Do you need a boost?

Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011

Are you in a stalemate? Your existing customer base is loyal. Revenue is steady. The problem is you’re not growing. What are you doing
to generate new income? Besides every day specials, food and drink promotions, what else have you offered to boost that bottom line?

Here are just a couple of ideas to consider when deciding how to bring in new customers and additional revenue. I’ll be covering each of
these ideas in more details over the coming weeks.

• Private dining
• Catering
• Your website
• Social media tools like Twitter and Facebook

It’s the little things…

Thursday, June 9th, 2011

Here’s an interesting thought. Our customers thrive on, and, at the same time, are often overwhelmed by details. It’s the minutia involved
in their everyday responsibilities that can make our users’ lives crazy. From last minute reservation cancellations to unexpected walk-ins, wine preferences for a birthday celebration to a frantic bride’s fourth menu change in two weeks –  all of these things are important, and when overlooked or forgotten, can throw everything out of whack.

When I get a phone call from a prospective customer, it’s usually because they are drowning in Post-it Notes and file folders, lost in a
sea of scratched up and wrinkled reservation book pages, or simply tired of bouncing between three or four computer programs to get one report printed. They are exhausted and looking for a better way to do business.

We know that, as a true solutions provider, we can’t make sweeping generalizations about that individual’s business. We can’t assume they
follow the same processes as other establishments, subscribe to similar business models as industry peers, or service the same demographic as a local counterpart. We treat them as individuals and pay attention to the details they share – the very same, very specific details they pay attention to every single day.

But that’s just the beginning. Once we talk with them and learn more about their needs, it’s time to share how our software can help them
more successfully manage those details. With ReServe, our customers can capture important bits of information to create an exceptional guest experience. And when our customers are too busy to ask for the details, we remind them. We want them to be able to treat all of their guests like VIPs from the get go because when our customers are successful, we’re successful.

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.

Why ReServe Interactive?

Wednesday, December 15th, 2010

Here are some simple reasons why:

• Our systems help organizations maximize the use and value of their hospitality assets by eliminating process and resource inefficiencies, and  making it effortless to implement best-practice work flows across organizations
• Our products automatically centralize information in order to give organizations real-time decision-making ability and long-term business visibility
• Unwieldy tools burden your team and leave business on the table–we provide a natural, optimal work flow that enhances efficiency and effectiveness
• Our products accelerate your own and your team’s work by anticipating next steps and automating labor-intensive tasks
• Our systems capture and update information effortlessly to enhance visibility, teamwork and communication from beginning to end
• Our intelligent solutions automatically optimize space to make it effortless for you and your staff to maximize table turns and manage events
• Our intuitive systems are easy to use, easy to train on, and make it easy for you to implement and enforce correct policies and procedures
• Our products integrate the reservation, dining and event information that helps you serve customers better before, during and after their visits
• Our systems make catering, event, reservation and table management effortless for users by automating labor-intensive tasks and anticipating natural next steps
• Our systems centralize, protect and provide secure access to the information that organizations need to make hospitality operations more productive and more profitable
• Our systems are built on industry-standard platforms, and interface with leading business, hospitality and event IT tools

Finally, we are seasoned experts who have been helping organizations optimize their hospitality operations for more than a decade.

Surviving or thriving?

Wednesday, August 25th, 2010

Your Catering Sales Manager takes a new job and leaves the company with little notice. As her assistant, your feelings toward her departure are bittersweet. She’s happy about her new position, so you are happy for her, but you will miss her. Above all else, you realize that until a replacement is hired, you are left to do her work as well as your own. After a brief meeting prior to her exit and a lone assessment of the entire situation, which scenario most likely represents your situation?

• Her desk is loaded with file folders, stacks of paper and an avalanche of yellow and pink sticky notes. You know she manages a few things in a computerized spreadsheet, but you can’t seem to find it on her desktop. Her Rolodex, now ages old, is no longer in alphabetical order. This month’s events, a few names and the occasional phone number are scratched onto a dry erase calendar board next to her desk. You know what you need to do on your end because you’ve kept your own stack of file folders and a legal pad with a long to-do list, but now you need to consolidate her information with yours to make sure all the upcoming events are covered and nothing slips through the cracks. You’re overwhelmed and nervous – how will you organize everything and still keep things moving forward?

Or…

• You sit down at her computer and click on the ReServe Anywhere icon. After you log in - Ta-Da! Everything you need to know about this month’s events (as well as any events in the future) is right at your finger tips. You dive in and review the centralized event calendar complete with times and dates, all of your set up, service and labor requirements, menu and pricing information, and a detailed customer database complete with comprehensive contact information for all of your guests. You check the task list, review any follow up reminders and get started. Everything is in order. Every detail has been captured. Nothing is missed. ReServe prompts your next steps so you easily and efficiently keep things moving forward. Everything goes off without a hitch. Job well done!

Our hope is that the first scenario is more of an exaggeration rather than actual truth. However, we know that many catering professionals are dealing with the frustration of paper-based event management.  The second scenario represents where we would like everyone to be – calm, cool and in control.

So, what’s your situation? Are you surviving or thriving?

How it all began

Tuesday, September 8th, 2009

When the idea for our software first came about, I was working for Wente Vineyards in Livermore, California, managing retail operations, which included restaurant sales and marketing, catering services, as well as visitor center and golf course events, and the vineyard’s concert series. My desk was overflowing with file folders and sticky notes, pads of paper and pink phone message slips. It was overwhelming, to say the least.

When I couldn’t take it anymore, I began researching different software products to help us automate our processes. At the time, most of the products available were expensive and geared toward the hotel market, so it was hard finding the right fit. When I finally selected a product that I thought was one of the better solutions available at the time, I found it difficult to use and time consuming. After endless hours of struggling to make the software work for us, I ended up picking up the phone and calling my sister in Wisconsin who was running her own consulting business specializing in the design and development of effective user interfaces for high-tech products. I explained my frustration and ended with “There’s got to be a better way.”

So, Lynn flew out to California and together we analyzed the different facets of my job and the roles of the various departments responsible for managing on-site dining and events. I explained how I would prefer for things to work, what would make the most sense for the staff, and what elements of our day-to-day operations needed to be made more efficient. We put our heads together, and with my hospitality experience and her technology experience, we began developing the earliest versions of ReServe Interactive software.

In 1996, we formally launched Efficient Frontiers, Inc. and began selling ReServe Interactive Catering, Event Management, Dining Reservations and Table Management software. Our first customer was Wente Vineyards.

I can’t believe it’s been more than 13 years since that fated phone call, and so much has happened since. Our product offering has grown to include a web-based solution; we interface with more than 10 industry-leading applications; and we service more than 1,000 customers. And it all started with a single phone call. We couldn’t be happier with the way our idea has grown. Most of all, it feels really good to know that every day, we are making someone’s life just a little bit easier.

Beth Goodell