It’s not the size of your data stockpile, it’s how you use it. Join the digital marketing gurus who can make data do headstands, as they break down the latest VB Insight Marketing Analytics Report and share insights from the front line.
Nowait knows how to leverage data. The company has evolved from a text message waitlist system to a restaurant management solution in part because Nowait CEO Ware Sykes, as he puts it, is unapologetically obsessed with data.
“We implement data as part of our DNA,” says Sykes, a panelist on VentureBeat’s upcoming webinar, “Data-driven: Customer-obsessed results through analytics.”
And while the ability to track and engineer data is at a much higher level than it was five years ago, the latest VB Insight Marketing Analytics report has found that the ability to turn that data into insight has not grown anywhere near as quickly.
But companies like Nowait are breaking the mold. Nowait is dedicated to using the metrics they capture at every touchpoint on both sides of their app — restaurant-goer and restaurant — to improve the way businesses run and the way people live their lives.
Over 25 million people use Nowait to gain control over how and where they wait for tables at over 4,000 restaurants. With a variety of sophisticated tools, including a new confidential self-reporting tool for diners, Nowait gathers customer data that they’ve turned into a way to not only help restaurants run more efficiently but also deliver extraordinary customer service.
“We can actually tell restaurants how well and efficiently they’re seating their customers,” Sykes says. Using Nowait app feedback, one of their clients discovered that during their very busy peak hours, they weren’t seating their restaurants at full capacity.
“They redesigned their restaurants using our data and got a substantial lift in sales,” Sykes says, “simply by making their table layouts more efficient.”
Another restaurant was able to track back a customer experience to a specific table, at a specific time, being served by a specific staff member. When a waiter ignored a consumer’s gluten-free request and got sick, the restaurant was able to make reparations and ensure the situation never occurred again.
None of this information would mean much to clients, Sykes cautions, if you overwhelm them with the data they need. “You have to make the data as delicious as possible,” he says. “It’s important that tools you use can be used by people outside the company.”
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Beyond the software and tools, Sykes says, Nowait is simply a fundamentally data-driven company, with a culture where data is celebrated and every decision is shaped by data.
For Sykes, achieving this is based on hiring data-driven professionals in every role. A data-oriented organization eliminates the HIPPO (highest individually paid person’s opinion) problem.
“It comes back to who has the best data,” he explains.
Any employee at any level of the organization — if they have a substantive, data-driven case—can offer solutions. The playing field is leveled so the best ideas always come forward.
Start-ups have the opportunity to build data into everything they do from the ground up. And while that’s a challenge for big companies, with a workforce that might not have the knowledge and tools they need, nowadays it’s the only way to win.
For more about the technology, tools, and infrastructure you need to conquer in a data-saturated market, join our free VentureBeat webinar. VB’s analyst Jon Cifuentes will take attendees through the most important take-aways of our latest report. He’ll be joined by Sykes and others who will share critical insights from the front-lines.
In this webinar, you’ll learn how to:
- Determine your organization’s primary objectives for analytics
- Winnow down your options to a handful of appropriate platforms
- Come up with ways to measure success
- Generate meaningful business insight from data
- Plan for the future by the ability to add new data sources and tools
Speakers:
Jon Cifuentes, Analyst, VB Insight
Ken Davis, CEO, TaskEasy
Ware Sykes, CEO, Nowait
Mike Osborn, CMO, Upstart
Moderator:
Wendy Schuchart, Analyst, VentureBeat