There’s no such thing as restaurant transactions — there are only customers. The top 5% of guests drive approximately 30% of sales, and any restaurant brand that doesn’t prioritize increasing customer lifetime value is now at risk.
Those are the big takeaways from the “Why Restaurants Are Ditching the Transactional Mindset to Focus on Customers” panel session at the recent Fast Casual Executive Summit held in Charlotte, North Carolina. The annual event was well attended, according to organizers. The summit is one of several foodservice and technology industry events run by Networld Media Group. A virtual event, #QSRNext, will take place Nov. 9.
Panelists included Todd Madlener, president and COO of Coolgreens; Aaron Noveshen, CEO of Starbird and founder and chairman of The Culinary Edge; Sergio Perez, senior director of Omnichannel, Bojangles and Vince Szwajkowski, CMO at Blaze Pizza. Mike Vichich, co-founder and CEO of sponsor Wisely moderated the panel.
Dispatches From The Front 