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ON THE
ROAD RECOVERY TO
SEVENROOMS OFFERS RESTAURANTS A NEW PATH FORWARD IN BUILDING DEEPER GUEST RELATIONSHIPS
By Debbie Hall
After 20 months of challenges and uncertainty coming out of a global pandemic, restaurants are in recovery mode. Yet, despite this continued recovery, the omicron variant threw operators for a loop as they entered what was supposed to be a busy and profitable holiday season, resulting in canceled bookings and lost revenue. With Valentine’s Day and other major restaurant-based holidays on the horizon, today’s operators must prioritize a direct strategy, offering them more flexibility in how they connect and engage with guests. To do so, they must rely on the technology platforms that enable them to build deeper customer relationships through access to guest data. In the same way, consumers rallied around restaurants to order direct in the early days of the pandemic; now, more than ever, restaurants need consumers to do the same when booking a reservation. Restaurants don’t need the added stress (and cost) of not being able to create deeper
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relationships with their customers through a lack of access to guest data. Third-party reservation and online ordering marketplaces that don’t give restaurants their customer data no longer offer a viable business model for restaurants. Plus, the benefits to consumers going direct lead to better guest experiences every time. When a consumer books or orders direct, they can be guaranteed a more personalized guest experience and tailored marketing for future experiences. This can extend to on- or off-premise perks that could include complimentary prosecco for their birthday, preferred seating upon arrival, a special dessert in a takeout order, or a whole host of other benefits. Since 2011, SevenRooms has offered restaurant operators the ability to build deeper guest relationships that drive more revenue and repeat business. As CEO and CoFounder of SevenRooms, Joel Montaniel has led business
