How SevenRooms Improves Operations
by David Klemt
It’s true that SevenRooms is a reservation management platform. However, it’s so much more powerful than that.
Simply put, if the platform wasn’t simple to use and integrate with other systems, they wouldn’t be celebrating their tenth year.
A recent interview via Clubhouse highlights why now, more than ever, operators need to seriously consider SevenRooms.
Background
Guy Clarke, founder of Sizzle Dining, spoke with two key SevenRooms team members in a casual but informative Clubhouse chat.
Allison Page, SevenRooms co-founder and Chief Product Officer, and Marybeth Sheppard, senior vice president of marketing, fielded Clarke’s questions.
Interestingly, Page admits SevenRooms took five to seven years to really fine-tune operations. In fact, she says that the team didn’t quite know exactly what they were offering for the first year or two.
Now, the “reservation” platform has truly hit their stride. The company doesn’t just manage reservations, it provides powerful solutions: a full suite of operational tools; table management; and guest experience and retention capabilities.
Of course, many tech platforms claim to help operators. However, SevenRooms is now enjoying a decade in business.
Their longevity is, in part, due to their approach to hospitality. As Page tells it, the founders didn’t just enter the industry believing they could “fix it” with tech.
Plenty of tech folks have identified problems in hospitality, boasted about their “common sense” solution, and exited after finding out how challenging the business is.
Instead, the SevenRooms team spent time in the trenches. According to Page, they took reservations, checked coats, and more. They spent time with hospitality workers after hours and got to know them.
What’s with that Name?
I’ve written several articles about SevenRooms. However, I’ve never addressed why the founders chose that name.
When asked by Clarke during the Clubhouse chat, Page provided the answer.
Turns out, the name is a loose nod to Graydon Carter’s “Seven Rooms Theory.” The theory speaks to navigating social status in New York City. In short, it posits that the NYC social scene consists of seven consecutive “rooms,” each with a secret door. Find the secret door, move to the next room.
Of course, SevenRooms isn’t about exclusivity. Instead, SevenRooms is helping operators reach the seventh “room,” which is a lasting relationship with a guest. The six previous rooms are a journey toward understanding that guest and making them loyal by delivering incredible guest experiences.
Why SevenRooms Works
If this seems like a shameless plug for SevenRooms, well, it sort of is. They didn’t pay me, Doug or KRG Hospitality to promote the platform; we just like what SevenRooms can do for operators.
In an industry that has until recently been slow to innovate when it comes to tech, the platform has been improving restaurant and hotel operations for years.
According to Page, SevenRooms has a simple operating philosophy that drives the company: “Make small big, make big small.” SevenRooms is driven to help small, independent operations punch well above their weight class. The platform gives independent operators the same capabilities as their large chain counterparts.
Conversely, SevenRooms gives enterprise operators an effective way to deliver the engaging experiences that independents offer their guests.
However, there are other reasons SevenRooms is so worthy of consideration: simplicity.
SevenRooms is all about collecting data. Of course, data does no good if an operator doesn’t know what to do with it. If they had to analyze and leverage it on their own, they’d need to employ data scientists and an entire marketing team.
Well, SevenRooms employs those people instead so operators don’t need to. An operator doesn’t need to be a data scientist to use the information they collect through the platform. Marketing campaigns are automated and engaging, and require little effort from the end user.
Reduce Costs, Increase Revenue
As Sheppard explains, SevenRooms manages and, more importantly, helps maximize a restaurant’s floor.
Looking to increase turns? Done. Want every seat to generate revenue? Smart seating makes that possible. According to Sheppard, SevenRooms’ auto-assign seating functionality is worthy of operators’ trust. Additionally, the platform’s CRM, table management and marketing tools help staff upsell guests.
Speaking of automated functions, Sheppard provides insight into SevenRooms auto-tagging. The platform assigns automated tags that make it simple for staff to understand the guests they’re serving. Some examples are:
- Burger lover
- Red wine lover
- Big tipper
- Loves expensive wine
- No-showed twice
Just those five examples show how SevenRooms helps operators and their teams maximize the guest experience to generate revenue. So, how does the platform reduce costs?
First, investing in SevenRooms reduces an operator’s overall tech stack investment. It integrates with around 50 POS systems and offers several tools (modules), meaning an operator doesn’t need to purchase several platforms that may not integrate with one another.
Second, the reservation and table management tools streamline an operator’s business. When team members are focusing on revenue-generating tasks, the floor is being sat more efficiently, and guests are being wowed, costs are driven down and revenue is driven up.
Then, there’s the “hidden” benefit. As Sheppard says, hospitality is a passion-driven industry. Unfortunately, there are many “non-passion” tasks that must be accomplished for operators to make money and keep their doors open.
Those tasks can take a toll, leading to an operator to fall out of love with the industry and their own concept. Well, SevenRooms takes several of those tasks (sifting through data, creating marketing campaigns, figuring out how to maximize the floor, etc.) and automates them.
Therefore, operators have more time to program menus, mentor team members, forge relationships with guests by touching tables, and more.
To request a SevenRooms demo, click here.
Image: John Schnobrich on Unsplash
