Who is Zenchef?
Running a Restaurant is a balancing act: you have to manage the staff, tables, and menu, not to mention handle the reservations, customer loyalty programs and social network pages. Many restaurant managers feel overwhelmed by the number of online and offline processes they need to master to stay competitive.
Zenchef, a one-stop marketing SaaS solution, was founded to allow them to regain control of these processes. By handling their websites, reservations, client feedback and social network presence, Zenchef helps over 3,000 restaurants worldwide attract customers and increase loyalty. Call tracking lets Zenchef keep track of leads they generate for their clients, and SMS notifications allow them to gather client reviews, manage reservations and even collect unpaid invoices.
For us, it’s essential to be able to show our clients how many of their inbound calls come from Zenchef. With CALLR, we can easily prove ROI to our clients without wasting time manually looking for various data sources.”
The challenge: efficiently monetize leads
One of Zenchef’s promises is that they’ll bring in more customers for their users. “It’s vital for us to prove to the restaurants we work with that we generate inbound calls for them,” explained Julien Balmont, Co-founder and CTO of Zenchef. “The only reliable way to do this is through call tracking.”
Zenchef uses CALLR’s API to dynamically generate a tracking phone number for each restaurant, which they publish on the website, online ads, and social media pages they manage for them. When someone dials one of these numbers, Zenchef knows that that particular call came from their media. “For us, it’s essential to be able to show our clients how many of their inbound calls come from Zenchef. With Callr, we can easily prove ROI to our clients without wasting time manually looking for various data sources.”
Zenchef also uses CALLR to qualify incoming calls. When someone dials a Zenchef number to reach a restaurant, they’re presented with an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) menu, which they use to indicate if they want more information or to make a reservation. CALLR promptly redirects the call to the right person, and uses call whispering to inform whoever picks up at the restaurant what the caller wants, before they are put live. This way, the restaurant can provide more personalized, efficient customer experiences.
Zenchef turns to CALLR for reliable SMS service
After disappointing experiences with other providers, Zenchef also turned to CALLR to send SMS notifications. Julien explained: “We tried two other SMS solutions before CALLR, but we weren’t happy. Their APIs were very complex to integrate and there were a lot of technical glitches, like phone calls going to the wrong restaurant. On top of this, it would take a long time to get ahold of their support team. We’re much more satisfied with CALLR’s service – we aren’t having the kinds of problems we had before.”
Today, Zenchef uses CALLR to automatically send diners an SMS to gather client reviews, and sometimes to confirm, change or cancel a reservation. These messages are personalized with relevant data: number of people in a reservation, the date and time, the name of the party and a link to manage the reservation or leave a review.
SMS most effective channel for debt-collection
“Recently, we’ve also been using CALLR to send SMS to clients to remind them of their unpaid invoices,” added Julien. He explained that they had tried sending emails but with no luck, and that they hardly ever got the right person if they call a restaurant directly. Debt-collection agencies also aren’t interested in working with them, because the amounts owed are relatively small. “SMS has been the most effective way for us to contact clients who aren’t up to date with their payments,” explained Julien.
Easy API integration
“CALLR’s API is very clear, and integration was quick and easy,” said Julien, adding that he used PHP for the programming. Today, CALLR handles a high volume of traffic for Zenchef – about 2,000 tracked phone numbers, 15,500 inbound calls and 7,600 SMS each week. “We’ve never had any technical problems with CALLR,” concluded Julien.
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