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Chris Rumpf is the Founder, CEO, and El Conquistador of Flyght, a company that unifies restaurant technologies. On this episode of Give an Ovation, he and Zack Oates talked the four must-do’s of 3rd party delivery, technology integration, and how your restaurant can unify the guest experience in 2021.
Here’s a quick rundown:
1. Closed-loop Platforms Can’t Keep Up
Should a restaurant use one all-purpose piece of tech, or many specialized ones? Before COVID-19, Chris believed you could get away with a savvy, integrated POS. But the market is evolving. More money is coming in, more channels are normalizing and innovation is exploding. One system can’t cover everything anymore.
2. 3rd Party Needs To Shift
As Chris said regarding 3rd party, “Once you give up your food…it’s gone. Right? And so you have to figure out, what are you going to do before then in your workflow to try and give a fighting chance?”
Here were his four suggestions for giving yourself said chance:
1) All menus need to flow across channels seamlessly.
2) Online orders need to flow to the POS easily.
3) Native orders should be able to be bid out to drivers on DSP’s.
4) 3rd party customers should be converted to 1st party delivery platforms.
3. You Can’t Take The People Out Of Hospitality
When asked how to unify the guest experience across channels, Chris responded that it’s “all about people.” People are at the core of hospitality, not technology, so training your team to treat customers right at every stage is your best strategy.
4. What Can You Take From Dining?
Another suggestion for unification was to take what’s best about your dining experience and apply it to your other channels. For example, P.F. Chang’s uses sealable to-go backs to keep their food as fresh as possible. They haven’t treated Zack the best, but that’s another story…
5. Lean In To Innovation – Now’s The Time
There are many knowledgeable people in the industry that you can rely on for help navigating these tough times, such as Zack and Chris. Customers are understanding of the current challenges for restaurateurs, so it’s a great time to experiment!
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Thanks for reading! Make sure to check out the whole podcast, as well as other interviews with restaurant/business gurus by checking out “Give an Ovation” on podcast.ovationup.com, or your favorite place to listen to podcasts.
For more from Chris, you can find him on LinkedIn or Twitter. Finally, don’t forget to visit whatisflyght.com. Thanks Chris!
