NYC Based SevenRooms Is Innovating CRM Technology That Puts Operator First

SevenRooms
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Technology has been a part of the food service industry for decades but is only just starting to catch up with the needs of the modern hospitality industry. SevenRooms is the leading enterprise technology platform for the hospitality, dining, and nightlife industries. We wanted to know what makes SevenRooms stand out above the saturated market of hospitality technologies.

Joel Montaniel, SevenRooms
Joel Montaniel, SevenRooms

So what is SevenRooms you ask? SevenRooms offers operators intelligent front of house capabilities, powerful Client Relationship Management (CRM), point-of-sale integration, predictive analytics and an open API platform. The SevenRooms platform is jam packed full of smart and intuitive features that streamline operations, build loyalty and drive revenue by enabling restaurant operators to provide exceptional customer service through data-driven decisions.

Platforms like this do not happen overnight. In fact, SevenRooms looks completely different today than it did five years ago. We chatted with CEO Joel Montaniel for the full story on how SevenRooms got its start.

iphone_resid-historyThe idea for SevenRooms started in 2007, when my co-founder Allison Page and I were analysts at Credit Suisse (we literally shared a cubicle wall), consistently working 100+ hours per week,” said Montaniel. “On the rare night I wasn’t working late, I wanted to check out restaurants and nightclubs that my friends were raving about, or that I read about on a hot list somewhere.  At these places, you either had to book months in advance or know someone to get a reservation.”

With the goal of making reservations easier, Allison and Joel started developing the first SevenRooms product and launched in 2009. Unfortunately, it wasn’t all success from there. “We made every mistake that first-time founders make and we failed miserably. As much as it hurt, we were lucky to fail fast and take a major learning experience. We weren’t solving a big enough problem for hospitality operators, giving them little to no reason to adopt our product,” said Montaniel. 

  • Inline Plastics Safe-T-Chef
  • McKee Foodservice
  • Simplot Frozen Avocado
  • RATIONAL USA
  • Texas Pete
  • Day & Nite
  • T&S Brass Eversteel Pre-Rinse Units
  • DAVO Sales Tax
  • RAK Porcelain
  • Imperial Dade
  • Red Gold Sacramento
  • BelGioioso Burrata
  • Atosa USA
  • AyrKing Mixstir

Using their first platform as a learning process the pair committed to building a new product that really solved problems. The difference was that the new product sought first and foremost to address the pain points of hospitality operators, not consumers. “Over the next two years, we got up close and personal and spent countless nights working side-by-side with operators to learn the business.  We realized that the foundation of great hospitality is the ability to understand and service the guest on a personal level. It was this feeling of recognition that brought guests back time and again. So we set out to make better service easier by helping operators track their guest data, making it available seamlessly from reservation booking to seating management and marketing,” said Montaniel.

ipad_floorplan-names-dining_portraitAlmost ten years later, SevenRooms is one of the industry’s most comprehensive platforms with hospitality clients all over the world. In 2015, demand from SevenRooms’ largest hospitality clients prompted them to move into the restaurant space to help fill this pressing need from their vendors. Now SevenRooms is known as one of the best technology platforms in the hospitality industry for both dining and nightlife operators.

“SevenRooms integrates with over 30 leading POS systems, giving operators a rich, 360-degree view of their clients, from preferences to spend and order history, all in real-time. Each guest profile is shared across an operator’s sister properties, providing a unified view of their guest, no matter which property in their portfolio the person frequents,” Montaniel said. For the first time, we’ve married spend data with customer data so operators have a quantitative and qualitative understanding of every guest. Our POS integration allows operators to not only track how much guests are spending, but provides deep insights into what they are spending it on – from food and wine to cocktails and bottles. No more guesswork. Complete knowledge of client spending helps to provide superior service, increasing revenue through customer loyalty and repeat visits.” Joel likes to think of SevenRooms like Switzerland: they work with everyone but stay neutral.

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Plain and simple, SevenRooms is operator first in everything they do.  “Other technology companies are focused on building tools for both operators and consumers. We’re happy letting other companies focus on consumers — our platform is designed to partner with them,” said Montaniel. Operators love SevenRooms and aren’t quiet about it. In fact, one of the most remarkable things about SevenRooms, in our opinion, is that it has become a leader in the space through no marketing efforts whatsoever, but exclusively through word of mouth. With such an exceptional product, we look forward to seeing what SevenRooms has in store.

To learn more about SevenRooms, visit their website.

  • RAK Porcelain
  • RATIONAL USA
  • AyrKing Mixstir
  • Inline Plastics Safe-T-Chef
  • BelGioioso Burrata
  • Simplot Frozen Avocado
  • Imperial Dade
  • McKee Foodservice
  • Texas Pete
  • Red Gold Sacramento
  • T&S Brass Eversteel Pre-Rinse Units
  • DAVO Sales Tax
  • Day & Nite
  • Atosa USA