September 15, 2025 • 32 mins
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Finding the right technology partner for your restaurant shouldn't feel like a blind date gone wrong, yet for many operators, that's exactly what it becomes.
Seth Rankin, with 20 years of experience at OpenTable and a passion for growing people and companies, pulls back the curtain on what truly matters when selecting restaurant technology.
The conversation dives deep into why most restaurants struggle with their tech partnerships. Seth explains that the disconnect often begins when technology companies focus on their features rather than understanding the restaurant's specific challenges.
With the average restaurant juggling 15 different technology systems, operators need partners who ask the right questions:
- What problem are you trying to solve?
- How is this affecting your business?
- What are your goals for the next 6-12 months?
Seth offers practical guidance on evaluating potential tech partners, emphasizing the importance of referrals, integration capabilities, and comprehensive support structures.
As he humorously notes, "Nothing crashes on a Sunday at 9 PM—it's always on a Friday at 7 PM," highlighting why responsive support during critical service times is non-negotiable. Beyond reactive support, Seth outlines what proactive quarterly check-ins should look like, encouraging operators to come prepared with specific examples and feedback.
The conversation shifts to emerging technologies, with Seth providing insights on various platforms from POS systems to reservation tools and artificial intelligence applications.
He makes a compelling case for embracing AI in appropriate contexts, comparing today's hesitation to the early resistance toward digital reservation systems. Just as those systems ultimately enhanced rather than replaced the maître d' role, today's AI tools can handle routine inquiries while freeing staff to deliver more meaningful hospitality.
Whether you're evaluating new technology or trying to get more from your existing systems, this episode offers actionable strategies for building tech partnerships that truly support your restaurant's success. Reach out to Seth directly at Seth@SethRankin.com for personalized guidance on navigating the complex world of hospitality technology.
Resources:
P.S. Ready to take your restaurant to the next level? Here are 3 ways I can support you:
- One-on-One Coaching - Work directly with me to tackle your biggest leadership challenges and scale your operations with confidence. Learn more at christinmarvin.com
- Multi-Unit Mastery Book - Get the complete Independent Restaurant Framework that's helped countless owners build thriving multi-location brands. Grab your copy at https://www.IRFbook.com
- Group Coaching & Leadership Workshops - Join other passionate restaurant leaders in transformative group sessions designed to elevate your entire team. Details at christinmarvin.com
Podcast Production: https://www.lconnorvoice.com/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Today I'm joined by Seth Rankin, 20-year OpenTable
alum and a coach and consultingspecialist in the hospitality
tech space who's passionateabout growing people, teams and
companies.
Seth and I are going to talkabout three important things
today why most restaurantsstruggle to find the right tech
(00:30):
partner and usually what's goingwrong in that selection process
.
What the essential questionsrestaurant owners should be
asking before signing with anytech company to ensure that
they're getting the rightsupport.
And he's going to walk usthrough what quality ongoing
support actually looks like fromthe tech partner perspective.
What restaurants should expectversus what they're actually
(00:54):
getting.
Hope you enjoy this episode.
Welcome to the RestaurantLeadership Podcast, the show
where restaurant leaders learntools, tactics and habits from
the world's greatest operators.
I'm your host, kristen Marvin,with Solutions by Kristen.
I've spent the last two decadesin the restaurant industry and
now partner with restaurantowners to develop their leaders
(01:17):
and scale their businessesthrough powerful one-on-one
coaching, group coaching andleadership workshops.
Powerful one-on-one coachinggroup coaching and leadership
workshops.
This show is complete withepisodes around coaching,
leadership development andinterviews with powerful
industry leaders.
You can now engage with me onthe show and share topics you'd
(01:38):
like to hear about leadership,lessons you want to learn and
any feedback you have.
Simply click the link at thetop of the show notes and I will
give you a shout out on afuture episode.
Thanks so much for listening andI look forward to connecting.
Seth, thank you so much forbeing here.
Absolute pleasure to have youon the show today.
(02:00):
I'm super excited to talk aboutthis love-hate relationship
with restaurants and techcompanies that you and I've had
multiple conversations about.
But would you let's start bygiving the listeners a little
bit of background on you.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Sure, yeah.
So I've been in hospitality.
My entire career started inrestaurants and hotels and then
moved into sales with Cisco andthen for 20 years was with
OpenTable in sales capacity butalso training the
customer-facing folks atOpenTable how to support
(02:38):
restaurants along the way.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
Love it.
And what are you doing today?
Speaker 2 (02:41):
Yeah, so today I am doing some coaching for
developing folks and companiesthat are trying to grow at the
individual contributor level aswell as management and above,
and also doing some consultingin for, specifically for
hospitality tech.
So think companies that areemerging that are looking for a
(03:02):
go-to-market strategy and or howto grow from a sales
perspective.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Love it.
What made you make the jumpfrom operations into Cisco sales
and then into OpenTable?
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Yeah, I mean, I think if you work in the industry you
know it's just, it is hard, youknow it's a hard business, it's
hard on your body and at thetime when I was in it it was
even more of a grind.
I think since COVID there havebeen a lot of changes that have
been made, but the two weeks offa year physically being in a
(03:41):
place, and you know thechallenges that are still here
today, which is labor, inventory, all those pieces of the puzzle
which are obviously veryimportant and a big piece of the
business.
But I think I felt like I coulddo more from other areas in the
(04:01):
industry, from other areas inthe industry, and I've really
enjoyed the transition.
But I also have extreme empathyfor those folks that are still
grinding away out there everyday.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Yeah, what was the biggest lesson that you learned
in going from operationsstraight into open table, like
from the tech perspective?
What was your biggest takeaway?
Speaker 2 (04:23):
From the tech perspective, I would your
biggest takeaway.
From the tech perspective, Iwould say that there are
valuable tools out there thatare great for restaurants, and
finding the right restaurantsthat the tools are a fit for is
a key component to success, bothfor the company as well as for
the restaurant and really justhelping implement those.
(04:45):
And I would also say thathospitality continues to be part
of selling, supporting andtechnology within the
hospitality space, selling torestaurants and working with
restaurants.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
Today, I'm going to make a bold generalized
statement, so please feel freeto push back.
Sure, I feel like hospitality.
Make a bold generalizedstatement, so please feel free
to push back.
Sure, I feel like hospitalityis the thing that's missing with
a lot of the tech companiesthat are serving the hospitality
industry.
Where's the gap there?
Why is that mishappening, or amI wrong?
Speaker 2 (05:20):
I think it's about who you're working with and your
priorities.
If you have some specificexamples, I would love to hear
them, but I think overall, atleast, the companies that I've
been aligned with have been veryfocused on making sure that it
was a hospitable experience forthose that they're supporting
(05:44):
and helping grow.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
I think the conversations that I've had with
clients some clients over theyears have you know have led me
to believe there's a lot of, andI've had a lot of conversations
with tech companies.
There's so much tech out there,there's so much available too
much in my mind.
There's like I feel bad foroperators looking at a new POS
(06:09):
solution right now becausethere's so many, but it's really
hard for them to figure outwhere to start.
Who do I talk to?
Who do I trust?
Has this company been aroundlong enough?
(06:31):
Are they getting ready to sellto somebody and will my rates go
up?
Do I need an all-in-onesolution or do I want something
specialized?
It's very, very difficult, andI think a lot of the tech
companies that I've because Iwork in the independent space,
some of the tech companies thatI've talked to, don't want
anything to do with me becausethey just want to talk to the
big chains and not necessarilyfocus on the independence, and
(06:51):
so I think finding tech thatmakes sense for independent
operators is very difficultbecause their businesses are so
specialized and they're sounique.
Do you think that's true?
Speaker 2 (07:02):
They're so unique.
Do you think that's true Ahundred percent, a hundred
percent?
I do not envy the amount ofoutreach that's happening to
restaurants today.
I think that's a big piece ofit.
One of the things I think thatis challenging is the tech
fatigue.
It's a real issue.
(07:22):
I think there's outreach all daylong and, from a restaurant
operator's perspective, they'rereally thinking about what's
happening within their fourwalls.
I think the key component, orone of the key components, is
and when?
Really understanding a clearproblem statement from a
restaurant's perspective whatare the challenges that they're
(07:45):
having?
And then flipping that andsaying, okay, what can
technology help me solve and whomight be the best partner?
And so, once you've identifiedthe challenges, I do think
there's probably a partner outthere that can help you.
I think the other thing youtouched on was what they call
the Omni.
I guess it would be called theOmni approach, which is I want
(08:10):
an all-in-one solution andunfortunately today there is not
a company that is great ateverything that operators are
looking to do within their fourwalls, and so it really has to
be bespoke and pick and choose,and I think that's where great
technology companies win, whichis when they know their lane and
they're able to say, hey, thisis my ideal customer profile and
(08:33):
I can offer a solution thatreally works for them.
Yeah, I think that those are acouple of the big ones for sure.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
Yeah, I think sometimes what I've found is
that the hospitality is lackingin the conversation where the
tech company is kind ofpresenting of let's just tell
you everything about who we areand what we do, and there's not
enough question around what thepain points are for the
operators.
I think that's a big, big misswith some of these companies.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
A hundred percent.
A hundred percent, and I thinkone of the things that I've
always been passionate about isreally understanding what are
the challenges, why, beyond whatthey've told me, how can I go a
little deeper and reallyunderstand not only what the
challenges are but how that'simpacting their business and
then thinking through okay, howcan we solve for that?
Is it increased revenue?
Is it marketing visibility?
(09:27):
Is it a myriad?
Is it, you know, tightening upoperations?
Like, what are the challenges?
And I think what I have alwaysencouraged people to do that are
selling and supportingrestaurants is to really ask
that question you know what areyour goals and what are you
trying to accomplish not justtoday but in the next six to
(09:48):
twelve months, and then reallythinking sort of back,
engineering that and thinkingabout how can my product,
services or the information andknowledge that I have impact the
opportunity to support thisrestaurant.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
Here's the thing 80% of restaurants fail because they
don't have the systems, notbecause they have bad food or
service.
If you're ready to stop beingthe bottleneck in your own
business and start buildingsomething that can actually
scale profitably, I want you toput multi-unit mastery, my new
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(10:23):
Go to IRFbookcom right now andgrab your copy.
When you do, you're going toget access to some additional
tools that are not availableanywhere else.
This is about building a legacy, not just another location.
Stop putting it off and go getyour book Again.
(10:44):
That's IRFbookcom.
How would you recommend that?
Once restaurants haveidentified what their pain point
is, or their main challenge andtheir goals, what's the next
step in the selection process?
How do they go find that righttech partner in?
Speaker 2 (10:59):
the selection process .
How do they go find that righttech partner?
Yeah, I think it's.
It's a I a couple of things Iwould think about Um.
One is one is referrals Likewho else is out there that's
doing doing this and has thesame challenges I do?
And asking them like who areyou using today?
How is it working?
I think the key components aredoes it integrate with my
(11:23):
current tech stack?
Um, the average restaurant hasabout 15 different technologies
that they're working with, sointegration can be very
important, but there also may betimes where it doesn't
necessarily need to because it'sstill solving the problem.
I would also say what was thetraining and onboarding like?
So that's a big piece of it.
How difficult or howchallenging was that?
(11:44):
What level of support did youget?
I think the other piece is thereally talking through what are
the expected outcomes after thefirst 30 to 90 days and getting
them to agree, to agree to that.
That's what.
That's what it's going to solvefor them, Giving you the idea
of what this is going to solveand how that's going to impact
(12:05):
the business.
Um, I would say all of thosethings are really important and
I think one of the biggest issupport.
Um, we all know that nothingcrashes, uh, on a Sunday at 9 PM
.
Crashes on a Sunday at 9 pm.
It's always on a Friday at 7 pm, and so how can I?
If I have, if I need something,are you there for me, and that,
(12:28):
I think, is a key component.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
Yeah, absolutely.
I think a lot of operators signup for you know they get.
Maybe they ask the rightquestions, maybe they feel like
they're getting what they need.
They sign up with a techpartner and then the
relationship goes away andthere's no support.
Walk us through a little bitLike what does quality ongoing
support actually look like froma tech partner?
Speaker 2 (12:57):
Number one it's there when you need it.
I think that's the key.
I think, too, though, there isreally an opportunity for
companies to do a better job, Ithink, with the proactive
check-ins.
So I think quarterly is areasonable time to check in with
(13:19):
partners, and I really like theidea of having an account
manager or somebody that'sreally bringing insights to you
that are actionable and givingyou a review of what's happened
up to this point.
So holding the tech companyaccountable for key performance
indicators, I think is a keycomponent to success, and making
(13:43):
sure that you are comingprepared to have a conversation.
One of the things I reallyappreciate and I think is
extremely valuable is I don'tthink most people use the
technology that they have to itsfullest extent.
So coming and asking thosequestions about how am I doing?
You know whatever you're seeingright now, and then sort of
(14:06):
sharing what things might becoming up or things that you
need some help with, and havingthem guide you if there's
anything within their productthat can help with that.
A lot of times that's going tobe.
There'll be free options there,or that person may have enough
knowledge to be able to send youto somebody that can fix that
problem if they can't.
But I think leveraging thoserelationships and resources is a
(14:29):
key component to continuedsuccess with the technology
company wholeheartedly.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
I think again in the conversations that I've had with
tech companies, whether theyreach out or I reach out to just
learn more about their productsometimes I ask about onboarding
and just what the timeframe isand obviously look at the demo
of the product and what theyhave to offer and why it's
different from something elsethat's already out there.
But I usually I always ask whatdoes support look like for the
restaurant after it's set up?
Do you have an account managerthat's doing reviews?
(15:02):
Do you have a consultant orcoach that is not just supplying
reporting but helping therestaurant owners understand and
operators understand what toactually go do with that
information?
Right, because they are busypeople and maybe they have push
reports coming at them, but ifthey don't take the time to sit
down and actually analyze andunderstand what that data means
(15:26):
and what to do with that data,then the relationship is going
to fall apart and then they'regoing to become very bitter
about the tech platform thatthey have, which I often see
happen and I'm surprised thatmore.
I'm so surprised when I askedthat question of how many people
say no, they don't havesomebody on staff that is
reaching out and nurturing thoserestaurants and making sure
(15:47):
that they're helping them withtheir business, and that feels
so wrong to me that there's allthis work up front to get the
sale and then it just kind offizzles out and I just don't
think that that's a responsibleangle for companies to take.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
I think the other pieces that that I've seen is
restauranteurs have anobligation as well to make sure
that there is a that, when thetechnology is implemented, that
there is somebody that's leadingthat charge, but also that all
of the key stakeholders withinthe restaurant understand what
the value is to this.
(16:23):
I was always, you know.
I think a lot of salespeoplejust want to get to the decision
maker, but sometimes thedecision maker isn't the one
that's actually going to beusing that product.
Right, I love to go through acouple of people and make sure
that everyone that was going tobe using this product was bought
into it, because they all haddifferent agendas and objectives
with the product, and so theidea of being able to pull more
(16:46):
people in and I think that's onthe backside too which is like
when you have theseopportunities to talk to your
tech provider, thinking aboutwhat questions do I have?
What's working today, what'snot working today?
But also checking in with mystaff and getting their feedback
on like, hey, what are youreally enjoying about this
product?
And being able to share some ofthe good, as well as, obviously
(17:07):
, some of the things that youwish were different or were
changing.
Yeah, key components to success, for sure.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
I love it.
So when you're talking aboutthese quarterly check-ins, for
example, how can restaurantteams prepare for these
quarterly check-ins?
For example, how can restaurantteams prepare for these
quarterly check-ins?
What challenges should they bebringing to maximize the value
of that relationship?
Speaker 2 (17:27):
Yeah, I think it's helpful if they come with a
little bit of data as well.
So what's again really what'sworking and what's not working
and any specific examples,whether that be on their guest
end or on the feedback fromtheir staff and their team.
I would also say that youshould be setting goals with
(17:49):
your tech provider, like whereare you today and where do you
want to be, and how do you getthere, and so those questions
are all part of this ecosystemof the give and take that should
be happening.
I do again.
I go back to features likewhat's new?
What should I be thinking about?
What integrations do you have?
(18:09):
How can I potentiallyconsolidate my tech stack, or
what am I not using that?
I should be within the producttoday to make sure that you, as
the restaurateur, are getting afull scope of of what's what's
out there, uh, and utilizing it.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
Would you ever get back in the restaurant business?
Speaker 2 (18:29):
That's a great question.
I here's.
Here's what I would say.
I love the hospitality businessand I love the people that are
in it and what they do and theamount of care and precision
that they execute on.
I don't think I wouldpersonally get back in.
(18:54):
However, what I would love to dois continue to help them is
looking at a lot of differenttechnology that's out there
today and thinking about who,the who it would be a right fit
for, and making sure that I'mproactively reaching out to
those folks and saying, hey,here's some things that might
help you, depending on what yourneeds are, you know?
Are you trying to increaserevenue?
Are you trying to, um, retainmore guests?
(19:14):
Uh, are you trying to, you know, reduce costs from a, from a
to-go perspective?
There's a lot of differentpieces to that, and I think
that's where somebody could leaninto me and say, hey, I'm
looking at some differentoptions.
Or I'd love to talk a littlebit about what's happening with
my business, and I've done thatmore recently with some
restaurateurs and it's beengreat in terms of being able to
(19:36):
bring back some interesting andcool tools that can help them on
several levels.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
I love it.
Can I rapid fire some differenttech platforms or areas and you
tell me who you're recommending?
Can I put you on the?
Speaker 2 (19:50):
team.
I may not.
Yeah, yes, pos system.
Yeah, I mean, I think Toast isthe leader in that space at the
moment there's not a question,especially for the smaller
independent restaurants.
I think they've done a greatjob of moving forward with
(20:11):
really working to be an omnisource of different pieces.
I think it comes down to againwhat are your needs and the
costs that are incurred there,and what makes sense for you
accounting software.
Ooh, I don't have anyrecommendations in that area.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
Okay, that's okay.
Reservation system.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
Boy, I, you know, having come from OpenTable, I
feel like I do think that thereis a resurgence and I think,
with OpenTable right now,without question, and I think
they did a really good job oflistening to the to the
restaurant base and saying, hey,what are the things we're
missing?
And it came back to brand andthen um, alignment on uh, on
(20:56):
dollars and cents, and I thinkthey they've adjusted well.
But I also think that the other, the other platforms out there
have different things to offer,um, depending on who you are as
a restaurant and where you arein your cycle.
Again, opentable, phenomenalmarketing partner.
They absolutely will drivebusiness.
But when you talk aboutexperiences, you know I would
(21:18):
say Talk still has a prettyinteresting tool that is a bit
more customizable.
And, you know, I think Resialso has some interesting
features that are still outthere and some partnerships that
are pretty interesting inevents.
But I would say today OpenTableis definitely excelling and
doing some really great things.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
Okay, love it.
Third-party delivery.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
That's a tough one for me.
I'm not, as I'm not as uh asclose to that, but I will say
what I've seen out.
There are some differentoptions for sort of owning that,
that part of your business um.
In terms of um, there's acompany called ownercom.
That really is a greatmarketing platform.
(22:07):
They're going to move you tothe top of the list in terms of
SEO in different areas, so thatyou're being seen more
frequently.
They also allow you to keepyour data and there's a flat fee
associated with their process,as opposed to some of the high
fees you see with some of theother folks out there.
In terms of the way thatthey're really sort, they're
(22:28):
really sort of marketing, theway that they operate, I should
say.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
Okay, Um events and catering.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
Man, that's an interesting space.
Um, you know, there's triple C,there's that that I think, does
a, does a, does a good job.
I mean, they mean and they'reintegrated with several
different partners and thatmakes sense.
There's another one, calledPerfect Venue, that I've had
some that I recently had someexperience with.
Again, I think it comes back towhat your needs are and making
(23:00):
sure that the tech folks callthe ideal customer profile is
you and that aligns up.
That aligns in a way that makessense for the operator.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
Love.
It All right, I'll stopgrilling you now.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
No, I'm happy, I'm happy, I'm happy to do it.
I think that one of the bigareas today, though, that I
think operators are very afraidof, is the area of I'm sorry
artificial intelligence.
You know AI, and so what Iwould say to you, what I would
(23:34):
say today, is it's definitelyworth taking a look at.
I've been looking at severaldifferent voice AI companies
that I think have platforms thatwill absolutely enhance the
hospitality experience.
I think the concern is it takesme back to the old days with
OpenTable, where everybody had amaitre d' and they're like why
(23:55):
would I?
The maitre d', that's our person, they're the ones that are
making this all happen, and wedon't want to replace that
person, and I think, at the endof the day, that's not really
what it did, what it allowed forcompanies that offered
reservation systems, allowed fora seamless transaction to
happen for those that needed it,and then, on the other side, if
(24:17):
you still needed to talk tosomebody, you could still do
that, and I think that's whatthe AI companies in the voice
space are doing today, which islike hey, you want to know if
you can bring your dog, you knowif it's dog friendly or hours
of operation, or what music isgoing to be playing in the venue
this weekend.
This AI can answer a lot ofthose questions and give people
(24:37):
exactly what they need when theyneed it, and with labor being
so tight today, there's reallysome great opportunities, I
think, to dig into that andstart looking at that as a as a
as a functional tool.
And again, you're meeting yourguests where they, where they
are, and I think that's trulyhospitality at the end of the
day.
And if they want to talk tosomebody, obviously they still
can.
(24:57):
But I also think that's alsotrue for venue some of the venue
software that's out there today.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
I want a quick we're.
We're all busy If I'm callingsomeone and I get a question
answered.
I want quick, efficient results.
I want to get on and off thephone.
So from a guest perspective itmakes so much sense.
I don't want to fumble with theperson that's trying to figure
out the computer and, like youknow, I just want a really
(25:23):
seamless experience.
And so I get the operator'sperspective that it feels clunky
, but from the guest'sperspective it's really clean,
which is great.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
And the voices today are a lot better than they used
to be.
That's true.
They talk to a person in someways.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
Yeah, 100%.
What else are you seeing goingon with AI right now?
Speaker 2 (25:48):
I think it's going to be in everything.
I think everybody's looking atAI to help streamline a process
of some sort.
I do think that you're going tostart seeing it more in the
tools that you're already usingtoday, so mapping menus.
I think there's going to beopportunities for reviews.
I think that's already outthere in some segments, which is
(26:10):
like here's what they wrote,here's what I suggest you send
back Now, instead of having amanager the right manager to
respond.
It gives you a framework andyou can say ah, that looks
almost perfect.
I'm going to change a couple ofthings.
Boom, send it.
So just efficiencies, I thinkis one of the keys, but I also
think there's going to be a lotmore data that's going to be
(26:31):
coming down the pipe as well,and it's going to be able to.
Who knows?
It may be an opportunity topull some of that information
that is in so many differentplaces together in a more
streamlined and actionable andmore actionable insights,
actionable and more actionableinsights.
Speaker 1 (26:48):
I was just.
I wrote down on my notepad here15 tech systems in the average
restaurant.
From an ownership perspective,if I was owning a restaurant
today and I had 15, 15 techpoints touch points in my
restaurant, I would have to.
The only way I think I couldmanage that if I was a
solopreneur is to throw all thatreporting in AI and tell me
(27:10):
what I'm looking at and then andhelp me make recommendations.
I think I mean I do that a lotwith cause I have.
I have probably 12 or 13 techsystems that I use, so I guess
I'm kind of already doing that.
But AI has just been such apowerful assistant for me to be
able to figure out what to dowith all this stuff.
It's just too much.
Speaker 2 (27:29):
But if you want to be innovative and you want to have
all those different revenuestreams which are so important
for restaurants to be able tolean on when the weather's bad
or it's the beginning of theyear and events are down or
whatever the case is, you've gotto have all of those different
systems Maybe not 15, I don'tknow but you definitely have to
(27:49):
diversify yourself yeah, I thinkthere's a lot of uh it
restaurateurs now have to betech experts to some degree and,
um, or lean into tech techexperts, because I do think that
it's easy to sort of stick yourhead in the sand and be like,
hey, everything's going okay, um, but we all know that things
(28:12):
change very rapidly, both on thehospitality side but also on
the technology side, and so theproblem that maybe was very
difficult to solve um six monthsto a year ago might be out
there today and available to fixwhatever that you're, whatever
you're trying to solve, uh andum, it's, it's just, it's kind
of amazing.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
It is, but it moves so fast and and hospitality
people a lot of times they'renot tech people and so that gap
is just so large.
I mean, how, how do you keep upwith all the changes that are
happening in tech?
Speaker 2 (28:49):
that are happening in tech?
I can't, honestly.
But again, I go to places likerestaurateur should, which is
like what problems am I tryingto solve?
Am I trying to increase revenue?
Am I trying to get a betterhandle on labor?
Am I trying to figure outanother marketing avenue or
opportunity to highlight myrestaurant?
(29:09):
Am I trying to get more events?
And so, like, I think, onceyou've honed in on it, there's
probably a tech, there'sprobably at least three or four
opportunities to to look fortech to help you with that and
really just thinking through,what are the problems in this,
in this chain of events that arehappening?
You know it drives me crazy.
(29:30):
It just happened a few weeks agowith my daughter's graduation.
We called, we called threedifferent places and, um, they
didn't get back to us, um, for acatering order and it just went
into the ether and we, one ofthem, we went to three times and
eventually ended up like beinglike we're not, we can't do it
there.
And then, finally, one of themwe went to three times and
eventually ended up like beinglike we're not, we can't do it
(29:50):
there.
And then, finally, when we didget ahold of somebody, they got
the order wrong, which, again, Iget, but it wasn't.
It could have been a lot easier, it could have been streamlined
and it could have really met myneeds at a different level and
it would have been a revenue,real revenue for people, you
know.
I mean, we know that thecatering and event space is a
(30:11):
very lucrative opportunity forrestaurants, and so making sure
that you're capturing that is akey component.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
Yeah, 100%, and there's some really exciting
tools coming out in that spaceto help you capture that, as we
know, which is great.
Seth, thank you so much forbeing here, how we know, which
is great.
Speaker 2 (30:30):
Seth, thank you so much for being here.
How can people get ahold of youif they want to work with you?
Yeah, so I'm easy.
My email address is very easyit's Seth at SethRankincom, and
so I'll give it to you so we canadd it to the, add it to the,
add it into the podcast.
But yeah.
I I think I would love to helprestaurants.
I continue to help restaurantsand I think this navigating some
(30:52):
of the tech challenges andother tools and opportunities
and resources out there today issomething that I've spent a bit
of time on over the last fewmonths since leaving OpenTable,
and you know, please reach outif you're trying to figure out
where to go.
Obviously, the accountingsystems is not where I'm at
right now, but everything elseI'm in a pretty good spot with
(31:13):
and understand what theopportunities are and certainly
can can help navigate some ofthe some of the challenges that
that I'm not really I think forme.
I am not really working to as aconsultant for restaurants per
(31:35):
se, so my model is a littledifferent in terms of I am
working to have whoever the techpartner is pay for that instead
of the restaurant, Because,again, I know what that looks
like on the restaurant side.
Speaker 1 (31:48):
So yeah, awesome.
Well, really appreciate yourtime.
Thank you for all of yourwisdom around this very
important topic.
Speaker 2 (31:56):
Thank you.
Yeah, my pleasure Great to seeyou, Kristen.
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (32:01):
You bet We'll talk to you soon.
Thanks, everybody.
Today I'm joined by Seth Rankin, 20-year OpenTable
alum and a coach and consultingspecialist in the hospitality
tech space who's passionateabout growing people, teams and
companies.
Seth and I are going to talkabout three important things
today why most restaurantsstruggle to find the right tech
(00:30):
partner and usually what's goingwrong in that selection process
.
What the essential questionsrestaurant owners should be
asking before signing with anytech company to ensure that
they're getting the rightsupport.
And he's going to walk usthrough what quality ongoing
support actually looks like fromthe tech partner perspective.
What restaurants should expectversus what they're actually
(00:54):
getting.
Hope you enjoy this episode.
Welcome to the RestaurantLeadership Podcast, the show
where restaurant leaders learntools, tactics and habits from
the world's greatest operators.
I'm your host, kristen Marvin,with Solutions by Kristen.
I've spent the last two decadesin the restaurant industry and
now partner with restaurantowners to develop their leaders
(01:17):
and scale their businessesthrough powerful one-on-one
coaching, group coaching andleadership workshops.
Powerful one-on-one coachinggroup coaching and leadership
workshops.
This show is complete withepisodes around coaching,
leadership development andinterviews with powerful
industry leaders.
You can now engage with me onthe show and share topics you'd
(01:38):
like to hear about leadership,lessons you want to learn and
any feedback you have.
Simply click the link at thetop of the show notes and I will
give you a shout out on afuture episode.
Thanks so much for listening andI look forward to connecting.
Seth, thank you so much forbeing here.
Absolute pleasure to have youon the show today.
(02:00):
I'm super excited to talk aboutthis love-hate relationship
with restaurants and techcompanies that you and I've had
multiple conversations about.
But would you let's start bygiving the listeners a little
bit of background on you.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Sure, yeah.
So I've been in hospitality.
My entire career started inrestaurants and hotels and then
moved into sales with Cisco andthen for 20 years was with
OpenTable in sales capacity butalso training the
customer-facing folks atOpenTable how to support
(02:38):
restaurants along the way.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
Love it.
And what are you doing today?
Speaker 2 (02:41):
Yeah, so today I am doing some coaching for
developing folks and companiesthat are trying to grow at the
individual contributor level aswell as management and above,
and also doing some consultingin for, specifically for
hospitality tech.
So think companies that areemerging that are looking for a
(03:02):
go-to-market strategy and or howto grow from a sales
perspective.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Love it.
What made you make the jumpfrom operations into Cisco sales
and then into OpenTable?
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Yeah, I mean, I think if you work in the industry you
know it's just, it is hard, youknow it's a hard business, it's
hard on your body and at thetime when I was in it it was
even more of a grind.
I think since COVID there havebeen a lot of changes that have
been made, but the two weeks offa year physically being in a
(03:41):
place, and you know thechallenges that are still here
today, which is labor, inventory, all those pieces of the puzzle
which are obviously veryimportant and a big piece of the
business.
But I think I felt like I coulddo more from other areas in the
(04:01):
industry, from other areas inthe industry, and I've really
enjoyed the transition.
But I also have extreme empathyfor those folks that are still
grinding away out there everyday.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Yeah, what was the biggest lesson that you learned
in going from operationsstraight into open table, like
from the tech perspective?
What was your biggest takeaway?
Speaker 2 (04:23):
From the tech perspective, I would your
biggest takeaway.
From the tech perspective, Iwould say that there are
valuable tools out there thatare great for restaurants, and
finding the right restaurantsthat the tools are a fit for is
a key component to success, bothfor the company as well as for
the restaurant and really justhelping implement those.
(04:45):
And I would also say thathospitality continues to be part
of selling, supporting andtechnology within the
hospitality space, selling torestaurants and working with
restaurants.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
Today, I'm going to make a bold generalized
statement, so please feel freeto push back.
Sure, I feel like hospitality.
Make a bold generalizedstatement, so please feel free
to push back.
Sure, I feel like hospitalityis the thing that's missing with
a lot of the tech companiesthat are serving the hospitality
industry.
Where's the gap there?
Why is that mishappening, or amI wrong?
Speaker 2 (05:20):
I think it's about who you're working with and your
priorities.
If you have some specificexamples, I would love to hear
them, but I think overall, atleast, the companies that I've
been aligned with have been veryfocused on making sure that it
was a hospitable experience forthose that they're supporting
(05:44):
and helping grow.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
I think the conversations that I've had with
clients some clients over theyears have you know have led me
to believe there's a lot of, andI've had a lot of conversations
with tech companies.
There's so much tech out there,there's so much available too
much in my mind.
There's like I feel bad foroperators looking at a new POS
(06:09):
solution right now becausethere's so many, but it's really
hard for them to figure outwhere to start.
Who do I talk to?
Who do I trust?
Has this company been aroundlong enough?
(06:31):
Are they getting ready to sellto somebody and will my rates go
up?
Do I need an all-in-onesolution or do I want something
specialized?
It's very, very difficult, andI think a lot of the tech
companies that I've because Iwork in the independent space,
some of the tech companies thatI've talked to, don't want
anything to do with me becausethey just want to talk to the
big chains and not necessarilyfocus on the independence, and
(06:51):
so I think finding tech thatmakes sense for independent
operators is very difficultbecause their businesses are so
specialized and they're sounique.
Do you think that's true?
Speaker 2 (07:02):
They're so unique.
Do you think that's true Ahundred percent, a hundred
percent?
I do not envy the amount ofoutreach that's happening to
restaurants today.
I think that's a big piece ofit.
One of the things I think thatis challenging is the tech
fatigue.
It's a real issue.
(07:22):
I think there's outreach all daylong and, from a restaurant
operator's perspective, they'rereally thinking about what's
happening within their fourwalls.
I think the key component, orone of the key components, is
and when?
Really understanding a clearproblem statement from a
restaurant's perspective whatare the challenges that they're
(07:45):
having?
And then flipping that andsaying, okay, what can
technology help me solve and whomight be the best partner?
And so, once you've identifiedthe challenges, I do think
there's probably a partner outthere that can help you.
I think the other thing youtouched on was what they call
the Omni.
I guess it would be called theOmni approach, which is I want
(08:10):
an all-in-one solution andunfortunately today there is not
a company that is great ateverything that operators are
looking to do within their fourwalls, and so it really has to
be bespoke and pick and choose,and I think that's where great
technology companies win, whichis when they know their lane and
they're able to say, hey, thisis my ideal customer profile and
(08:33):
I can offer a solution thatreally works for them.
Yeah, I think that those are acouple of the big ones for sure.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
Yeah, I think sometimes what I've found is
that the hospitality is lackingin the conversation where the
tech company is kind ofpresenting of let's just tell
you everything about who we areand what we do, and there's not
enough question around what thepain points are for the
operators.
I think that's a big, big misswith some of these companies.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
A hundred percent.
A hundred percent, and I thinkone of the things that I've
always been passionate about isreally understanding what are
the challenges, why, beyond whatthey've told me, how can I go a
little deeper and reallyunderstand not only what the
challenges are but how that'simpacting their business and
then thinking through okay, howcan we solve for that?
Is it increased revenue?
Is it marketing visibility?
(09:27):
Is it a myriad?
Is it, you know, tightening upoperations?
Like, what are the challenges?
And I think what I have alwaysencouraged people to do that are
selling and supportingrestaurants is to really ask
that question you know what areyour goals and what are you
trying to accomplish not justtoday but in the next six to
(09:48):
twelve months, and then reallythinking sort of back,
engineering that and thinkingabout how can my product,
services or the information andknowledge that I have impact the
opportunity to support thisrestaurant.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
Here's the thing 80% of restaurants fail because they
don't have the systems, notbecause they have bad food or
service.
If you're ready to stop beingthe bottleneck in your own
business and start buildingsomething that can actually
scale profitably, I want you toput multi-unit mastery, my new
book, directly in your hands forfree.
(10:23):
Go to IRFbookcom right now andgrab your copy.
When you do, you're going toget access to some additional
tools that are not availableanywhere else.
This is about building a legacy, not just another location.
Stop putting it off and go getyour book Again.
(10:44):
That's IRFbookcom.
How would you recommend that?
Once restaurants haveidentified what their pain point
is, or their main challenge andtheir goals, what's the next
step in the selection process?
How do they go find that righttech partner in?
Speaker 2 (10:59):
the selection process .
How do they go find that righttech partner?
Yeah, I think it's.
It's a I a couple of things Iwould think about Um.
One is one is referrals Likewho else is out there that's
doing doing this and has thesame challenges I do?
And asking them like who areyou using today?
How is it working?
I think the key components aredoes it integrate with my
(11:23):
current tech stack?
Um, the average restaurant hasabout 15 different technologies
that they're working with, sointegration can be very
important, but there also may betimes where it doesn't
necessarily need to because it'sstill solving the problem.
I would also say what was thetraining and onboarding like?
So that's a big piece of it.
How difficult or howchallenging was that?
(11:44):
What level of support did youget?
I think the other piece is thereally talking through what are
the expected outcomes after thefirst 30 to 90 days and getting
them to agree, to agree to that.
That's what.
That's what it's going to solvefor them, Giving you the idea
of what this is going to solveand how that's going to impact
(12:05):
the business.
Um, I would say all of thosethings are really important and
I think one of the biggest issupport.
Um, we all know that nothingcrashes, uh, on a Sunday at 9 PM
.
Crashes on a Sunday at 9 pm.
It's always on a Friday at 7 pm, and so how can I?
If I have, if I need something,are you there for me, and that,
(12:28):
I think, is a key component.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
Yeah, absolutely.
I think a lot of operators signup for you know they get.
Maybe they ask the rightquestions, maybe they feel like
they're getting what they need.
They sign up with a techpartner and then the
relationship goes away andthere's no support.
Walk us through a little bitLike what does quality ongoing
support actually look like froma tech partner?
Speaker 2 (12:57):
Number one it's there when you need it.
I think that's the key.
I think, too, though, there isreally an opportunity for
companies to do a better job, Ithink, with the proactive
check-ins.
So I think quarterly is areasonable time to check in with
(13:19):
partners, and I really like theidea of having an account
manager or somebody that'sreally bringing insights to you
that are actionable and givingyou a review of what's happened
up to this point.
So holding the tech companyaccountable for key performance
indicators, I think is a keycomponent to success, and making
(13:43):
sure that you are comingprepared to have a conversation.
One of the things I reallyappreciate and I think is
extremely valuable is I don'tthink most people use the
technology that they have to itsfullest extent.
So coming and asking thosequestions about how am I doing?
You know whatever you're seeingright now, and then sort of
(14:06):
sharing what things might becoming up or things that you
need some help with, and havingthem guide you if there's
anything within their productthat can help with that.
A lot of times that's going tobe.
There'll be free options there,or that person may have enough
knowledge to be able to send youto somebody that can fix that
problem if they can't.
But I think leveraging thoserelationships and resources is a
(14:29):
key component to continuedsuccess with the technology
company wholeheartedly.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
I think again in the conversations that I've had with
tech companies, whether theyreach out or I reach out to just
learn more about their productsometimes I ask about onboarding
and just what the timeframe isand obviously look at the demo
of the product and what theyhave to offer and why it's
different from something elsethat's already out there.
But I usually I always ask whatdoes support look like for the
restaurant after it's set up?
Do you have an account managerthat's doing reviews?
(15:02):
Do you have a consultant orcoach that is not just supplying
reporting but helping therestaurant owners understand and
operators understand what toactually go do with that
information?
Right, because they are busypeople and maybe they have push
reports coming at them, but ifthey don't take the time to sit
down and actually analyze andunderstand what that data means
(15:26):
and what to do with that data,then the relationship is going
to fall apart and then they'regoing to become very bitter
about the tech platform thatthey have, which I often see
happen and I'm surprised thatmore.
I'm so surprised when I askedthat question of how many people
say no, they don't havesomebody on staff that is
reaching out and nurturing thoserestaurants and making sure
(15:47):
that they're helping them withtheir business, and that feels
so wrong to me that there's allthis work up front to get the
sale and then it just kind offizzles out and I just don't
think that that's a responsibleangle for companies to take.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
I think the other pieces that that I've seen is
restauranteurs have anobligation as well to make sure
that there is a that, when thetechnology is implemented, that
there is somebody that's leadingthat charge, but also that all
of the key stakeholders withinthe restaurant understand what
the value is to this.
(16:23):
I was always, you know.
I think a lot of salespeoplejust want to get to the decision
maker, but sometimes thedecision maker isn't the one
that's actually going to beusing that product.
Right, I love to go through acouple of people and make sure
that everyone that was going tobe using this product was bought
into it, because they all haddifferent agendas and objectives
with the product, and so theidea of being able to pull more
(16:46):
people in and I think that's onthe backside too which is like
when you have theseopportunities to talk to your
tech provider, thinking aboutwhat questions do I have?
What's working today, what'snot working today?
But also checking in with mystaff and getting their feedback
on like, hey, what are youreally enjoying about this
product?
And being able to share some ofthe good, as well as, obviously
(17:07):
, some of the things that youwish were different or were
changing.
Yeah, key components to success, for sure.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
I love it.
So when you're talking aboutthese quarterly check-ins, for
example, how can restaurantteams prepare for these
quarterly check-ins?
For example, how can restaurantteams prepare for these
quarterly check-ins?
What challenges should they bebringing to maximize the value
of that relationship?
Speaker 2 (17:27):
Yeah, I think it's helpful if they come with a
little bit of data as well.
So what's again really what'sworking and what's not working
and any specific examples,whether that be on their guest
end or on the feedback fromtheir staff and their team.
I would also say that youshould be setting goals with
(17:49):
your tech provider, like whereare you today and where do you
want to be, and how do you getthere, and so those questions
are all part of this ecosystemof the give and take that should
be happening.
I do again.
I go back to features likewhat's new?
What should I be thinking about?
What integrations do you have?
(18:09):
How can I potentiallyconsolidate my tech stack, or
what am I not using that?
I should be within the producttoday to make sure that you, as
the restaurateur, are getting afull scope of of what's what's
out there, uh, and utilizing it.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
Would you ever get back in the restaurant business?
Speaker 2 (18:29):
That's a great question.
I here's.
Here's what I would say.
I love the hospitality businessand I love the people that are
in it and what they do and theamount of care and precision
that they execute on.
I don't think I wouldpersonally get back in.
(18:54):
However, what I would love to dois continue to help them is
looking at a lot of differenttechnology that's out there
today and thinking about who,the who it would be a right fit
for, and making sure that I'mproactively reaching out to
those folks and saying, hey,here's some things that might
help you, depending on what yourneeds are, you know?
Are you trying to increaserevenue?
Are you trying to, um, retainmore guests?
(19:14):
Uh, are you trying to, you know, reduce costs from a, from a
to-go perspective?
There's a lot of differentpieces to that, and I think
that's where somebody could leaninto me and say, hey, I'm
looking at some differentoptions.
Or I'd love to talk a littlebit about what's happening with
my business, and I've done thatmore recently with some
restaurateurs and it's beengreat in terms of being able to
(19:36):
bring back some interesting andcool tools that can help them on
several levels.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
I love it.
Can I rapid fire some differenttech platforms or areas and you
tell me who you're recommending?
Can I put you on the?
Speaker 2 (19:50):
team.
I may not.
Yeah, yes, pos system.
Yeah, I mean, I think Toast isthe leader in that space at the
moment there's not a question,especially for the smaller
independent restaurants.
I think they've done a greatjob of moving forward with
(20:11):
really working to be an omnisource of different pieces.
I think it comes down to againwhat are your needs and the
costs that are incurred there,and what makes sense for you
accounting software.
Ooh, I don't have anyrecommendations in that area.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
Okay, that's okay.
Reservation system.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
Boy, I, you know, having come from OpenTable, I
feel like I do think that thereis a resurgence and I think,
with OpenTable right now,without question, and I think
they did a really good job oflistening to the to the
restaurant base and saying, hey,what are the things we're
missing?
And it came back to brand andthen um, alignment on uh, on
(20:56):
dollars and cents, and I thinkthey they've adjusted well.
But I also think that the other, the other platforms out there
have different things to offer,um, depending on who you are as
a restaurant and where you arein your cycle.
Again, opentable, phenomenalmarketing partner.
They absolutely will drivebusiness.
But when you talk aboutexperiences, you know I would
(21:18):
say Talk still has a prettyinteresting tool that is a bit
more customizable.
And, you know, I think Resialso has some interesting
features that are still outthere and some partnerships that
are pretty interesting inevents.
But I would say today OpenTableis definitely excelling and
doing some really great things.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
Okay, love it.
Third-party delivery.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
That's a tough one for me.
I'm not, as I'm not as uh asclose to that, but I will say
what I've seen out.
There are some differentoptions for sort of owning that,
that part of your business um.
In terms of um, there's acompany called ownercom.
That really is a greatmarketing platform.
(22:07):
They're going to move you tothe top of the list in terms of
SEO in different areas, so thatyou're being seen more
frequently.
They also allow you to keepyour data and there's a flat fee
associated with their process,as opposed to some of the high
fees you see with some of theother folks out there.
In terms of the way thatthey're really sort, they're
(22:28):
really sort of marketing, theway that they operate, I should
say.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
Okay, Um events and catering.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
Man, that's an interesting space.
Um, you know, there's triple C,there's that that I think, does
a, does a, does a good job.
I mean, they mean and they'reintegrated with several
different partners and thatmakes sense.
There's another one, calledPerfect Venue, that I've had
some that I recently had someexperience with.
Again, I think it comes back towhat your needs are and making
(23:00):
sure that the tech folks callthe ideal customer profile is
you and that aligns up.
That aligns in a way that makessense for the operator.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
Love.
It All right, I'll stopgrilling you now.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
No, I'm happy, I'm happy, I'm happy to do it.
I think that one of the bigareas today, though, that I
think operators are very afraidof, is the area of I'm sorry
artificial intelligence.
You know AI, and so what Iwould say to you, what I would
(23:34):
say today, is it's definitelyworth taking a look at.
I've been looking at severaldifferent voice AI companies
that I think have platforms thatwill absolutely enhance the
hospitality experience.
I think the concern is it takesme back to the old days with
OpenTable, where everybody had amaitre d' and they're like why
(23:55):
would I?
The maitre d', that's our person, they're the ones that are
making this all happen, and wedon't want to replace that
person, and I think, at the endof the day, that's not really
what it did, what it allowed forcompanies that offered
reservation systems, allowed fora seamless transaction to
happen for those that needed it,and then, on the other side, if
(24:17):
you still needed to talk tosomebody, you could still do
that, and I think that's whatthe AI companies in the voice
space are doing today, which islike hey, you want to know if
you can bring your dog, you knowif it's dog friendly or hours
of operation, or what music isgoing to be playing in the venue
this weekend.
This AI can answer a lot ofthose questions and give people
(24:37):
exactly what they need when theyneed it, and with labor being
so tight today, there's reallysome great opportunities, I
think, to dig into that andstart looking at that as a as a
as a functional tool.
And again, you're meeting yourguests where they, where they
are, and I think that's trulyhospitality at the end of the
day.
And if they want to talk tosomebody, obviously they still
can.
(24:57):
But I also think that's alsotrue for venue some of the venue
software that's out there today.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
I want a quick we're.
We're all busy If I'm callingsomeone and I get a question
answered.
I want quick, efficient results.
I want to get on and off thephone.
So from a guest perspective itmakes so much sense.
I don't want to fumble with theperson that's trying to figure
out the computer and, like youknow, I just want a really
(25:23):
seamless experience.
And so I get the operator'sperspective that it feels clunky
, but from the guest'sperspective it's really clean,
which is great.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
And the voices today are a lot better than they used
to be.
That's true.
They talk to a person in someways.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
Yeah, 100%.
What else are you seeing goingon with AI right now?
Speaker 2 (25:48):
I think it's going to be in everything.
I think everybody's looking atAI to help streamline a process
of some sort.
I do think that you're going tostart seeing it more in the
tools that you're already usingtoday, so mapping menus.
I think there's going to beopportunities for reviews.
I think that's already outthere in some segments, which is
(26:10):
like here's what they wrote,here's what I suggest you send
back Now, instead of having amanager the right manager to
respond.
It gives you a framework andyou can say ah, that looks
almost perfect.
I'm going to change a couple ofthings.
Boom, send it.
So just efficiencies, I thinkis one of the keys, but I also
think there's going to be a lotmore data that's going to be
(26:31):
coming down the pipe as well,and it's going to be able to.
Who knows?
It may be an opportunity topull some of that information
that is in so many differentplaces together in a more
streamlined and actionable andmore actionable insights,
actionable and more actionableinsights.
Speaker 1 (26:48):
I was just.
I wrote down on my notepad here15 tech systems in the average
restaurant.
From an ownership perspective,if I was owning a restaurant
today and I had 15, 15 techpoints touch points in my
restaurant, I would have to.
The only way I think I couldmanage that if I was a
solopreneur is to throw all thatreporting in AI and tell me
(27:10):
what I'm looking at and then andhelp me make recommendations.
I think I mean I do that a lotwith cause I have.
I have probably 12 or 13 techsystems that I use, so I guess
I'm kind of already doing that.
But AI has just been such apowerful assistant for me to be
able to figure out what to dowith all this stuff.
It's just too much.
Speaker 2 (27:29):
But if you want to be innovative and you want to have
all those different revenuestreams which are so important
for restaurants to be able tolean on when the weather's bad
or it's the beginning of theyear and events are down or
whatever the case is, you've gotto have all of those different
systems Maybe not 15, I don'tknow but you definitely have to
(27:49):
diversify yourself yeah, I thinkthere's a lot of uh it
restaurateurs now have to betech experts to some degree and,
um, or lean into tech techexperts, because I do think that
it's easy to sort of stick yourhead in the sand and be like,
hey, everything's going okay, um, but we all know that things
(28:12):
change very rapidly, both on thehospitality side but also on
the technology side, and so theproblem that maybe was very
difficult to solve um six monthsto a year ago might be out
there today and available to fixwhatever that you're, whatever
you're trying to solve, uh andum, it's, it's just, it's kind
of amazing.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
It is, but it moves so fast and and hospitality
people a lot of times they'renot tech people and so that gap
is just so large.
I mean, how, how do you keep upwith all the changes that are
happening in tech?
Speaker 2 (28:49):
that are happening in tech?
I can't, honestly.
But again, I go to places likerestaurateur should, which is
like what problems am I tryingto solve?
Am I trying to increase revenue?
Am I trying to get a betterhandle on labor?
Am I trying to figure outanother marketing avenue or
opportunity to highlight myrestaurant?
(29:09):
Am I trying to get more events?
And so, like, I think, onceyou've honed in on it, there's
probably a tech, there'sprobably at least three or four
opportunities to to look fortech to help you with that and
really just thinking through,what are the problems in this,
in this chain of events that arehappening?
You know it drives me crazy.
(29:30):
It just happened a few weeks agowith my daughter's graduation.
We called, we called threedifferent places and, um, they
didn't get back to us, um, for acatering order and it just went
into the ether and we, one ofthem, we went to three times and
eventually ended up like beinglike we're not, we can't do it
there.
And then, finally, one of themwe went to three times and
eventually ended up like beinglike we're not, we can't do it
(29:50):
there.
And then, finally, when we didget ahold of somebody, they got
the order wrong, which, again, Iget, but it wasn't.
It could have been a lot easier, it could have been streamlined
and it could have really met myneeds at a different level and
it would have been a revenue,real revenue for people, you
know.
I mean, we know that thecatering and event space is a
(30:11):
very lucrative opportunity forrestaurants, and so making sure
that you're capturing that is akey component.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
Yeah, 100%, and there's some really exciting
tools coming out in that spaceto help you capture that, as we
know, which is great.
Seth, thank you so much forbeing here, how we know, which
is great.
Speaker 2 (30:30):
Seth, thank you so much for being here.
How can people get ahold of youif they want to work with you?
Yeah, so I'm easy.
My email address is very easyit's Seth at SethRankincom, and
so I'll give it to you so we canadd it to the, add it to the,
add it into the podcast.
But yeah.
I I think I would love to helprestaurants.
I continue to help restaurantsand I think this navigating some
(30:52):
of the tech challenges andother tools and opportunities
and resources out there today issomething that I've spent a bit
of time on over the last fewmonths since leaving OpenTable,
and you know, please reach outif you're trying to figure out
where to go.
Obviously, the accountingsystems is not where I'm at
right now, but everything elseI'm in a pretty good spot with
(31:13):
and understand what theopportunities are and certainly
can can help navigate some ofthe some of the challenges that
that I'm not really I think forme.
I am not really working to as aconsultant for restaurants per
(31:35):
se, so my model is a littledifferent in terms of I am
working to have whoever the techpartner is pay for that instead
of the restaurant, Because,again, I know what that looks
like on the restaurant side.
Speaker 1 (31:48):
So yeah, awesome.
Well, really appreciate yourtime.
Thank you for all of yourwisdom around this very
important topic.
Speaker 2 (31:56):
Thank you.
Yeah, my pleasure Great to seeyou, Kristen.
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (32:01):
You bet We'll talk to you soon.
Thanks, everybody.
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