Speaker 1: 0:08

Today I'm joined by Seth Rankin, 20-year OpenTable alum and a coach and consulting specialist in the hospitality tech space who's passionate about growing people, teams and companies. Seth and I are going to talk about three important things today why most restaurants struggle to find the right tech partner and usually what's going wrong in that selection process. What the essential questions restaurant owners should be asking before signing with any tech company to ensure that they're getting the right support. And he's going to walk us through what quality ongoing support actually looks like from the tech partner perspective. What restaurants should expect versus what they're actually getting. Hope you enjoy this episode.

Speaker 1: 0:57

Welcome to the Restaurant Leadership Podcast, the show where restaurant leaders learn tools, 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 decades in the restaurant industry and now partner with restaurant owners to develop their leaders and scale their businesses through powerful one-on-one coaching, group coaching and leadership workshops. Powerful one-on-one coaching group coaching and leadership workshops. This show is complete with episodes around coaching, leadership development and interviews with powerful industry leaders. You can now engage with me on the show and share topics you'd like to hear about leadership, lessons you want to learn and any feedback you have. Simply click the link at the top of the show notes and I will give you a shout out on a future episode.

Speaker 1: 1:50

Thanks so much for listening and I look forward to connecting. Seth, thank you so much for being here. Absolute pleasure to have you on the show today. I'm super excited to talk about this love-hate relationship with restaurants and tech companies that you and I've had multiple conversations about. But would you let's start by giving the listeners a little bit of background on you.

Speaker 2: 2:13

Sure, yeah. So I've been in hospitality. My entire career started in restaurants and hotels and then moved into sales with Cisco and then for 20 years was with OpenTable in sales capacity but also training the customer-facing folks at OpenTable how to support restaurants along the way.

Speaker 1: 2:40

Love it. And what are you doing today?

Speaker 2: 2:41

Yeah, so today I am doing some coaching for developing folks and companies that are trying to grow at the individual contributor level as well as management and above, and also doing some consulting in for, specifically for hospitality tech. So think companies that are emerging that are looking for a go-to-market strategy and or how to grow from a sales perspective.

Speaker 1: 3:09

Love it. What made you make the jump from operations into Cisco sales and then into OpenTable?

Speaker 2: 3:18

Yeah, I mean, I think if you work in the industry you know it's just, it is hard, you know it's a hard business, it's hard on your body and at the time when I was in it it was even more of a grind. I think since COVID there have been a lot of changes that have been made, but the two weeks off a year physically being in a place, and you know the challenges that are still here today, which is labor, inventory, all those pieces of the puzzle which are obviously very important and a big piece of the business. But I think I felt like I could do more from other areas in the industry, from other areas in the industry, and I've really enjoyed the transition. But I also have extreme empathy for those folks that are still grinding away out there every day.

Speaker 1: 4:13

Yeah, what was the biggest lesson that you learned in going from operations straight into open table, like from the tech perspective? What was your biggest takeaway?

Speaker 2: 4:23

From the tech perspective, I would your biggest takeaway. From the tech perspective, I would say that there are valuable tools out there that are great for restaurants, and finding the right restaurants that the tools are a fit for is a key component to success, both for the company as well as for the restaurant and really just helping implement those. And I would also say that hospitality continues to be part of selling, supporting and technology within the hospitality space, selling to restaurants and working with restaurants.

Speaker 1: 5:00

Today, I'm going to make a bold generalized statement, so please feel free to push back. Sure, I feel like hospitality. Make a bold generalized statement, so please feel free to push back. Sure, I feel like hospitality is the thing that's missing with a lot of the tech companies that are serving the hospitality industry. Where's the gap there? Why is that mishappening, or am I wrong?

Speaker 2: 5:20

I think it's about who you're working with and your priorities. If you have some specific examples, I would love to hear them, but I think overall, at least, the companies that I've been aligned with have been very focused on making sure that it was a hospitable experience for those that they're supporting and helping grow.

Speaker 1: 5:46

I think the conversations that I've had with clients some clients over the years have you know have led me to believe there's a lot of, and I've had a lot of conversations with tech companies.

Speaker 1: 6:01

There's so much tech out there, there's so much available too much in my mind. There's like I feel bad for operators looking at a new POS solution right now because there's so many, but it's really hard for them to figure out where to start. Who do I talk to? Who do I trust? Has this company been around long enough? Are they getting ready to sell to somebody and will my rates go up? Do I need an all-in-one solution or do I want something specialized? It's very, very difficult, and I think a lot of the tech companies that I've because I work in the independent space, some of the tech companies that I've talked to, don't want anything to do with me because they just want to talk to the big chains and not necessarily focus on the independence, and so I think finding tech that makes sense for independent operators is very difficult because their businesses are so specialized and they're so unique. Do you think that's true?

Speaker 2: 7:02

They're so unique. Do you think that's true A hundred percent, a hundred percent? I do not envy the amount of outreach that's happening to restaurants today. I think that's a big piece of it. One of the things I think that is challenging is the tech fatigue. It's a real issue.

Speaker 2: 7:22

I think there's outreach all day long and, from a restaurant operator's perspective, they're really thinking about what's happening within their four walls. I think the key component, or one of the key components, is and when? Really understanding a clear problem statement from a restaurant's perspective what are the challenges that they're having? And then flipping that and saying, okay, what can technology help me solve and who might be the best partner? And so, once you've identified the challenges, I do think there's probably a partner out there that can help you.

Speaker 2: 8:02

I think the other thing you touched on was what they call the Omni. I guess it would be called the Omni approach, which is I want an all-in-one solution and unfortunately today there is not a company that is great at everything that operators are looking to do within their four walls, and so it really has to be bespoke and pick and choose, and I think that's where great technology companies win, which is when they know their lane and they're able to say, hey, this is my ideal customer profile and I can offer a solution that really works for them. Yeah, I think that those are a couple of the big ones for sure.

Speaker 1: 8:41

Yeah, I think sometimes what I've found is that the hospitality is lacking in the conversation where the tech company is kind of presenting of let's just tell you everything about who we are and what we do, and there's not enough question around what the pain points are for the operators. I think that's a big, big miss with some of these companies.

Speaker 2: 9:05

A hundred percent. A hundred percent, and I think one of the things that I've always been passionate about is really understanding what are the challenges, why, beyond what they've told me, how can I go a little deeper and really understand not only what the challenges are but how that's impacting their business and then thinking through okay, how can we solve for that? Is it increased revenue? Is it marketing visibility? Is it a myriad? Is it, you know, tightening up operations? Like, what are the challenges?

Speaker 2: 9:35

And I think what I have always encouraged people to do that are selling and supporting restaurants is to really ask that question you know what are your goals and what are you trying to accomplish not just today but in the next six to twelve months, and then really thinking sort of back, engineering that and thinking about how can my product, services or the information and knowledge that I have impact the opportunity to support this restaurant.

Speaker 1: 10:03

Here's the thing 80% of restaurants fail because they don't have the systems, not because they have bad food or service. If you're ready to stop being the bottleneck in your own business and start building something that can actually scale profitably, I want you to put multi-unit mastery, my new book, directly in your hands for free. Go to IRFbookcom right now and grab your copy. When you do, you're going to get access to some additional tools that are not available anywhere else. This is about building a legacy, not just another location. Stop putting it off and go get your book Again. That's IRFbookcom. How would you recommend that? Once restaurants have identified what their pain point is, or their main challenge and their goals, what's the next step in the selection process? How do they go find that right tech partner in?

Speaker 2: 10:59

the selection process. How do they go find that right tech partner? Yeah, I think it's. It's a I a couple of things I would think about Um. One is one is referrals Like who else is out there that's doing doing this and has the same challenges I do? And asking them like who are you using today? How is it working? I think the key components are does it integrate with my current tech stack? Um, the average restaurant has about 15 different technologies that they're working with, so integration can be very important, but there also may be times where it doesn't necessarily need to because it's still solving the problem.

Speaker 2: 11:37

I would also say what was the training and onboarding like? So that's a big piece of it. How difficult or how challenging was that? What level of support did you get? I think the other piece is the really talking through what are the expected outcomes after the first 30 to 90 days and getting them to agree, to agree to that. That's what. That's what it's going to solve for them, Giving you the idea of what this is going to solve and how that's going to impact the business. Um, I would say all of those things are really important and I think one of the biggest is support. Um, we all know that nothing crashes, 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, I think, is a key component.

Speaker 1: 12:37

Yeah, absolutely. I think a lot of operators sign up for you know they get. Maybe they ask the right questions, maybe they feel like they're getting what they need. They sign up with a tech partner and then the relationship goes away and there's no support. Walk us through a little bit Like what does quality ongoing support actually look like from a 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 is really an opportunity for companies to do a better job, I think, with the proactive check-ins. So I think quarterly is a reasonable time to check in with partners, and I really like the idea of having an account manager or somebody that's really bringing insights to you that are actionable and giving you a review of what's happened up to this point. So holding the tech company accountable for key performance indicators, I think is a key component to success, and making sure that you are coming prepared to have a conversation.

Speaker 2: 13:49

One of the things I really appreciate and I think is extremely valuable is I don't think most people use the technology that they have to its fullest extent. So coming and asking those questions about how am I doing? You know whatever you're seeing right now, and then sort of sharing what things might be coming up or things that you need some help with, and having them guide you if there's anything within their product that can help with that. A lot of times that's going to be. There'll be free options there, or that person may have enough knowledge to be able to send you to somebody that can fix that problem if they can't. But I think leveraging those relationships and resources is a key component to continued success with the technology company wholeheartedly.

Speaker 1: 14:40

I think again in the conversations that I've had with tech companies, whether they reach out or I reach out to just learn more about their product sometimes I ask about onboarding and just what the timeframe is and obviously look at the demo of the product and what they have to offer and why it's different from something else that's already out there.

Speaker 1: 14:53

But I usually I always ask what does support look like for the restaurant after it's set up? Do you have an account manager that's doing reviews? Do you have a consultant or coach that is not just supplying reporting but helping the restaurant owners understand and operators understand what to actually go do with that information? Right, because they are busy people and maybe they have push reports coming at them, but if they don't take the time to sit down and actually analyze and understand what that data means and what to do with that data, then the relationship is going to fall apart and then they're going to become very bitter about the tech platform that they have, which I often see happen and I'm surprised that more. I'm so surprised when I asked that question of how many people say no, they don't have somebody on staff that is reaching out and nurturing those restaurants and making sure that they're helping them with their business, and that feels so wrong to me that there's all this work up front to get the sale and then it just kind of fizzles out and I just don't think that that's a responsible angle for companies to take.

Speaker 2: 16:02

I think the other pieces that that I've seen is restauranteurs have an obligation as well to make sure that there is a that, when the technology is implemented, that there is somebody that's leading that charge, but also that all of the key stakeholders within the restaurant understand what the value is to this.

Speaker 2: 16:23

I was always, you know. I think a lot of salespeople just want to get to the decision maker, but sometimes the decision maker isn't the one that's actually going to be using that product. Right, I love to go through a couple of people and make sure that everyone that was going to be using this product was bought into it, because they all had different agendas and objectives with the product, and so the idea of being able to pull more people in and I think that's on the backside too which is like when you have these opportunities to talk to your tech provider, thinking about what questions do I have? What's working today, what's not working today? But also checking in with my staff and getting their feedback on like, hey, what are you really enjoying about this product? And being able to share some of the good, as well as, obviously, some of the things that you wish were different or were changing. Yeah, key components to success, for sure.

Speaker 1: 17:14

I love it. So when you're talking about these quarterly check-ins, for example, how can restaurant teams prepare for these quarterly check-ins? For example, how can restaurant teams prepare for these quarterly check-ins? What challenges should they be bringing 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's working and what's not working and any specific examples, whether that be on their guest end or on the feedback from their staff and their team. I would also say that you should be setting goals with your tech provider, like where are you today and where do you want to be, and how do you get there, and so those questions are all part of this ecosystem of the give and take that should be happening. I do again. I go back to features like what's new? What should I be thinking about? What integrations do you have? How can I potentially consolidate my tech stack, or what am I not using that? I should be within the product today to make sure that you, as the restaurateur, are getting a full 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 business and I love the people that are in it and what they do and the amount of care and precision that they execute on. I don't think I would personally get back in.

Speaker 2: 18:54

However, what I would love to do is continue to help them is looking at a lot of different technology that's out there today and thinking about who, the who it would be a right fit for, and making sure that I'm proactively reaching out to those folks and saying, hey, here's some things that might help you, depending on what your needs are, you know? Are you trying to increase revenue? Are you trying to, um, retain more guests? Uh, are you trying to, you know, reduce costs from a, from a to-go perspective? There's a lot of different pieces to that, and I think that's where somebody could lean into me and say, hey, I'm looking at some different options. Or I'd love to talk a little bit about what's happening with my business, and I've done that more recently with some restaurateurs and it's been great in terms of being able to bring back some interesting and cool tools that can help them on several levels.

Speaker 1: 19:43

I love it. Can I rapid fire some different tech 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 is the leader in that space at the moment there's not a question, especially for the smaller independent restaurants. I think they've done a great job of moving forward with really working to be an omni source of different pieces. I think it comes down to again what are your needs and the costs that are incurred there, and what makes sense for you accounting software. Ooh, I don't have any recommendations 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 there is a resurgence and I think, with OpenTable right now, without question, and I think they did a really good job of listening to the to the restaurant base and saying, hey, what are the things we're missing? And it came back to brand and then um, alignment on uh, on dollars and cents, and I think they 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 are in your cycle. Again, opentable, phenomenal marketing partner. They absolutely will drive business. But when you talk about experiences, you know I would say Talk still has a pretty interesting tool that is a bit more customizable. And, you know, I think Resi also has some interesting features that are still out there and some partnerships that are pretty interesting in events. But I would say today OpenTable is 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 as close to that, but I will say what I've seen out. There are some different options for sort of owning that, that part of your business um. In terms of um, there's a company called ownercom. That really is a great marketing platform. They're going to move you to the top of the list in terms of SEO in different areas, so that you're being seen more frequently. They also allow you to keep your data and there's a flat fee associated with their process, as opposed to some of the high fees you see with some of the other folks out there. In terms of the way that they're really sort, they're really sort of marketing, the way 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're integrated with several different partners and that makes sense. There's another one, called Perfect Venue, that I've had some that I recently had some experience with. Again, I think it comes back to what your needs are and making sure that the tech folks call the ideal customer profile is you and that aligns up. That aligns in a way that makes sense for the operator.

Speaker 1: 23:10

Love. It All right, I'll stop grilling 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 big areas today, though, that I think operators are very afraid of, is the area of I'm sorry artificial intelligence. You know AI, and so what I would say to you, what I would say today, is it's definitely worth taking a look at. I've been looking at several different voice AI companies that I think have platforms that will absolutely enhance the hospitality experience. I think the concern is it takes me back to the old days with OpenTable, where everybody had a maitre d' and they're like why would I?

Speaker 2: 23:56

The maitre d', that's our person, they're the ones that are making this all happen, and we don't want to replace that person, and I think, at the end of the day, that's not really what it did, what it allowed for companies that offered reservation systems, allowed for a seamless transaction to happen for those that needed it, and then, on the other side, if you still needed to talk to somebody, you could still do that, and I think that's what the AI companies in the voice space are doing today, which is like hey, you want to know if you can bring your dog, you know if it's dog friendly or hours of operation, or what music is going to be playing in the venue this weekend.

Speaker 2: 24:34

This AI can answer a lot of those questions and give people exactly what they need when they need it, and with labor being so tight today, there's really some great opportunities, I think, to dig into that and start looking at that as a as a as a functional tool. And again, you're meeting your guests where they, where they are, and I think that's truly hospitality at the end of the day. And if they want to talk to somebody, obviously they still can. But I also think that's also true 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 calling someone and I get a question answered. I want quick, efficient results. I want to get on and off the phone. So from a guest perspective it makes so much sense. I don't want to fumble with the person that's trying to figure out the computer and, like you know, I just want a really seamless experience. And so I get the operator's perspective that it feels clunky, but from the guest's perspective 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 some ways.

Speaker 1: 25:40

Yeah, 100%. What else are you seeing going on with AI right now?

Speaker 2: 25:48

I think it's going to be in everything. I think everybody's looking at AI to help streamline a process of some sort. I do think that you're going to start seeing it more in the tools that you're already using today, so mapping menus. I think there's going to be opportunities for reviews. I think that's already out there in some segments, which is like here's what they wrote, here's what I suggest you send back Now, instead of having a manager the right manager to respond. It gives you a framework and you can say ah, that looks almost perfect. I'm going to change a couple of things. Boom, send it. So just efficiencies, I think is one of the keys, but I also think there's going to be a lot more data that's going to be coming down the pipe as well, and it's going to be able to. Who knows? It may be an opportunity to pull some of that information that is in so many different places together in a more streamlined and actionable and more actionable insights, actionable and more actionable insights.

Speaker 1: 26:48

I was just. I wrote down on my notepad here 15 tech systems in the average restaurant. From an ownership perspective, if I was owning a restaurant today and I had 15, 15 tech points touch points in my restaurant, I would have to. The only way I think I could manage that if I was a solopreneur is to throw all that reporting in AI and tell me what I'm looking at and then and help me make recommendations. I think I mean I do that a lot with cause I have. I have probably 12 or 13 tech systems that I use, so I guess I'm kind of already doing that. But AI has just been such a powerful assistant for me to be able to figure out what to do with 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 revenue streams which are so important for restaurants to be able to lean on when the weather's bad or it's the beginning of the year and events are down or whatever the case is, you've got to have all of those different systems Maybe not 15, I don't know but you definitely have to diversify yourself yeah, I think there's a lot of uh it restaurateurs now have to be tech experts to some degree and, um, or lean into tech tech experts, because I do think that it's easy to sort of stick your head in the sand and be like, hey, everything's going okay, um, but we all know that things change very rapidly, both on the hospitality side but also on the technology side, and so the problem that maybe was very difficult to solve um six months to a year ago might be out there today and available to fix whatever that you're, whatever you're trying to solve, uh and um, 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're not tech people and so that gap is just so large. I mean, how, how do you keep up with 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 like restaurateur should, which is like what problems am I trying to solve? Am I trying to increase revenue? Am I trying to get a better handle on labor? Am I trying to figure out another marketing avenue or opportunity to highlight my restaurant? Am I trying to get more events? And so, like, I think, once you've honed in on it, there's probably a tech, there's probably at least three or four opportunities to to look for tech to help you with that and really just thinking through, what are the problems in this, in this chain of events that are happening? You know it drives me crazy.

Speaker 2: 29:30

It just happened a few weeks ago with my daughter's graduation. We called, we called three different places and, um, they didn't get back to us, um, for a catering order and it just went into the ether and we, one of them, we went to three times and eventually ended up like being like we're not, we can't do it there. And then, finally, one of them we went to three times and eventually ended up like being like we're not, we can't do it there. And then, finally, when we did get ahold of somebody, they got the order wrong, which, again, I get, but it wasn't. It could have been a lot easier, it could have been streamlined and it could have really met my needs at a different level and it would have been a revenue, real revenue for people, you know. I mean, we know that the catering and event space is a very lucrative opportunity for restaurants, and so making sure that you're capturing that is a key component.

Speaker 1: 30:18

Yeah, 100%, and there's some really exciting tools coming out in that space to help you capture that, as we know, which is great. Seth, thank you so much for being 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 you if they want to work with you? Yeah, so I'm easy. My email address is very easy it's Seth at SethRankincom, and so I'll give it to you so we can add it to the, add it to the, add it into the podcast. But yeah.

Speaker 2: 30:44

I I think I would love to help restaurants. I continue to help restaurants and I think this navigating some of the tech challenges and other tools and opportunities and resources out there today is something that I've spent a bit of time on over the last few months since leaving OpenTable, and you know, please reach out if you're trying to figure out where to go.

Speaker 2: 31:07

Obviously, the accounting systems is not where I'm at right now, but everything else I'm in a pretty good spot with and understand what the opportunities are and certainly can can help navigate some of the some of the challenges that that I'm not really I think for me. I am not really working to as a consultant for restaurants per se, so my model is a little different in terms of I am working to have whoever the tech partner 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 your time. Thank you for all of your wisdom around this very important topic.

Speaker 2: 31:56

Thank you. Yeah, my pleasure Great to see you, Kristen. Thank you so much.

Speaker 1: 32:01

You bet We'll talk to you soon. Thanks, everybody.