually
understand what's being said.
But if you want to findoperational opportunities, or if
you want to find what's drivingyour wow ness up or down, you
need more people, you need moreindicators being assessed.
And if you go back to yourquestion, if you go to Google
(12:37):
review, you won't be able tofind it.
If you go to Yelp, you won't beable to find it.
If you go to traditional secretshopping companies, you won't be
able to find it.
It's either it's somewhatexpensive.
Companies will hire only one to,secret shoppers every one or
every two or every three months.
And you don't have enough samplesize and they are the wrong
consumers usually.
So they, and they're beingtrained to be critics.
(12:59):
when you get tablet surveys,It's very limited as well.
You have up to five to seven to10 questions.
You don't see everything.
And then you have, I don't wantto get too technical, but you
have that, what's called a selfselection bias.
People who are actually gettingthat tablet to answer it.
They are either super positiveor super negative.
People that are going to Googlereview, they're either super
(13:19):
positive, super negative.
And we at Freets, we are gettingthe best understanding from
people that you as an operatordo not know about people that
come and go and you don't havetheir name.
You don't know who they are,where they came from, and then
they're not going, online tosay, good or bad things about
you.
So it's a 99 percent of thepeople that you serve to.
(13:40):
That you never survey becausethey're not going again, online
to share their opinion, butthat's the average consumer that
you serve to.
So that's the kind of peoplethat you have to understand.
That's why it's interesting to,to have in mind that when we
send, 60 people per month perlocation, and we're sending the
(14:00):
right consumers to theselocations, that's a really good
source of information to knowexactly what's happening, across
your product, service, physicalenvironment, the ability to have
that emotional connection withyour clients.
Anyway, so that's a little bitof.
How we stand out compared towhatever's out there in the
market.
And again, as I mentioned,everything at no net cost.
(14:22):
So it's amazing to have theopportunity to have a deep,
really deep understanding ofyour real consumers.
Not the biased consumers, butyour real consumers, the 99
percent of consumers that youserve to in a matter that you
don't have to pay for.
Jeremy (14:37):
Yeah, I have a myriad of questions, Lucas.
I'm going to start down the pathof as a consumer.
What is the experience like forme?
we can get as technical as youneed to, one of the challenges
that you have historically withsurvey companies is that it's
hard.
in the past, we've had, tattleon the show.
We've had, ovation on the show.
We've had SR, SMG on the show.
So we've had different surveycompanies that have done that.
(14:58):
We've had Yelp on that.
on the show in the past.
So they all take a differentapproach, but historically they
find that people aren't willingto spend the time and willing to
spend the energy.
You probably get, 10 surveys aweek sent to you via email.
Tell me how this product was.
Tell me how the service was.
And if it's not easy, you choosenot to, or if you had a really
good example or really badexample, you might take the time
(15:18):
to do it.
But otherwise it's you knowwhat?
If it's what I expected, I'mokay.
So talk to me a little bit aboutas a consumer.
Let's talk about that experiencebecause I think it's critical to
making sure that restaurantsunderstand that it is a value
add for the consumer as well asfor your brand.
And then we can talk about howthe brand deals with it.
Lucas Judice (15:34):
Yeah, no one wants to get opinion from voucher
seekers, right?
People are just there just forthe money or etc.
On the other side, no one isactually willing to share their
opinion if they have no upsideon that.
Just because they want to sharetheir opinion will be again,
either super positive or supernegative.
So the way around that is thatyou have to incentivize people
(15:55):
to answer surveys.
But again, we don't want tovoucher seekers.
So we created, the base, thecreation of this company is that
we are not creating a panel ofrespondents.
We're creating a community ofopinion leaders, we're creating
a community of foodies or acommunity of consumers that like
to share their opinion, thatlike to help places to grow.
(16:17):
And then, they are, of course,they are getting reimbursed in
exchange for their opinion, butmost likely they are liking the
fact that they would beimportant to that restaurant.
And then there are several waysand several avenues for us to
make sure that we are actuallybuilding that community.
And one of them, not to mentionall of them, but one of them is,
giving back to these consumerswhat their opinion, how their
(16:41):
opinion helped these places.
So every now and then, let's sayevery, three to four to six
months, we have a, a report thatis directed to the consumers to
say, you know what consumers nowwe've just collected, 10, 20,
15, 30, 40, 50, 000 surveys.
And these 50, 000 surveyshelped.
X, Y, and Z restaurants, X, Y,and Z jobs, and, you're
(17:04):
important because, you created,X, Y, and Z different products.
So it's actually, we'reproviding that feedback back to
them because they like to knowthey're being helpful, they're
helping, and, they want to bealso helping more and more.
That's one point.
The second point is that, eventhough they are sharing their
opinion in exchange for acashback could be, it isn't like
one, two, 3 percent cashback.
(17:26):
They are getting like a fullmeal.
They're getting 20, 30, 50, 40,50 in cash back.
So it's actually more like areimbursement, but not
necessarily cash back.
But they are not doing only onerestaurant per month.
They're doing, two, three, four,five per week.
So after the full month, it'sbasically another salary they're
(17:47):
getting, right?
Because they get their salary,they pay, but then they're
getting the cash back.
So it's an extra money thatthey're making at the end of the
month.
So it's very profitable for theconsumers.
And at the end of the day,they're answering a survey that
will take maybe five to sevenminutes.
That's something of course wepay attention to, even though
it's a long survey, basicallyaround 50 to 60 questions.
(18:09):
It's very long, but at the sametime, it is designed in a way
that people will go through 60questions.
Let's say again, in five to sixminutes, it's super quick, fast.
And then, it just, it's a goodcombination that everyone wins.
We are getting paid.
Thank you.
the restaurant is paying, butthey're getting, that money back
to their, revenue.
So it's actually profitable forthem as I mentioned, and I can
(18:30):
explain, more in detail, andthen, the consumers are getting,
financial, incentive as well.
So it's a win, win situationthat just helps, the methodology
to work, which is we need volumeof people, volume of metrics,
and that will lead to, greaterunderstanding of, that place.
Thanks.
Jeremy (18:47):
and you talked about the fact that, I love that idea that
you guys are giving theconsumers the feedback about
what they're impacted.
I say it all the time.
Oftentimes when people complain,it's because they want you to be
better.
They want you to hear them andacknowledge them and then fix
it.
And so those brands that canpivot and hear what the guests
are saying, and again, you'rethose guests that are going to
(19:09):
be the.
What did you call them?
Voucher seekers.
You've got those guests that areonly doing the survey for that.
But many of them, I love thefact that you guys are focusing
in on those that are trying tomake the brand better as a
restaurateur, what does it looklike?
Cause you know, if, and again, Iwas just talking to a restaurant
operator this week at a tradeshow.
and we were talking about how,what are you guys doing with
this data?
(19:29):
Are you using it to impact yourmenu selection?
Are you using it to change yourservice styles?
Are you using it to changepackaging?
I was just on the phone.
I was just recording a podcastearlier with a brand that
changed their packaging fortheir fried foods to something
different because theircomplaints came back that the
fried foods were constantlysoggy when they were delivered.
Great feedback tool, greatopportunity to make the guest
(19:50):
experience better.
If you don't do it.
Ultimately, the guests are goingto be dissatisfied or they're
going to go away and you're notgoing to know about it.
So as a restaurateur, how do Ireceive this data and how does
it not get overwhelming that I'mjust getting inundated with 50,
000 surveys and I don't knowwhat just, I'm playing whack a
mole, like that game at thecarnival where you're hitting
the little mole that pops up andyou gotta hit this one and then
you gotta hit this one.
(20:11):
You gotta hit this one.
Tell me a little bit about therestaurant experience and how
they're getting this data tomake it actionable because.
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(20:56):
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Lucas Judice (21:07):
so yeah, it's a great question.
And then, A lot of operatorswill say, Lucas, I have so much
data that I don't know what todo with that.
And then that again, goes backto the origin of the company,
which is we needed not only tohave, to make sure that we have
the best data set possible, butalso make sure that every, Every
cross analysis that we do, everyway that we understand that data
set is actually usable by theoperators, right?
(21:30):
By the restaurateur, because itdoesn't make sense, to be
another, data company out there,sharing a lot of reports that
will not be used.
So again, When I say that we aretracking like a hundred metrics,
I'm not saying that we're goingto be providing a hundred
metrics to our clients.
Actually, we need, as Imentioned, we need to track
everything.
So then we can somewhat, itisn't the best explanation, but
(21:51):
it's a good one.
we, we can apply that Pareto,like the H20 rule to understand,
okay, what are the, what's the20% that you have to pay
attention to that will lead to80 percent of your results.
but again, to get to that 20%, Ihave to have a greater
perception of everything that'shappening.
when we collect that data, weare making sure again, that we
are, cross analyzing that dataand break it down into small
(22:14):
specific reports.
So we have more than 70 reportsand each one of these reports
have either two, three, four,slides.
Or they are on the dashboard, orit's a really quick and direct
message on, on, on the email.
So it's a very, bite sizedinformation, very like small and
bite sized information that it'seasy to take actions on, right?
(22:35):
And then one of the reports thatwe have, for example, is what we
call the, revenue growth plan ofaction, in which we'll
understand everything that ishappening in that place.
And applying the what we callthe cause and effect
relationship, maybe, in otherwords, finding correlation and
causation.
We'll understand, okay, what'sthe best course of action, which
(22:55):
is basically a one slide, what'sthe best course of action for
you as an operator, to implementthe X, Y, and Z actions.
And then you would see a greaterrevenue, greater quality of
perception, greater, reputationand et cetera.
So it's all about making surethat.
It's simple to use the dashboardis simple to use the PDFs is
simple to understand and theyread they know the actions and
(23:17):
then take actions and then ofcourse next month they can see
how much they grew in terms ofagain finance, revenue or maybe
quality perception.
Jeremy (23:27):
to me, you mentioned it in the onset about the use of AI
to capture this data.
How are you guys, wouldn't be a,it wouldn't be a technology
podcast in 2024 if we didn'ttalk about AI and in some way,
shape, or form, so talk to me alittle bit about how AI is
helping accelerate the learningsthat you guys are having and
then ultimately able to deliverback to the restaurateur.
Lucas Judice (23:46):
Awesome.
So basically AI is the basefoundation of our company.
we don't, everything that we do,since, from the moment the
consumer shares their opinion,again, it isn't one consumer,
but many consumers.
We don't do anything else.
It's just a click of a button.
Everything is ready.
And then that click of a buttonwill bring.
machine learning because we haveso many different restaurants
(24:08):
being, analyzed and we knowexactly what each restaurant is
doing in terms of what are theactions they're implementing
that we know which action worksbetter than others.
And then the machine learning isanalyzing everything.
And then also we have.
image, analysis, automatedanalysis, which is we receive so
many pictures directly from theconsumers and these pictures may
(24:29):
have a burger, a pizza, a soda,whatever it is.
And then the AI is actuallyanalyzing if there is any
problem.
What's the ranking between allthe products that we're
receiving and what's the topperformer and then the worst
performer, depending on notnecessarily sales, the quality
perception.
And then we have also sentimentanalysis.
all these surveys, not only theyhave to answer, multiple choice,
(24:51):
questions, but also they have totype a few comments.
So that sentiment analysis isautomatically understanding.
What they like, what they don'tlike and how to, again, find
hidden opportunities.
So it's all about AI.
We don't do anything.
And in our, understanding.
An AI company can be summarizedin so many different ways.
In our way, one of the ways thatwe can say that we are an AI
(25:13):
company is that we havealgorithm thinking for a human.
We have, 100, 200, 1, 000surveys.
It's a lot of lines in aspreadsheet.
It's a lot of millions of linesin a code.
but then press of a button, thealgorithm will understand
everything and will spit onepage saying, okay, that's the
best page for you.
if you want to increase revenueby X percent.
(25:35):
And there is a direct relationbetween.
Increasing wow factor andincreasing revenue.
That's just amazing howtechnology can get that far.
Jeremy (25:44):
and I think it's, I think it's something that, we
are constantly.
Can I continue to innovate?
And I think the, the use of AI,like I said, I just got back
from a trade show and the amountof people that were talking
about how AI is acceleratingstaff and guests ability to make
decisions has been incredible.
Talk to me about a couple ofsuccess stories, Lucas, from a
couple of the brands that youguys worked with.
(26:05):
What does it look like?
Is it a 1 percent increase insales?
Is it a 1 percent increase incustomer attention?
Is it a, talk to me a little bitabout what people can expect if
they move forward with somethinglike freets.
Lucas Judice (26:17):
before I answer to that, something that I just
thought about, going back to theAI question, which for me is
interesting to explain is that,everyone knows about chat GPT
nowadays, and then you can askeverything to, for chat GPT, and
then you'll answer, sometimeswe'll hallucinate.
and then when talking abouthospitality, company, when
talking about hospitalitycompany, the understanding of
(26:37):
what's, what, what needed to be,what needs to be done goes back
to the consumers because you'reselling to these consumers and
et cetera.
So you cannot, as a, you can usechat dbt to help you manage your
restaurants because.
Chat TPT may know, the basestandard, do's and don'ts for
restaurants, but chat TPT has noidea of your consumer's
(26:59):
perception, your consumerexpectations.
again, explaining what we do inanother way, comparing with chat
TPT, I have a feature, which, wecall the free to system, which
is basically ask anything.
Oh, how do I increase sales?
what about my, pizza, whatever,flavor?
What about this?
What about that?
I can ask anything.
And then, the AI will actuallybring the answer without
(27:20):
hallucinating, but that answerwill be based 100 percent on the
consumer's perception of thatspecific place.
So I'm not going to, publicly,I'm not gonna get answers, of
public sources, but chatGBTusually does, but from
specifically that group ofconsumers that will make or
break that place.
So that's another way just to,to show how far we went in terms
(27:43):
of using AI to, again, ask aquestion, you got the answer
based on your consumers, peoplewho are paying the bills for
you.
yeah, go ahead.
Jeremy (27:51):
how, I would say, so how do you deliver this for free?
Like net, net free, it soundstoo good to be true, Lucas.
I am eager to hear how you'redelivering this to these
restaurants at a net, no cost tothem.
Because I think, it's like,what's the catch.
Tell me what the catch isbefore, before they learn a
little bit more about how to,how to get in touch with you and
sign up.
Lucas Judice (28:12):
Awesome.
And I do want to go back to thecase studies later, because
that's interesting, veryinteresting questions as well,
but the no net free cost.
no net cost actually is just,the idea that at the end of the
month, at the end of thecampaign, let's say the survey
campaign, the restaurant willactually have either no cost or
actually we'll make profits outof that data collection process.
(28:35):
So let me bring one example thatwill, be easier to understand.
So let's say we do a cashback,let's say we do a survey that we
are, reimbursing 40.
Okay.
for that consumer, will launchthat voucher in our platform.
The consumer will reserve thatvoucher and by reserving the
voucher, the consumer knows thathe or she will have 40 in that
(28:55):
example.
if they go to the restaurantwithin three days, eat whatever
they want to eat.
Pay with their money, go back tothe website, fill out the
survey, and as soon as thatsurvey, as soon as that survey
is approved, meaning it's a goodsurvey, not that the rating is
good, but it was, it's a logicalsurvey, we'll provide that
cashback.
even though we're providing that40 in cashback for that example,
(29:17):
when the consumer goes to thatplace, he or she will not spend
only 40.
Because you know what, if I'mgetting 40 in cashback, why not
getting that dessert or maybemore drinks, more appetizer,
whatever.
So on average, our users arespending 50 percent on top of
the cashback.
So for that example, if they'regetting 40, they'll be spending
60 just because they ate a 60meal, but in their mind cost
(29:40):
only 20 because they knowthey're getting 40.
Not only this, but they don'twant to go by themselves.
They want to take friends andfamily with them.
And these extra people do nothave the right to be reimbursed,
but they're going there anyways,because our users, have the
voucher.
and these extra people, again,each one of them will spend,
let's say the average check inthat location.
(30:00):
So going back to themathematics.
If our users got 40 in cashback, but they spent 60, but
then the, let's say they tookone, one gas with them, that gas
is spending another 40.
So for that one experience inwhich we gave 40 in cash back.
Actually, the bill was, whathere, 100.
Jeremy (30:22):
A hundred with a 40 discount.
So net 60.
Yeah.
Lucas Judice (30:27):
exactly.
So that's a profitable datacollection.
And of course, we have theservice fee, which in our case,
we want to make sure that we'recreating volume.
everything is automated on ourside.
if we want to create volume andeverything is automated, I don't
need to charge 100, 200, 300 persurvey.
I can charge 10 per survey,sometimes even less.
So it really depends on how, thelength of the contract or
(30:47):
everything.
But the point is, even if wecharge 10 per survey, plus the
40 for that example, for thecashback, that consumer spend
100.
Let's say they take two peoplewith them, three, four, five.
So the more guests they takewith them, bigger the check.
And then of course, betterrevenue they'll have.
and even if you, discount thefood cost.
(31:08):
They're still making money onaverage to every 1, 000 that is
invested on Fritz, includingcashback plus a service fee,
we're generating 1, 900 insales.
So that makes everythingprofitable.
And that's the incentive thatthe operator needed in order to
decide, okay, you know what?
If it's profitable, even thoughit isn't like a huge profit, it
(31:30):
doesn't need to be a hugeprofit.
We're not a sales channel, butif there is a profit or even if
it is net profit, even if it'szeros out, I invest a thousand
and we created like whatever,even if considering the food
costs, even if the operatorszeros out the investment.
they're still getting a lot ofdata that will help them
increase revenue down the line.
(31:51):
So if it's profitable or atleast known at cost, why not
survey 40, 50, 60, 70 people permonth?
That's a catch.
Jeremy (31:58):
and at the end of the day, those people are going to
come back because you're fixingtheir problems.
And so Lucas, why don't you talkthrough just one quick case
study before we let people knowhow to get in touch with you?
Cause we're, I know typicallywhen I get to about that 35 to
40 minute mark, people start totune out and I start to see the
retention drop off.
So talk to me a little bit aboutsomebody that you guys have done
this for that really is seeinggreat results.
(32:19):
Both from the guest satisfactionand really, issuing these
surveys and what it's lookedlike for them and how it's, how
it's helped their business grow.
Oh yeah.
And
Lucas Judice (32:29):
Okay.
so actually I'm gonna give twoquick examples.
'cause they are, that they addon to each other.
One wa was a case that it's abrand.
They have one hundred and twentyone hundred thirty locations and
then we run a pilot with them,was an interesting one.
That's super, recent, this one.
And then out of these 120, 100and 30 locations.
(32:49):
10 locations were actuallyreally paying attention to the
data set.
And in that, for that 10locations, we were able to
understand what were the mostimportant indicators that were
driving their revenue down.
Or which, were the actions theywould need to take in order to
increase that wow factor.
And by increasing the wowfactor, people would be happier,
(33:10):
they would come back more, theywould, have less churn.
they would, just their NPS wouldbe better.
Anyway, so we're able tounderstand for that specific,
situation that friendliness wasplaying a good, role in that.
Decoration as well.
Speedness.
And then, the last one was, ooh,let me remember here.
Oh, flavor and quality.
these are basic things, right?
(33:32):
But these 10 stores, they reallypaid attention to that.
They didn't change the menuitems.
It didn't change anything.
It was just paying attention tothese four items.
And they were able to, implementactions.
They were implemented trainingsessions.
They implemented, just, they setthe expectation a little better
for their consumers.
Long story short.
These, 10 stores increaserevenue by 17 percent compared
(33:56):
to the other 120 stores, justbecause they were, nothing else
happened.
No one, no competitor closed thedoors across the street.
Nothing else happens, but theywere just paying attention.
Of course, I'm just simplifyinga much longer, kind of case
study, but the point is.
After paying attention to theirconsumers, paying attention to
(34:17):
the ability of wow, wowing theirconsumers, they were able to
increase their returningclients, their frequency as
well.
And that at the end of themonth, actually at the end of
the year, made them increase 17percent in sales for that
specific example.
Another quick example here aswell, that's interesting, which
(34:37):
is more like a hiddenopportunity that we're able to
uncover with the first one wasmore trying to understand what
impacts wow and how to wowpeople better.
But the second one, wasn'trelated to wowing people, but
was, More like a hiddenopportunity.
Easy one to see, but no one wasseeing.
But this place, fine diningrestaurant, full, full service.
They were, for the past sixmonths, they were increasing,
(35:00):
sales, figure for wine.
They're selling more wine forthe past six months.
But then when we ran theservice, meaning they were
happy, with, increasing salesfigures for a wine offering.
After running the survey, we sawthat only 13 percent of their
waiters were actually beingproactive in offering that wine.
So we created a, this plan ofaction for them.
(35:20):
They implement a few actions tohave the waiters increase that
effectiveness for upsellingwine.
And after three to four months,they were able to increase every
check.
By 20 percent because now morepeople are buying wine and of
course, more people are, theaverage checks just higher for,
as a whole for these, consumers,and then that will impact
(35:42):
overall average check across,that, that experience that, that
place.
again, selling more or less winewouldn't impact the wow factor,
but that was a hiddenopportunity that we're able to
uncover, even though in the pastsix months, they were
increasing, wine sales.
Anyways, these are two quickexamples that, when you pay
attention to wowing people, youcan, and you track that you can
actually, see value, seeincreasing in revenue, down the
(36:05):
line.
Jeremy (36:06):
at the day, the guests win, the restaurant wins.
and, as you said, it's a,everybody wins.
so how do people get in touchwith you, Lucas?
How do people learn more about,other than if you're friends
with Stephen, You got to callStephen and say, Hey, how do I
get in touch with Lucas?
Which, I'm teasing cause Stephenfeels, it feels like Stephen
knows everybody, but, teasingjust a little bit, but, but, how
do people get in touch withFreeds?
How they learn more, figure outif it's right for their
(36:27):
restaurant and how they can,they can implement a solution
like what you guys have.
Lucas Judice (36:31):
quick way, LinkedIn, Lucas, Judas,
LinkedIn, or maybe freets.
com.
to go directly to the,institutional page, b2b.
fritz.
com.
That's also another, potentiallink, but whoever is willing to
embrace that objective to wowingtheir customers.
In every, touch point, if theyare wowing people and then what
(36:53):
are the metrics that will makepeople be more or less wowed.
And if they are willing to trackthat wow ness, that's a good
starting point to have them,think about, okay, what are the
tools out there in the market?
And do I want to go like fulldeep dive to really understand
what's happening?
Do I want to go more like justtouch the surface, be, not
necessarily too deep, butanyways, There are space, there,
(37:14):
there's room for, a lot ofpotential avenues, but if they
want to get in touch, if theyare willing to get that, that,
that tracking, done, we are morethan welcome, welcome to talk to
them.
Jeremy (37:26):
I love what you guys are solving for.
I know there's lots of differentways that people are solving
this problem, but you guys havesome unique value proposition
and some unique ways about goingabout it.
So Lucas, thank you.
Thank you for sharing some ofyour wisdom on how you guys are
solving these problems.
I always love entrepreneurs thatare solving real world problems.
to our listeners, guys, we knowthat you guys have got lots of
choices while you guys areonline.
(37:46):
Go check out freets.
com.
go check out restaurant.
Technology guys.
com subscribe to the newsletter.
Once a month, you'll get anemail with all of the episodes,
Lucas.
Thank you so much for your time.
And to our listeners, make it agreat day.
Thanks for listening to theRestaurant Technology Guys
podcast.
Visit www.
RestaurantTechnologyGuys.
com for tips, industry insights,and more to help you run your
(38:10):
restaurant better.
This is the RestaurantTechnology Guys podcast.
Helping you run your restaurantbetter.
Jeremy (00:11):
Welcome back to the restaurant technology guys
podcast.
I thank everyone out there forjoining us.
as I say, each and every time Iknow you guys have got lots of
choices, so I appreciate youguys spending time, with us
today, we are joined by atechnologist that, I got
introduced through a mutualfriend and, I think Lucas is
doing some really cool stuff,but Lucas, before you jump into
kind of what you guys are doingon the professional side, Tell
(00:32):
us a little bit about who Lucasis and how did, how did we come
to meet and how, how did you getto where you are today?
Yeah.
Lucas Judice (00:40):
for inviting me to be on the show.
we got introduced by StevenRonnow, good friend of mine here
in LA and a friend of yours aswell.
And then the best connector everthat I met when I moved to the
US, awesome guy.
And then, again, as youmentioned, and then since I
moved to the U S but, and talk alittle bit about myself, I'm
(01:00):
half Brazilian, half American.
I grew up in Brazil with a lotof, good connections there.
We're just not talking aboutPicanha, Xhorasco and that's my
background.
And, I came to the U S about,13, 11 years ago, actually.
And I was working as a lawyer,full time job lawyer.
I had my own law office.
And when I came to the U.
S., I came, especially to take amaster's at USC.
(01:23):
And then after, basically oneyear away from my law office, I
was like, you know what?
I want to do this technologything.
I want to be an entrepreneuragain.
I want to start my own newthing, my own technology
company.
So long story short, Itransitioned from being a full
time lawyer.
To a, intrapreneur within the,market research industry,
(01:44):
customer experience, AI,understanding people.
It's more like we open it and wecreate a company that it's a
big, people understandingcompany.
We understand consumers.
We understand what they think,why they go to places, why they
don't go to places, why they'relike competitors, why they're
like these or that kind ofproduct or service, and then we
transform that.
We transform that intospecifics.
(02:07):
do's and don'ts for operators toboost their, sales, boost their
connection to their clients.
Anyways, again, it's interestinghow, you never thought, I never
thought in my life that I wouldgo from being a lawyer to, a
full time tech, founder, buthere I am after, a couple of
years, dealing and, runningFritz.
that's a position.
Jeremy (02:27):
And I love, entrepreneurial stories like
that.
I had a previous guest on and Itease him from time to time.
Cause he was like, I don't know.
He was like, he went fromWelding or plumbering to being a
marketing guy.
And I'm like, how does thishappen?
So from your story, walk methrough that journey.
What, what took you down thatpath to being, you came to the U
S study, get your master's, law,and then you decided, tell me a
(02:48):
little bit more about why youdecided to start Freedson and
before we dig into deep.
understanding of what it is thatyou guys are solving.
I'd love to hear the originstory of where it came from.
And was it something that youwere frustrated about, or was it
just something that you saw aproblem in the market that you
said, Hey, there's people thatare going to be willing to spend
money on this.
Talk to me a little bit aboutthat.
Lucas Judice (03:06):
yeah, even, even the transitioning from, a lawyer
to entrepreneur that goes back,to my childhood, it's an
interesting story, even thoughit's silly, but that's my story.
to that extent that, when I wasfive years old and I remember
that, like it was yesterday whenI was five years old, I used to
go to my family, beach housestill in Brazil.
And we will, we would go to thebeach and then stay there the
(03:28):
whole day.
But then at some point I wouldstop playing with my friends and
family.
I would go, get, sand out of thegood, I would get sand.
I would get, shells.
And so I would collect a lot ofthings from the beach.
And then I would go back home,get mayonnaise, jar at the time
was all glass, and then I wouldjust.
decorate that thing, go to the,front, front, front porch and
(03:51):
just sell it, like a businessperson, like a salesperson when
I was five years old.
And then, funny story that acouple of years ago, my sister
saw, she found a journal thatshe used to write when she was
younger and then she was like,Oh, Lucas now selling jars and
anyways, it was an awful kind ofjar, but I was there selling.
So I believe that myentrepreneurial, let's say blood
(04:13):
or skin or willingness wasalways there.
and even as a lawyer, I was, amanager, my, I created my law
office.
I opened my office.
I was, the manager was anentrepreneur as a lawyer as
well.
But then my master's year in theU.
S.
It was, even though it was abusiness law masters, it was, I
would say, 90 percent focus onventure capital, balance sheet
(04:34):
and then internationaltransactions and everything way
more, practical,entrepreneurial, lifestyle, but
not necessarily understandinglaw or applying law.
And, a little before comingalso, to take the master's, I
was investing companies inBrazil.
I invested back then in 2012, Iinvested like in four companies.
We wouldn't call them startupcompanies back then.
We would call, Oh, my friendshas a, my, my friends have a,
(04:57):
computer company, whatever.
Nobody would actually call itstartups.
So I was investing thesecompanies.
And then after one year here inthe masters.
I just decided that, you knowwhat, I think that five year old
kid that wants to be, Sally andbeing an entrepreneur, I think
he wants you to get back there.
So I decided to sell my lawoffice.
at the time, as I mentioned, Ihad this, investment, so I
(05:18):
bought the half of the companythat I had with my partner in
the investment company.
And at some point I was doinginvestments in startup
companies, technology companies.
So from 2014 to 2017, I wasinvesting people's, idea.
dreams and at some point it wasagain, you know what I want in
my dream.
I want to invest in my dream,which is, creating my tech
company and pushing forward withall the abilities and skill set
(05:42):
that I, that I have and had atthe time.
And that was how I got to thatmoment in which I decided that I
would open my own company, myown technology company.
And that came fritz.
Jeremy (05:54):
Yeah.
I, and I appreciate that, thatbackstory.
It's always funny to, to thinkback about, so some of those
early days and you talk aboutremembering it, like it was
yesterday that, the five yearold that's Hey, what can I sell?
What can, how can I go, youCreate value for somebody.
Cause clearly, your mayonnaisejar that was a glass that had
sand and shells in it, somebodysaw value in it and said, you
know what, this kid went andworked hard to go make this
(06:14):
happen.
And so talk to us, what isfreets, and I know you and I
chatted about it pre show, but,it comes from the amalgamation
of two different words, but whatis freets?
And then we can talk a littlebit about kind of the problems
that it solves for people.
Lucas Judice (06:25):
So freets, the word freets comes from free
eats, and then just, change thes for the z to make it more,
modern, whatever, and then gotboth words, together.
So that's freets.
again, free eats is an ideathat, If we want to get people's
opinion, if you want to getpeople's understanding, we have
to get that kind of incentiveto, have them share their
(06:46):
opinion.
So that's basically the originof the name, free eats in the
sense that we're going toprovide a free food in exchange
for your opinion, because youropinion matters.
but in other words, what we aresolving here is the lack of
knowledge.
And that also my connection withmy previous years As a lawyer,
I'm always trying to understandto get the most knowledge that I
can, knowledge about everythingthat I can, and then transform
(07:08):
that into, a good, thesis forthe lawsuit, whatever.
So when, we are dealing withunderstanding consumers, we have
to really understand everythingthat is happening within that,
that experience.
So the biggest problem that wesaw in the market today, that's
still a reality, nowadays, isthe lack of knowledge.
And, of course you need, all ofus, we know that we need data,
(07:29):
especially, hospitalitybusinesses.
We know that we need data aboutour consumers if they like, they
don't like and etcetera.
And then we also know that thereare so many sources out there
for consumer perception datathat they're not quite complete.
They're not quite reliable interms of the quality of the data
set.
And they are very limited orsometimes they're so expensive
(07:50):
that no one will actually payfor that.
So there is a big problem in themarket that no one is actually
really pay attention toconsumers.
No one's really understandinghow to wow people, how to get
the most of the experience andhow to give back to these
consumers, which are by the way,the most important people that
you serve to, how to give backtheir experience, what their
(08:11):
expectations actually.
So when you put all of thattogether, it's.
Finding the best way to collectconsumer perception, to
understand consumer perceptionin a reliable way, accurate way,
and then with nice volume ofpeople, of metrics and etc.
(08:31):
And that's how, when you getthat reliability in terms of the
data set they're collecting,that's when you can actually
extract knowledge out of this.
So that's a combination that wewere able to solve.
understanding that there is alack in the market in terms of
consumer knowledge, consumerunderstanding.
And we created that, thatmechanism, that, that method to,
aggregate a lot of data directlyfrom consumers and transform
(08:53):
that into revenue growth, intobetter quality of perception,
into finding hiddenopportunities within, the day to
day operation.
And that's it, just a way to.
To have a, that betterunderstanding.
And by the way, reallyinteresting to mention that
everything at no cost.
Cause if we want to really getpeople's opinion, as I
(09:14):
mentioned, we need the volumeand no one would pay for a huge
volume of information if thatwas too expensive.
So we needed to create a waythat made just a data collection
profitable for everyone involvedor at least no cost for our
clients.
And that's a game changer aswell.
Jeremy (09:31):
and so Lucas, you talk about what you guys are doing,
but what are most restaurantsthat before they engage with
freaks doing, you and I talkedabout it pre show, there's lots
of different places to get thisdata.
and, Historically, at least whenI talk to restaurant operators,
they only hear about the reallybad ones or the really good
ones.
They don't hear about anythingin between.
And that creates a false senseof either dread if they only
(09:52):
hear the really bad ones orthey, it creates a false sense
of security if they only hearabout the people that have
exceptional, experiences.
And the other piece that youtalked about, and I'll let you
riff on it here for a fewminutes is the volume is
typically very low.
single digit percentageshistorically has been how it has
gone versus getting up into the50, 60, 70 percent of people are
(10:13):
giving you feedback.
So talk to me a little bit abouthistorically, how have people
gotten that feedback?
And what is the misnomer aboutjust using Google reviews and
Yelp and open table or whateverthose tools are to get those,
get that data?
Lucas Judice (10:26):
Before I answer that, something that's
interesting to have in mind aswell is that when we talk a
reliable data set, we needvolume, as I mentioned, but
volume divides into two maintype of volumes.
One would be volume of people,which is the one that you were
mentioning that, X percent ofpeople that are actually being
public about, super superdislike that experience.
(10:47):
But also there is a secondcomponent of the volume which is
the number of metrics beingassessed.
if you are surveying someone, ormaybe if you get that poll,
that, that survey that has only,10 questions, your perception is
very limited of what'shappening.
Because as an operator, youdon't have 10 things you have to
pay attention to.
(11:07):
You have 100, 200 things thatyou have to pay attention to.
So in order for you, as anoperator, to understand if,
whatever the temperature, thebathroom, or, the speedness or
the host, or if you want tounderstand who's impacting or
what's impacting your businessor your ability to wow people,
you have to survey everything.
And then you have to drill downto, okay, now that I know 100
(11:29):
things that are happening, whatare the most important things?
So that volume of KPIs, volumeof metrics that you need to
assess, that's also reallyimportant.
So when we go back to themarket, what's there in the
market today?
It's very, in our opinion, it'svery flawed in terms of
understanding consumerperception, and understanding,
the correlation between what areyou doing that is or is not, it
(11:53):
isn't impacting the ability towow people.
you have many, several, you haveseveral tools that are important
to, avoid, a bad review, a badexperience from going public or,
to gather a lot of informationonline that you see some things
on Google Review, Yelp, orTripAdvisor, and then these
platforms will just combineeverything in one platform.
(12:15):
these are amazing tools to helpthe operators to actually
understand what's being said.
But if you want to findoperational opportunities, or if
you want to find what's drivingyour wow ness up or down, you
need more people, you need moreindicators being assessed.
And if you go back to yourquestion, if you go to Google
(12:37):
review, you won't be able tofind it.
If you go to Yelp, you won't beable to find it.
If you go to traditional secretshopping companies, you won't be
able to find it.
It's either it's somewhatexpensive.
Companies will hire only one to,secret shoppers every one or
every two or every three months.
And you don't have enough samplesize and they are the wrong
consumers usually.
So they, and they're beingtrained to be critics.
(12:59):
when you get tablet surveys,It's very limited as well.
You have up to five to seven to10 questions.
You don't see everything.
And then you have, I don't wantto get too technical, but you
have that, what's called a selfselection bias.
People who are actually gettingthat tablet to answer it.
They are either super positiveor super negative.
People that are going to Googlereview, they're either super
(13:19):
positive, super negative.
And we at Freets, we are gettingthe best understanding from
people that you as an operatordo not know about people that
come and go and you don't havetheir name.
You don't know who they are,where they came from, and then
they're not going, online tosay, good or bad things about
you.
So it's a 99 percent of thepeople that you serve to.
(13:40):
That you never survey becausethey're not going again, online
to share their opinion, butthat's the average consumer that
you serve to.
So that's the kind of peoplethat you have to understand.
That's why it's interesting to,to have in mind that when we
send, 60 people per month perlocation, and we're sending the
(14:00):
right consumers to theselocations, that's a really good
source of information to knowexactly what's happening, across
your product, service, physicalenvironment, the ability to have
that emotional connection withyour clients.
Anyway, so that's a little bitof.
How we stand out compared towhatever's out there in the
market.
And again, as I mentioned,everything at no net cost.
(14:22):
So it's amazing to have theopportunity to have a deep,
really deep understanding ofyour real consumers.
Not the biased consumers, butyour real consumers, the 99
percent of consumers that youserve to in a matter that you
don't have to pay for.
Jeremy (14:37):
Yeah, I have a myriad of questions, Lucas.
I'm going to start down the pathof as a consumer.
What is the experience like forme?
we can get as technical as youneed to, one of the challenges
that you have historically withsurvey companies is that it's
hard.
in the past, we've had, tattleon the show.
We've had, ovation on the show.
We've had SR, SMG on the show.
So we've had different surveycompanies that have done that.
(14:58):
We've had Yelp on that.
on the show in the past.
So they all take a differentapproach, but historically they
find that people aren't willingto spend the time and willing to
spend the energy.
You probably get, 10 surveys aweek sent to you via email.
Tell me how this product was.
Tell me how the service was.
And if it's not easy, you choosenot to, or if you had a really
good example or really badexample, you might take the time
(15:18):
to do it.
But otherwise it's you knowwhat?
If it's what I expected, I'mokay.
So talk to me a little bit aboutas a consumer.
Let's talk about that experiencebecause I think it's critical to
making sure that restaurantsunderstand that it is a value
add for the consumer as well asfor your brand.
And then we can talk about howthe brand deals with it.
Lucas Judice (15:34):
Yeah, no one wants to get opinion from voucher
seekers, right?
People are just there just forthe money or etc.
On the other side, no one isactually willing to share their
opinion if they have no upsideon that.
Just because they want to sharetheir opinion will be again,
either super positive or supernegative.
So the way around that is thatyou have to incentivize people
(15:55):
to answer surveys.
But again, we don't want tovoucher seekers.
So we created, the base, thecreation of this company is that
we are not creating a panel ofrespondents.
We're creating a community ofopinion leaders, we're creating
a community of foodies or acommunity of consumers that like
to share their opinion, thatlike to help places to grow.
(16:17):
And then, they are, of course,they are getting reimbursed in
exchange for their opinion, butmost likely they are liking the
fact that they would beimportant to that restaurant.
And then there are several waysand several avenues for us to
make sure that we are actuallybuilding that community.
And one of them, not to mentionall of them, but one of them is,
giving back to these consumerswhat their opinion, how their
(16:41):
opinion helped these places.
So every now and then, let's sayevery, three to four to six
months, we have a, a report thatis directed to the consumers to
say, you know what consumers nowwe've just collected, 10, 20,
15, 30, 40, 50, 000 surveys.
And these 50, 000 surveyshelped.
X, Y, and Z restaurants, X, Y,and Z jobs, and, you're
(17:04):
important because, you created,X, Y, and Z different products.
So it's actually, we'reproviding that feedback back to
them because they like to knowthey're being helpful, they're
helping, and, they want to bealso helping more and more.
That's one point.
The second point is that, eventhough they are sharing their
opinion in exchange for acashback could be, it isn't like
one, two, 3 percent cashback.
(17:26):
They are getting like a fullmeal.
They're getting 20, 30, 50, 40,50 in cash back.
So it's actually more like areimbursement, but not
necessarily cash back.
But they are not doing only onerestaurant per month.
They're doing, two, three, four,five per week.
So after the full month, it'sbasically another salary they're
(17:47):
getting, right?
Because they get their salary,they pay, but then they're
getting the cash back.
So it's an extra money thatthey're making at the end of the
month.
So it's very profitable for theconsumers.
And at the end of the day,they're answering a survey that
will take maybe five to sevenminutes.
That's something of course wepay attention to, even though
it's a long survey, basicallyaround 50 to 60 questions.
(18:09):
It's very long, but at the sametime, it is designed in a way
that people will go through 60questions.
Let's say again, in five to sixminutes, it's super quick, fast.
And then, it just, it's a goodcombination that everyone wins.
We are getting paid.
Thank you.
the restaurant is paying, butthey're getting, that money back
to their, revenue.
So it's actually profitable forthem as I mentioned, and I can
(18:30):
explain, more in detail, andthen, the consumers are getting,
financial, incentive as well.
So it's a win, win situationthat just helps, the methodology
to work, which is we need volumeof people, volume of metrics,
and that will lead to, greaterunderstanding of, that place.
Thanks.
Jeremy (18:47):
and you talked about the fact that, I love that idea that
you guys are giving theconsumers the feedback about
what they're impacted.
I say it all the time.
Oftentimes when people complain,it's because they want you to be
better.
They want you to hear them andacknowledge them and then fix
it.
And so those brands that canpivot and hear what the guests
are saying, and again, you'rethose guests that are going to
(19:09):
be the.
What did you call them?
Voucher seekers.
You've got those guests that areonly doing the survey for that.
But many of them, I love thefact that you guys are focusing
in on those that are trying tomake the brand better as a
restaurateur, what does it looklike?
Cause you know, if, and again, Iwas just talking to a restaurant
operator this week at a tradeshow.
and we were talking about how,what are you guys doing with
this data?
(19:29):
Are you using it to impact yourmenu selection?
Are you using it to change yourservice styles?
Are you using it to changepackaging?
I was just on the phone.
I was just recording a podcastearlier with a brand that
changed their packaging fortheir fried foods to something
different because theircomplaints came back that the
fried foods were constantlysoggy when they were delivered.
Great feedback tool, greatopportunity to make the guest
(19:50):
experience better.
If you don't do it.
Ultimately, the guests are goingto be dissatisfied or they're
going to go away and you're notgoing to know about it.
So as a restaurateur, how do Ireceive this data and how does
it not get overwhelming that I'mjust getting inundated with 50,
000 surveys and I don't knowwhat just, I'm playing whack a
mole, like that game at thecarnival where you're hitting
the little mole that pops up andyou gotta hit this one and then
you gotta hit this one.
(20:11):
You gotta hit this one.
Tell me a little bit about therestaurant experience and how
they're getting this data tomake it actionable because.
Restaurant tours have so much ontheir plates.
It's really hard to focus ifyou're not directing their
energy Anybody that's ever run arestaurant knows the craziness
that happens during a mealperiod in a rush.
One of our partners, RestaurantTechnologies, Total Oil
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(20:33):
that delivers, filters,monitors, and recycles your
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Control the kitchen chaos withTotal Uh, restaurant
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The solution can be provided atno upfront costs.
(20:56):
If you want to learn more,please check out rti inc.
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Lucas Judice (21:07):
so yeah, it's a great question.
And then, A lot of operatorswill say, Lucas, I have so much
data that I don't know what todo with that.
And then that again, goes backto the origin of the company,
which is we needed not only tohave, to make sure that we have
the best data set possible, butalso make sure that every, Every
cross analysis that we do, everyway that we understand that data
set is actually usable by theoperators, right?
(21:30):
By the restaurateur, because itdoesn't make sense, to be
another, data company out there,sharing a lot of reports that
will not be used.
So again, When I say that we aretracking like a hundred metrics,
I'm not saying that we're goingto be providing a hundred
metrics to our clients.
Actually, we need, as Imentioned, we need to track
everything.
So then we can somewhat, itisn't the best explanation, but
(21:51):
it's a good one.
we, we can apply that Pareto,like the H20 rule to understand,
okay, what are the, what's the20% that you have to pay
attention to that will lead to80 percent of your results.
but again, to get to that 20%, Ihave to have a greater
perception of everything that'shappening.
when we collect that data, weare making sure again, that we
are, cross analyzing that dataand break it down into small
(22:14):
specific reports.
So we have more than 70 reportsand each one of these reports
have either two, three, four,slides.
Or they are on the dashboard, orit's a really quick and direct
message on, on, on the email.
So it's a very, bite sizedinformation, very like small and
bite sized information that it'seasy to take actions on, right?
(22:35):
And then one of the reports thatwe have, for example, is what we
call the, revenue growth plan ofaction, in which we'll
understand everything that ishappening in that place.
And applying the what we callthe cause and effect
relationship, maybe, in otherwords, finding correlation and
causation.
We'll understand, okay, what'sthe best course of action, which
(22:55):
is basically a one slide, what'sthe best course of action for
you as an operator, to implementthe X, Y, and Z actions.
And then you would see a greaterrevenue, greater quality of
perception, greater, reputationand et cetera.
So it's all about making surethat.
It's simple to use the dashboardis simple to use the PDFs is
simple to understand and theyread they know the actions and
(23:17):
then take actions and then ofcourse next month they can see
how much they grew in terms ofagain finance, revenue or maybe
quality perception.
Jeremy (23:27):
to me, you mentioned it in the onset about the use of AI
to capture this data.
How are you guys, wouldn't be a,it wouldn't be a technology
podcast in 2024 if we didn'ttalk about AI and in some way,
shape, or form, so talk to me alittle bit about how AI is
helping accelerate the learningsthat you guys are having and
then ultimately able to deliverback to the restaurateur.
Lucas Judice (23:46):
Awesome.
So basically AI is the basefoundation of our company.
we don't, everything that we do,since, from the moment the
consumer shares their opinion,again, it isn't one consumer,
but many consumers.
We don't do anything else.
It's just a click of a button.
Everything is ready.
And then that click of a buttonwill bring.
machine learning because we haveso many different restaurants
(24:08):
being, analyzed and we knowexactly what each restaurant is
doing in terms of what are theactions they're implementing
that we know which action worksbetter than others.
And then the machine learning isanalyzing everything.
And then also we have.
image, analysis, automatedanalysis, which is we receive so
many pictures directly from theconsumers and these pictures may
(24:29):
have a burger, a pizza, a soda,whatever it is.
And then the AI is actuallyanalyzing if there is any
problem.
What's the ranking between allthe products that we're
receiving and what's the topperformer and then the worst
performer, depending on notnecessarily sales, the quality
perception.
And then we have also sentimentanalysis.
all these surveys, not only theyhave to answer, multiple choice,
(24:51):
questions, but also they have totype a few comments.
So that sentiment analysis isautomatically understanding.
What they like, what they don'tlike and how to, again, find
hidden opportunities.
So it's all about AI.
We don't do anything.
And in our, understanding.
An AI company can be summarizedin so many different ways.
In our way, one of the ways thatwe can say that we are an AI
(25:13):
company is that we havealgorithm thinking for a human.
We have, 100, 200, 1, 000surveys.
It's a lot of lines in aspreadsheet.
It's a lot of millions of linesin a code.
but then press of a button, thealgorithm will understand
everything and will spit onepage saying, okay, that's the
best page for you.
if you want to increase revenueby X percent.
(25:35):
And there is a direct relationbetween.
Increasing wow factor andincreasing revenue.
That's just amazing howtechnology can get that far.
Jeremy (25:44):
and I think it's, I think it's something that, we
are constantly.
Can I continue to innovate?
And I think the, the use of AI,like I said, I just got back
from a trade show and the amountof people that were talking
about how AI is acceleratingstaff and guests ability to make
decisions has been incredible.
Talk to me about a couple ofsuccess stories, Lucas, from a
couple of the brands that youguys worked with.
(26:05):
What does it look like?
Is it a 1 percent increase insales?
Is it a 1 percent increase incustomer attention?
Is it a, talk to me a little bitabout what people can expect if
they move forward with somethinglike freets.
Lucas Judice (26:17):
before I answer to that, something that I just
thought about, going back to theAI question, which for me is
interesting to explain is that,everyone knows about chat GPT
nowadays, and then you can askeverything to, for chat GPT, and
then you'll answer, sometimeswe'll hallucinate.
and then when talking abouthospitality, company, when
talking about hospitalitycompany, the understanding of
(26:37):
what's, what, what needed to be,what needs to be done goes back
to the consumers because you'reselling to these consumers and
et cetera.
So you cannot, as a, you can usechat dbt to help you manage your
restaurants because.
Chat TPT may know, the basestandard, do's and don'ts for
restaurants, but chat TPT has noidea of your consumer's
(26:59):
perception, your consumerexpectations.
again, explaining what we do inanother way, comparing with chat
TPT, I have a feature, which, wecall the free to system, which
is basically ask anything.
Oh, how do I increase sales?
what about my, pizza, whatever,flavor?
What about this?
What about that?
I can ask anything.
And then, the AI will actuallybring the answer without
(27:20):
hallucinating, but that answerwill be based 100 percent on the
consumer's perception of thatspecific place.
So I'm not going to, publicly,I'm not gonna get answers, of
public sources, but chatGBTusually does, but from
specifically that group ofconsumers that will make or
break that place.
So that's another way just to,to show how far we went in terms
(27:43):
of using AI to, again, ask aquestion, you got the answer
based on your consumers, peoplewho are paying the bills for
you.
yeah, go ahead.
Jeremy (27:51):
how, I would say, so how do you deliver this for free?
Like net, net free, it soundstoo good to be true, Lucas.
I am eager to hear how you'redelivering this to these
restaurants at a net, no cost tothem.
Because I think, it's like,what's the catch.
Tell me what the catch isbefore, before they learn a
little bit more about how to,how to get in touch with you and
sign up.
Lucas Judice (28:12):
Awesome.
And I do want to go back to thecase studies later, because
that's interesting, veryinteresting questions as well,
but the no net free cost.
no net cost actually is just,the idea that at the end of the
month, at the end of thecampaign, let's say the survey
campaign, the restaurant willactually have either no cost or
actually we'll make profits outof that data collection process.
(28:35):
So let me bring one example thatwill, be easier to understand.
So let's say we do a cashback,let's say we do a survey that we
are, reimbursing 40.
Okay.
for that consumer, will launchthat voucher in our platform.
The consumer will reserve thatvoucher and by reserving the
voucher, the consumer knows thathe or she will have 40 in that
(28:55):
example.
if they go to the restaurantwithin three days, eat whatever
they want to eat.
Pay with their money, go back tothe website, fill out the
survey, and as soon as thatsurvey, as soon as that survey
is approved, meaning it's a goodsurvey, not that the rating is
good, but it was, it's a logicalsurvey, we'll provide that
cashback.
even though we're providing that40 in cashback for that example,
(29:17):
when the consumer goes to thatplace, he or she will not spend
only 40.
Because you know what, if I'mgetting 40 in cashback, why not
getting that dessert or maybemore drinks, more appetizer,
whatever.
So on average, our users arespending 50 percent on top of
the cashback.
So for that example, if they'regetting 40, they'll be spending
60 just because they ate a 60meal, but in their mind cost
(29:40):
only 20 because they knowthey're getting 40.
Not only this, but they don'twant to go by themselves.
They want to take friends andfamily with them.
And these extra people do nothave the right to be reimbursed,
but they're going there anyways,because our users, have the
voucher.
and these extra people, again,each one of them will spend,
let's say the average check inthat location.
(30:00):
So going back to themathematics.
If our users got 40 in cashback, but they spent 60, but
then the, let's say they tookone, one gas with them, that gas
is spending another 40.
So for that one experience inwhich we gave 40 in cash back.
Actually, the bill was, whathere, 100.
Jeremy (30:22):
A hundred with a 40 discount.
So net 60.
Yeah.
Lucas Judice (30:27):
exactly.
So that's a profitable datacollection.
And of course, we have theservice fee, which in our case,
we want to make sure that we'recreating volume.
everything is automated on ourside.
if we want to create volume andeverything is automated, I don't
need to charge 100, 200, 300 persurvey.
I can charge 10 per survey,sometimes even less.
So it really depends on how, thelength of the contract or
(30:47):
everything.
But the point is, even if wecharge 10 per survey, plus the
40 for that example, for thecashback, that consumer spend
100.
Let's say they take two peoplewith them, three, four, five.
So the more guests they takewith them, bigger the check.
And then of course, betterrevenue they'll have.
and even if you, discount thefood cost.
(31:08):
They're still making money onaverage to every 1, 000 that is
invested on Fritz, includingcashback plus a service fee,
we're generating 1, 900 insales.
So that makes everythingprofitable.
And that's the incentive thatthe operator needed in order to
decide, okay, you know what?
If it's profitable, even thoughit isn't like a huge profit, it
(31:30):
doesn't need to be a hugeprofit.
We're not a sales channel, butif there is a profit or even if
it is net profit, even if it'szeros out, I invest a thousand
and we created like whatever,even if considering the food
costs, even if the operatorszeros out the investment.
they're still getting a lot ofdata that will help them
increase revenue down the line.
(31:51):
So if it's profitable or atleast known at cost, why not
survey 40, 50, 60, 70 people permonth?
That's a catch.
Jeremy (31:58):
and at the end of the day, those people are going to
come back because you're fixingtheir problems.
And so Lucas, why don't you talkthrough just one quick case
study before we let people knowhow to get in touch with you?
Cause we're, I know typicallywhen I get to about that 35 to
40 minute mark, people start totune out and I start to see the
retention drop off.
So talk to me a little bit aboutsomebody that you guys have done
this for that really is seeinggreat results.
(32:19):
Both from the guest satisfactionand really, issuing these
surveys and what it's lookedlike for them and how it's, how
it's helped their business grow.
Oh yeah.
And
Lucas Judice (32:29):
Okay.
so actually I'm gonna give twoquick examples.
'cause they are, that they addon to each other.
One wa was a case that it's abrand.
They have one hundred and twentyone hundred thirty locations and
then we run a pilot with them,was an interesting one.
That's super, recent, this one.
And then out of these 120, 100and 30 locations.
(32:49):
10 locations were actuallyreally paying attention to the
data set.
And in that, for that 10locations, we were able to
understand what were the mostimportant indicators that were
driving their revenue down.
Or which, were the actions theywould need to take in order to
increase that wow factor.
And by increasing the wowfactor, people would be happier,
(33:10):
they would come back more, theywould, have less churn.
they would, just their NPS wouldbe better.
Anyway, so we're able tounderstand for that specific,
situation that friendliness wasplaying a good, role in that.
Decoration as well.
Speedness.
And then, the last one was, ooh,let me remember here.
Oh, flavor and quality.
these are basic things, right?
(33:32):
But these 10 stores, they reallypaid attention to that.
They didn't change the menuitems.
It didn't change anything.
It was just paying attention tothese four items.
And they were able to, implementactions.
They were implemented trainingsessions.
They implemented, just, they setthe expectation a little better
for their consumers.
Long story short.
These, 10 stores increaserevenue by 17 percent compared
(33:56):
to the other 120 stores, justbecause they were, nothing else
happened.
No one, no competitor closed thedoors across the street.
Nothing else happens, but theywere just paying attention.
Of course, I'm just simplifyinga much longer, kind of case
study, but the point is.
After paying attention to theirconsumers, paying attention to
(34:17):
the ability of wow, wowing theirconsumers, they were able to
increase their returningclients, their frequency as
well.
And that at the end of themonth, actually at the end of
the year, made them increase 17percent in sales for that
specific example.
Another quick example here aswell, that's interesting, which
(34:37):
is more like a hiddenopportunity that we're able to
uncover with the first one wasmore trying to understand what
impacts wow and how to wowpeople better.
But the second one, wasn'trelated to wowing people, but
was, More like a hiddenopportunity.
Easy one to see, but no one wasseeing.
But this place, fine diningrestaurant, full, full service.
They were, for the past sixmonths, they were increasing,
(35:00):
sales, figure for wine.
They're selling more wine forthe past six months.
But then when we ran theservice, meaning they were
happy, with, increasing salesfigures for a wine offering.
After running the survey, we sawthat only 13 percent of their
waiters were actually beingproactive in offering that wine.
So we created a, this plan ofaction for them.
(35:20):
They implement a few actions tohave the waiters increase that
effectiveness for upsellingwine.
And after three to four months,they were able to increase every
check.
By 20 percent because now morepeople are buying wine and of
course, more people are, theaverage checks just higher for,
as a whole for these, consumers,and then that will impact
(35:42):
overall average check across,that, that experience that, that
place.
again, selling more or less winewouldn't impact the wow factor,
but that was a hiddenopportunity that we're able to
uncover, even though in the pastsix months, they were
increasing, wine sales.
Anyways, these are two quickexamples that, when you pay
attention to wowing people, youcan, and you track that you can
actually, see value, seeincreasing in revenue, down the
(36:05):
line.
Jeremy (36:06):
at the day, the guests win, the restaurant wins.
and, as you said, it's a,everybody wins.
so how do people get in touchwith you, Lucas?
How do people learn more about,other than if you're friends
with Stephen, You got to callStephen and say, Hey, how do I
get in touch with Lucas?
Which, I'm teasing cause Stephenfeels, it feels like Stephen
knows everybody, but, teasingjust a little bit, but, but, how
do people get in touch withFreeds?
How they learn more, figure outif it's right for their
(36:27):
restaurant and how they can,they can implement a solution
like what you guys have.
Lucas Judice (36:31):
quick way, LinkedIn, Lucas, Judas,
LinkedIn, or maybe freets.
com.
to go directly to the,institutional page, b2b.
fritz.
com.
That's also another, potentiallink, but whoever is willing to
embrace that objective to wowingtheir customers.
In every, touch point, if theyare wowing people and then what
(36:53):
are the metrics that will makepeople be more or less wowed.
And if they are willing to trackthat wow ness, that's a good
starting point to have them,think about, okay, what are the
tools out there in the market?
And do I want to go like fulldeep dive to really understand
what's happening?
Do I want to go more like justtouch the surface, be, not
necessarily too deep, butanyways, There are space, there,
(37:14):
there's room for, a lot ofpotential avenues, but if they
want to get in touch, if theyare willing to get that, that,
that tracking, done, we are morethan welcome, welcome to talk to
them.
Jeremy (37:26):
I love what you guys are solving for.
I know there's lots of differentways that people are solving
this problem, but you guys havesome unique value proposition
and some unique ways about goingabout it.
So Lucas, thank you.
Thank you for sharing some ofyour wisdom on how you guys are
solving these problems.
I always love entrepreneurs thatare solving real world problems.
to our listeners, guys, we knowthat you guys have got lots of
choices while you guys areonline.
(37:46):
Go check out freets.
com.
go check out restaurant.
Technology guys.
com subscribe to the newsletter.
Once a month, you'll get anemail with all of the episodes,
Lucas.
Thank you so much for your time.
And to our listeners, make it agreat day.
Thanks for listening to theRestaurant Technology Guys
podcast.
Visit www.
RestaurantTechnologyGuys.
com for tips, industry insights,and more to help you run your
(38:10):
restaurant better.
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