Impressions…

Wednesday, May 4th, 2011

Who doesn’t want to make a good impression? I think it’s innate to who we are as human beings. We want to be liked. In business, it’s all about making a good impression. Good impressions lead to customer satisfaction which leads to repeat business which leads to long-term customer loyalty. The result is recurring revenue and business growth. The challenge is in continuing to make good impressions on your new customers while still wowing your existing customer base.

Ask yourself this – do you offer your guests a meal or a complete experience? Do your customers feel special each and every time they visit? What do you know about your customers? Is it more than their name? Do you gather enough information to make each visit a special event?

Ask yourselves these questions:

1. Does my customer request the same table for every visit?
2. Does my customer request the same reservation time on the same day of every week?
3. Do they always order a specific dish or bottle of wine?
4. Does my customer routinely request the same server?
5. Does my customer celebrate special events like birthdays and anniversaries at my establishment? What special requests are made for those events?

Excellent customer service is a cornerstone for restaurant success. Our customers know this and pride themselves on the service standards they set for themselves. They have the right people in place and they use our Dining Reservation & Table Management software to gather the right guest information at each visit. Then they use that data to provide the level of service that only they can – the service they’re customers have come to expect.

“The ReServe system has improved everything from sales to guest relationships.” – Mike Frampton, The Melting Pot, Sacramento.

The Gateway

Wednesday, April 13th, 2011

Check out our latest press release:

ReServe Interactive Launches ReServe Gateway - Web Services Enabling Third-Party System Integration and Aggregated Data Analysis

ReServe Interactive, an industry leader in hospitality management solutions, has launched  ReServe Gateway™, a robust web services platform enabling enterprise customers to integrate and share operational and financial data stored in their ReServe Interactive software with third-party software applications to streamline operations, improve productivity and enhance guest services.

“Many of our customers require our software to share information with other systems that help them manage their business such as POS systems, CRM programs and financial applications,” explains Mike Edmeyer, Vice President of Sales for ReServe Interactive. “ReServe Gateway is a reliable, responsive and cost-effective engine that enables on-demand communication with any of these services and is seamless in even the most PCI compliant environments.”

ReServe Gateway supports ReServe’s entire software suite including Reservation Management functions such as the facilitation of checking dining availability, making and cancelling reservations, and reporting reservation activity; Table Management services including the checking of wait times, changing table status, recording dining preferences, and reporting turn rates; Event Management services that facilitate the reporting of event scheduling activity and financial details, and checking availability and booking events, as well as Contact Management services that facilitate account and contact detail management.

“Web services is a standard communication protocol used across a variety of industries which means it’s proven, efficient and effective. And it’s easy to integrate with any desktop or hosted application,” explains Lynn Carter, Chief Technology Officer. “It enables us to focus on our core competency, which is designing productivity software for restaurants and catering operations, and efficiently sharing important data that our systems accumulate with other business functions. ReServe Gateway transforms how our software is used within an organization, and we expect the resulting links between ReServe and other systems to expand rapidly, providing great value to our customers.”

Will you Q?

Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011

Part of my job is educating customers about ways to improve operations so that they can see an immediate impact on their bottom line. Our customers need to run leaner, manage operations successfully and build business consistently. Without the right tools, these tasks are challenging to say the least.

Take, for example, dining reservations for restaurants. Restaurant staff needs a way to manage reservations so that they can take advantage of their entire table inventory. They need the assurance that when their guests go online to make a reservation, they find accurate information and can book a reservation easily. They also need a way to keep guests in their restaurant when they find their requested dining time to be unavailable.

When I’m speaking to prospective customers about reservation management, I ask the following: “Can you rely on the reservation software you are currently using?” The answer is usually “That depends.” For a variety of reasons, customers are unsure. They are spending quite a bit of money on some of the systems out there. There is some benefit to the marketing tools these systems provide, but it’s hard to gauge how much business is lost because guests have been redirected to other area restaurants that may have availability. In some case, there is no benefit at all; rather the restaurant feels it’s something that they need to do because they’ve been told it is good business sense to have some sort of system in place.

We end up discussing things like functionality, integration, marketing, and estimated ROI. Ultimately, I end up walking through the features of our software. What’s exciting is that we’ll soon be able to offer more dining reservation tools for restaurateurs. We will launch ReServe Q, a platform that will allow restaurant guests to make dining reservations or add themselves to a wait list using a restaurant’s website or a mobile device such as an iPhone, Android or Blackberry. As part of the ReServe Q offering, we’re forging strategic partnerships with mobile application aggregators and online dining guides to expand marketing reach for restaurants.

Most importantly, we’ve created a tool that will benefit our customers to the fullest with increased business and a better bottom line.

Will you Q?

Case Studies in Success

Wednesday, March 2nd, 2011

Since 1996, thousands of users across more than 1,000 businesses and venues have successfully implemented our Catering, Event Management, Dining Reservation and Table Management Software across their locations. Check out the links below to see how these customers are working smarter, faster and better by taking advantage of the unique, efficiency enhancing features of our software.

McCormick & Schmick’s

Melting Pot

Harry Caray’s

Lucky Strike Lanes & Lounge

Sega GameWorks USA

Georgia Aquarium

Round Hill Country Club

Chicago Yacht Club

Hyatt Regency

Landry & Kling

Hilton Waikoloa Village

Treasure Island Hotel & Casino

Gaylord Entertainment

Icon Estates

Rubicon Estate

What’s News?

Wednesday, February 23rd, 2011

Have you seen our latest press release? Take a read…

ReServe Interactive Celebrates Continued Growth and New Product Initiatives in 2011

ReServe Interactive, an industry leader in dynamic hospitality management software, including dining reservation, table management, catering and event management systems, has achieved 14 consecutive years of growth with significant increases in key business areas including the acquisition of enterprise accounts with multiple installations.

In 2011, ReServe Interactive will introduce several new products that greatly expand the benefits of their software throughout an organization and provide cost-effective, targeted marketing to drive additional business. First to be released is ReServe Gateway, a robust web services platform that enables enterprise customers to integrate and share ReServe data intelligence with other systems, streamline operations, improve productivity and enhance guest services. 

Second, ReServe will launch ReServeQ, a platform enabling guests to make dining reservations or add themselves to a wait list using a mobile device such as an iPhone, Android or Blackberry. As part of the ReServeQ offering, ReServe is forging strategic partnerships with mobile application aggregators and online dining guides to greatly expand marketing reach for restaurants.

“2011 development plans bring functionality that offers an integrated enterprise view of financial and operational data in ReServe that can be easily extracted and used to improve operations and provide convenient guest services,” says Lynn Carter, Chief Technology Officer. “We are committed to incorporating leading-edge technology for the direct benefit of our users, ensuring that ReServe continues to remain an invaluable resource. Leveraging the fastest growing technology sector today, mobile applications and social networking, is a perfect example. Our offerings in this arena are seamlessly integrated with ReServe and provide great value to our customers by driving more business to their restaurants in a targeted and cost-effective manner.”

Carter also explains that development of these new web services is driven by the needs and requests of some of their larger enterprise customers, but the benefits of these enhancements positively impact all of their customers, as well as the restaurant industry as a whole.

“This past year exceeded our expectations. We maintained a strong presence with the small and mid-range markets while experiencing significant growth with our larger, multi-unit enterprise customers,” explains Mike Edmeyer, Vice President of Sales. “The fact that ReServe is the only tool on the market to adequately manage both events and dining reservations in one system has been a large reason for our success.”

About ReServe Interactive

ReServe Interactive specializes in Catering, Event Management, Dining Reservation and Table Managementsoftware applications for the hospitality industry. Established in 1996, ReServe Interactive software is used by more than 8,000 industry professionals across more than 1,000 hospitality venues nationwide including hotels, restaurants, sports and entertainment facilities, golf and private clubs, cultural institutions and wineries. The company has offices in Livermore, California and Delafield, Wisconsin.

Our 15th Year

Thursday, January 27th, 2011

It’s almost hard to believe that we are in our 15^th year of business. So much has changed since we introduced ourselves to the industry in 1996.  What started as an idea to help ourselves has become a force within the hospitality industry. We are literally changing the way our customers are doing business.

Since 1996, our catering, event management, dining reservation and table management product offering has grown to include a web-based solution; we interface with more than 10 industry-leading applications; and we service more than 8,000 users.

And now, in our 15^th year of business, we’re going to take our offering even further by introducing several new features and products including easily implemented web services designed for sharing data between different applications. We are also developing a system designed for publishing restaurant wait times on reader boards throughout a hotel property, as well as features for sharing customer data with a centralized CRM database. Most importantly, we will soon launch a dining reservation focused mobile platform to support iPhone, Android and Blackberry devices.

As time has gone on, we’ve continued to progress and remain a valuable tool for our customers. We’ve helped our customers increase efficiency, enhance productivity and boost revenue. Our platform remains current, ensuring users are able to use the most updated technology solutions to manage their businesses.

This year is a milestone in many respects and we are so grateful for the many customers, industry partners and loyal employees that have brought us to this day. We look forward to making 2011 an unforgettable year.

What’s ahead for 2011?

Wednesday, January 19th, 2011

Here at ReServe Interactive, we’re very excited about the year ahead.  We’re directing our efforts toward the ever changing needs of our customers and the hospitality industry as a whole.  We’re focusing on web services, data integration and state-of-the-art technology advancements that not only benefit our customers’ productivity, but increase their profitability.

Keep your eye on our blog and watch for industry buzz on our latest catering, event management, dining reservation and table management product enhancements and offerings. In addition, you’ll learn more about some of our customers and the ways we’re making a difference in the way they do business, as well as select industry partnerships.

At ReServe Interactive, we embrace change and live for technological advancements. Especially when they enhance the way we serve our customers and the way our customers do business.

By the way, the first half of 2011 will bring the much anticipated launch of a new product designed for the restaurant industry. We’ll be sharing some more information soon, so keep tuning in.   

Here’s to a new year!

10 ways to work smarter with ReServe Interactive software

Friday, December 10th, 2010

The benefits of ReServe Interactive’s Catering & Event Management and Dining Reservation & Table Management software make for a long list. Below are just 10 benefits that enable hospitality professionals to work faster and smarter – improving their efficiency and increasing profitability.

With ReServe Interactive software, you can:

1. Build consistent business practices, improve communication and reporting accuracy
2. Enhance efficiency and effectiveness by bringing natural order to on- and off-premise operations while supporting best practice processes
3. Interface with leading business, hospitality and event technology tools to provide superior functionality and control
4. Ensure accuracy in the planning and execution of events on-site, off-premise or across multiple properties
5. Control the reservation process, eliminating costly errors and increasing profitability
6. Optimize your use of table inventory and track customer seating and dining preferences
7. Quickly and easily enable your staff to offer superior, personalized service while maximizing dining covers
8. Maximize table turns and seating inventory to increase profitability
9. Effectively manage server requirements and covers while enhancing customer service
10. Optimize server performance

What are you waiting for? Isn’t it time you worked smarter?

Gaylord Entertainment – A Success Story

Wednesday, October 20th, 2010

Over the years, we’ve been fortunate to partner with some of the industry’s most renowned hospitality venues and food and beverage professionals. The list is long and the relationships we’ve cultivated are important to us on so many levels.

Just recently, we partnered with Gaylord Entertainment, a leading hospitality and entertainment company, that owns and operates Gaylord Hotels, the award-winning leader in the meeting and resort hotels industry and the Grand Ole Opry, the legendary music showcase in Nashville, Tennessee.

When the company’s existing dining reservation software provider was bought out, Gaylord Entertainment selected ReServe Anywhere®, our web-based Dining Reservation & Table Management software with ReServe It™, our web-based dining reservation interface, to manage reservations across all four properties and the dining rooms of 16 fine dining restaurants.

By working together, we created a solution that centralizes Gaylord’s dining reservation process, makes reservation and customer data accessible to individual restaurants, multiple call centers, and hotel concierge staff; as well as accepts reservations through the company’s website. In addition, their staff communicates more effectively within each location and continues to provide superior customer service.

Click on the link below to learn more about this partnership.

http://www.reserveinteractive.com/downloads/case-studies/Gaylord-Entertainment.pdf

A special thank you to Gaylord Entertainment for sharing their story with us. And another thank you to all of our customers for their ongoing partnership. We appreciate you and look forward to continuing business together.

ANNOUNCING RESERVE VERSION 2010 SPRING

Wednesday, March 31st, 2010

We’re pleased to announce ReServe Interactive software version 2010 Spring. This is the first of two releases scheduled for 2010, and it includes a series of new convenience features and platform enhancements designed to further improve our customer’s software and service experience.

Most importantly, more than ninety percent of the updates included in this release are based on direct customer input and were incorporated to meet current industry needs and requirements. We are constantly taking input from our customers so that the product we deliver consistently meets their exact and ever-changing needs. As an organization, we have employees with extensive experience in the hospitality industry so we are aware of the challenges our customers face on a daily basis. But it is our customers’ open and candid input, suggestions and recommendations that help us to further develop the product in such a way that all of its features are relevant and integral to their operations.

This latest release includes customer requested enhancements to our Catering & Event Management and Dining Reservation & Table Management modules. And we’ve added several new features including a PCI compliance package that allows customers to easily and securely accept credit cards; ReServe University, an all-inclusive training and support tool; and ReServeIT/ReQuestIT Web 2.0, a powerful new platform for processing dining reservations and event inquiries via the Internet.

But our work is not done here. We are already working on our next release which is scheduled to go live in the Fall of 2010.  We are constantly reviewing our offering, talking to our customers, gathering their input and putting everything into the development pipeline.  We’ll never stop enhancing our product offering and we will always partner with our customers to do so.