Restaurant Guest Experience and AI Feedback | TimeForge

00:05 – Anthony Presley:
So we’re here today with Justin. Justin, would you give us just a minute? Give us an introduction and tell us a little about yourself.

00:11 – Justin Roundy:
Yeah. I’m Justin Roundy, working at Ovation. We make the best guest feedback software for restaurants. We engage guests with an easy two-question survey and give your operations team real insights on how to make things better.

00:26 – Anthony Presley:
I love it. So we’re here at FSTec, highlighting what restaurant operators are doing daily. You work with thousands of locations and brands. What are they focused on right now?

00:48 – Justin Roundy:
Operators are focused on guest experience. In a panel today, every operator talking about loyalty went back to guest experience as the main driver of loyalty. It’s the most important thing — hospitality operators want the best guest experience possible to build brand loyalty and keep guests coming back.

01:16 – Anthony Presley:
I love that. Is guest experience a cookie-cutter thing, or does it end up being unique for everyone?

01:25 – Justin Roundy:
Overall, hospitality is a dialogue. In principle it’s the same, but it’s not cookie-cutter. Guest experience is different for every brand. The way you approach guests can vary, but the core hospitality stays similar.

01:50 – Anthony Presley:
We’ve been in the industry a long time. We’re here at FSTec, baby.

01:54 – Justin Roundy:
There you go — 2024!

01:56 – Anthony Presley:
So, have you seen any tech categories that stand out for innovation? Or the opposite — what’s the industry missing?

02:23 – Justin Roundy:
Restaurant technology is behind other industries by years. Innovation is lacking overall. Restaurants need better tools to engage guests. Guest experience and guest feedback tech are changing a lot. AI is huge now — from phone interactions to how brands respond to feedback publicly and privately, even in marketing. Getting guests back in the door with AI is the biggest hot topic this year.

03:27 – Anthony Presley:
Good tie-in — I saw you announced a new AI tool this morning. Tell us about it and how you use AI for guest feedback.

03:41 – Justin Roundy:
AI is everywhere now. Ovation uses AI to analyze guest feedback from public and private channels and give you real ideas for operational changes. If you have a speed-of-service or order accuracy issue, Ovation shows which locations have problems and suggests changes to improve the guest experience.

04:15 – Anthony Presley:
Nice. That’s awesome — I’m excited about it.

04:18 – Justin Roundy:
It’s really cool.

04:19 – Anthony Presley:
Yeah.

04:19 – Justin Roundy:
We’re calling it Gold. So if you see Zach Oates, he’ll say, “Gold!”

04:27 – Anthony Presley:
Love it. As you know, we’re a labor tech company — so I’m curious: have you seen labor savings or reallocation when someone uses Ovation?

04:45 – Justin Roundy:
Yes. Ovation makes it much easier for employees to respond to guests. We take the table touch digital — so instead of missing that check-in at the store, Ovation lets guests share feedback digitally. If an experience wasn’t great, it takes just a few clicks to respond and get the guest back. Large brands can use just a couple of employees to handle all guest feedback system-wide, thanks to Ovation and our AI.

05:31 – Justin Roundy:
So we’re seeing faster responses with just a few clicks.

05:37 – Anthony Presley:
Wow, that’s impressive savings — little tech, big impact. So for someone at FSTec seeing lots of tech, what’s your top advice for choosing tools for a growing brand?

06:16 – Justin Roundy:
My advice: don’t pick the tool that claims to do everything but does it poorly. Restaurant tech is one big Venn diagram with overlapping pieces. Pick the best tool for your biggest goal or problem. That’s better than an all-in-one that doesn’t get you where you need to be.

06:48 – Anthony Presley:
Perfect. I was just talking to someone today about how all-in-one can be mile wide, inch deep. I’m a best-of-breed fan too — build the right tech stack, find good partners, and make it work together. Last question — I talked to Zach recently about high CSAT scores and how they relate to good training, scheduling, and employee satisfaction. Any thoughts?

07:38 – Justin Roundy:
It goes back to the saying: do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life. If you provide a great employee experience, your guests feel it. From the front of the house on down, if people love where they work, the guest experience is better. You can feel it when a server has been there 30 years and loves their job — it shows in the guest experience. It starts with your team; they’re the most important part.

08:22 – Anthony Presley:
Love it. Thanks for your time — really appreciate it.

08:25 – Justin Roundy:
Thank you — check out Ovation!