FSR magazine April 2018

Service By Kevin Hardy
A More Human Touch of Tech
restaurants continue
to streamline their
operations with new tech,
but never at the expense
of customer care.
Abuelo’s
Abuelo’s finds thAt the right bAlAnce of technology cAn enhAnce its
hospitAlity And menu, which includes dishes like the pork tenderloin AbrigAdA.
About four yeArs Ago, Abuelo’s
Mexican Restaurants installed tabletop
tablets. The Ziosk devices allow customers
to order drinks, appetizers, and
desserts without a server. They include
games for kids and empower customers
to settle their bill whenever they please,
without waiting for a ticket or handing
over a credit card.
“We did not cut the number of servers
because you still need to order the
entrées from the server,” says Bob Lin,
president of the Texas-based chain. “And
with our restaurants, there’s so much
customization we allow our guests, it’d
be impossible to do it through a tablet.
We think of ourselves as a casual-plus,
so having those touchpoints with the
guests is very important.”
Table-top ordering represents just
one step the chain has taken to integrate
technology across the operation.
It might seem that such products fit best
in limited-service restaurants, where
value, speed, and convenience are the
main drivers. But Lin says full-service
restaurants can find success going hightech,
too. And they can do it without sacrificing
hospitality—an important differentiator
for the full-service segment.
In fact, Lin believes some technology
can improve the human element of
service. Abuelo’s table-top devices allow
staff to spend more time with customers;
servers are freed up from running
to the table with the check, back to the
POS station, and then back to the table.
“That stuff just kind of goes away,” Lin
says. “There are always those occasions
where the guest is frustrated because
they’re ready to go and they can’t find
the person to ring them out. It’s a loselose
situation where we’re not turning
the table as fast as we can and the customer
is dissatisfied.”
Lin says customers have met the
change in stride, and they can still order
and pay directly with a server if they
choose. It’s a key consideration for those
guests who are uncomfortable with or
opposed to technology.
The Ziosk system also upgraded customer
satisfaction surveys with the
questionnaire prompt on the tablet. Previously,
the process relied on enticing
customers with coupons or freebies to
call in or visit a website to offer feedback.
Although Abuelo’s offers no customer
incentives with the new tablet-based surveys,
the response rate has been higher.
Plus, the system delivers granular results,
down to a specific employee or a recurring
issue.
“If an employee’s consistently getting
low marks in a particular area, then we
can counsel the employee,” Lin says. “Or,
if an employee is getting superior ratings
at every interaction, then there are
things we can do to reward the employee.
It’s very actionable data that we’re getting.”
As technology continues to reshape
the industry—with transformational
tools ranging from employee-schedul-
FOOdneWSFeed.cOm April 2018 75