Popmenu co-founders Brendan Sweeney and Tony Roy discuss the challenges restaurants face and how AI tools can help them grow bigger than ever before.
If there’s one commonality among restaurant operators, it’s that there is just too much to do with too little time. That’s why Popmenu is using AI and other new technologies to help restaurants get back more of life’s most precious resource: hours in the day.
If there’s one commonality among restaurant operators, it’s that there is just too much to do with too little time. That’s why Popmenu is using AI and other new technologies to help restaurants get back more of life’s most precious resource: hours in the day.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Welcome to Restaurant Influencers, presented by Entrepreneur.
00:09I am your host, Sean Walchef.
00:10This is a Cali BBQ Media production.
00:13We are coming to you from the National Restaurant Association show in Chicago, 55,000 restaurant
00:20professionals, 2,200 vendors, 12 football fields.
00:24We're in the North Hall on top of the entire trade show, probably in the coolest, I think
00:29it is the coolest booth.
00:31You guys have won three consecutive years coolest booth, is that what's going down?
00:34I'm not going to argue with you.
00:35I'll take that.
00:36I'm not arguing.
00:37I'll take that, yeah.
00:38We are in the speakeasy of PopMenu with Brendan Sweeney and Tony Roy, co-founders of PopMenu,
00:43and it wouldn't be a National Restaurant Association show if we didn't talk about the state of
00:48the industry, the state of all of the cool digital hospitality tools that you guys are
00:53enabling restaurants.
00:54So welcome to the show.
00:55Thanks for having us.
00:56It's great to see you.
00:57So I haven't asked you this question before, but I'm going to start with Tony.
01:01Where in the world is your favorite stadium, stage, or venue?
01:05Stadium, stage, or venue.
01:07Well, I grew up in Atlanta, and I'm going to go old school Fulton County, which doesn't
01:10exist anymore.
01:11But I had a lot of dollar hot dogs there that I-
01:13Fulton County.
01:14Fulton County, which they steamrolled for the Olympics.
01:17Was there a brand that was sponsored?
01:19No, it was just Atlanta, Fulton County.
01:22The county.
01:23That was it.
01:24It doesn't exist anymore now.
01:25How many people were in Fulton County?
01:26I don't know.
01:27Well, in the 80s, it was pretty sparse because they were terrible until like the 90s.
01:31So maybe like 1,000.
01:331,000?
01:34Okay.
01:35We're going back to Fulton County.
01:36We're going to put 1,000 professionals that are playing the game within the game, and
01:39we're going to put on a tech talk like you guys did, standing room only yesterday.
01:43You guys put on a tech talk at the show.
01:46And this is for the audience.
01:47So the reason why we do content, the reason why we do stories is because a lot of restaurants
01:52can't come to Chicago.
01:53They're too busy running their restaurants.
01:54Can you bring us in, give us the TEDx style?
01:58What did you guys talk about yesterday?
02:00We talked about AI, how people are leveraging that, how it's benefiting restaurants, why
02:05they shouldn't be scared of it, how we as a company are simplifying it for restaurants.
02:09And look, as you just said, they're busy.
02:12And what happens when you're busy is you don't market yourself.
02:14And we know that when you do that, it leads to results.
02:17So we're doing anything we can to make it easier.
02:19And so our new AI marketing calendar does that.
02:21And that's what we were talking about yesterday.
02:22Can you tell me a story?
02:24I can tell you a great story.
02:25We're talking about results.
02:26I was literally down at the bottom of the booth.
02:28And we had multiple people come up and said that they were at your talk yesterday.
02:31We signed a few.
02:32And they're like, we want to come and hear about these results that you're talking about.
02:35Well, I'll tell you one, and then Brendan can elaborate.
02:37But we did a webinar actually last week.
02:39I might have mentioned this the other day.
02:40But there is a Jamaican restaurant called Ruby's Jamaican, and it's in Alexandria, Virginia.
02:45And they started using our AI marketing calendar, I think in like February.
02:48Historically, they're doing a few thousand dollars a month in online ordering.
02:52And in the rolling 30 days, they're doing just under $39,000 in online ordering sales.
02:56And it was funny because she was on the webinar, and she's like, yeah, my kitchen ran in here
02:59the other day and said, hey, what's going on?
03:01We're running out of brown stew.
03:03I'm like, she goes, yeah, I don't know what's happening.
03:05And she's like, oh, well, you guys did a text message and a social post and it created awareness
03:10and people started buying the brown stew.
03:12But I thought that was so perfect because we tell people all the time, look, if you
03:15got a high profit item, a signature dish, if you can highlight that on the menu in a
03:19way that's unique, visual, feature, whatever it might be, it drives results.
03:24And so it was perfect for her to say it because when you're consulting restaurants, they're
03:28always wondering, hey, what's the catch here?
03:30So when they hear it from a peer, it's really powerful.
03:32But yeah, that was a good example, I thought.
03:34Do you have any stories for us, Brendan?
03:35Yeah, I mean, I'll just expand upon that story.
03:37Like last year, we were here talking about what AI could do.
03:40And I think most people are still talking about what AI can do.
03:43Now we're talking about what it is doing in real life.
03:47As a product person and as an entrepreneur, as a tech person, I'm just super pumped that
03:51it's really working and it really lives up to kind of the vision we have for it.
03:56Why did Ruby's explode like that?
03:58I mean, you see months and months and months of them going $1,500, $2,000 in online ordering
04:03revenue, then it jumped to $9,500, then it jumped to $14,000, like month after month.
04:09And now it's, yeah, like Tony said, $37,000, $38,000, that is incredible.
04:15Those sales followed the generation of impressions.
04:19And so the thing we're here talking to people about is, you know, it is about getting in
04:25front of your fans and your potential fans as many times as possible and not being afraid,
04:30not being shy, not thinking you have to do perfect content.
04:34It's just get in front of them, it can be a picture of brown stew can make all the difference.
04:39As appetizing as that sounds, you know, maybe a picture of it, a social post, whatever makes
04:43the difference.
04:44And so what we're seeing is AI and the way we've structured it with our unique data that
04:50we generate from the customer, consumer experience of PopMenu, it's all coming together to generate
04:55a ton of impressions and the orders just follow.
04:58And so it's awesome to see it work.
05:00It's awesome to share it with people.
05:02We shared a bunch of charts of this and other stories.
05:06And that's why people came to the booth and said, I'm buying this because it's like, I
05:08think last year there was a lot of, I'm hearing about this.
05:11Is it real?
05:12Is this a bubble?
05:14It's like, I'm hearing about this and it sounds like it'll change my business.
05:17One more story is one of the charts we showed in that presentation was someone who did some
05:22marketing and you saw their revenue grow and then they turned on the AI marketing calendar
05:28and then it really grew.
05:30And then there was one month where they paused and for whatever reason they didn't approve
05:35all the content we created and it went from 9,000 to 900, just like that.
05:41And so that's not the case we want to see, but it's a great validation that generating
05:47these impressions matters and you have to keep doing it and AI just lets you do it consistently.
05:52Well, it's incredible for me.
05:53This is a storytelling podcast.
05:55We believe in content.
05:56Obviously, we publish across as many channels as possible, but I also own a restaurant and
06:00I know how hard it is to do this kind of work, to run the restaurant, to do the marketing,
06:05to do the channels.
06:06But to your point, when you automate it with intelligence and you're actually meeting people
06:11where they are, it's top of mind.
06:13I mean, it's that easy as reminding somebody that you exist and that you have brown stew.
06:19There's no catch.
06:20All the time it's like, what's the catch?
06:22There is no catch.
06:23You just got to do the basics.
06:24And I think for a long time, people have made technology scary for restaurants.
06:29Most people don't get into restaurants because they love technology and want to write code.
06:32They get in there to serve food and serve people and, you know, you just got to do the
06:36basics.
06:37And so if we can make that easy for them so they don't have to think of always what to
06:40do and just basically tee it up for them, it puts them in a better spot to be successful.
06:45So can you bring us to the forest level view?
06:47You guys do a lot of data on the industry so that you can learn what's going on with
06:53restaurants.
06:54What do they care about?
06:55What are you seeing in 2024?
06:56We started to see kind of late last year, competitive pressure seemed to come to a head.
07:02And it seems like the industry has gotten to a point where they were able to pass on
07:07and you were able to pass on the ever increasing costs to the consumer.
07:11And that's plateaued.
07:12It's flattened out.
07:13You can't do it anymore.
07:15Now you have to find other ways to compete.
07:17We did see data, like in November, there was a big spike in restaurants closing, like net
07:23restaurant closes versus opens.
07:25It was something like 5,000.
07:26Wow.
07:27And that was the biggest spike.
07:28That's national?
07:29That's national.
07:30And it was the biggest spike since June 2021.
07:31Wow.
07:32And so you just saw that pressure hit.
07:34And that's just representative of how competitive it is now.
07:39And we see a real bifurcation and you're winning and you're doing well and you're growing or
07:45you're really, really struggling.
07:48And so what we see is the restaurants who are doing the things they need to do to stay
07:52in front of consumers are hanging in there or they're growing.
07:56And if you're not doing that, it's getting harder and harder and harder to keep going.
07:59And part of me is sad for it that you can't just have a restaurant just by doing great
08:07hospitality anymore.
08:09But that's also just life.
08:10And that's just the way the economy is now.
08:12It's the way life is now.
08:13There are too many options out there staying in front of you all the time.
08:16I have some favorite locals where I live that I haven't gone to in months.
08:20I haven't seen anything.
08:21I haven't thought about it.
08:23They're not top of mind with me.
08:26That's just the reality.
08:27And I think restaurants are facing that.
08:29They're not saying, no, no, it doesn't matter.
08:31I'm not going to engage with tech.
08:32I'm not going to engage with marketing.
08:33I'm just going to make great food and hope for the best.
08:36They know they have to do something.
08:37And I think now more and more it's kind of taking shape.
08:42They're understanding more of what they need to do.
08:44They're believing.
08:45They're leaning more into tech.
08:46They're believing more in it.
08:47Whereas I feel like it's been a lot of, I know, rushing to try stuff, not necessarily
08:52betting it in, not necessarily giving it a chance to help your business.
08:55So I think those competitive pressures are stronger than ever.
08:58And I think they're driving people to just continue this, you know, climb that's been
09:04happening since COVID, where it's like, yeah, processes have to be professionalized.
09:09Technology has to be leaned into.
09:10Otherwise, you got no chance.
09:11So, Tony, I'm going to ask you, since you run sales and your boots on the ground, explain
09:19to me like I'm my son who's turning six.
09:22What is PopMenu?
09:25PopMenu is an all-in-one platform that puts anything you need or are using today to attract
09:30and engage consumers, get guests in the door or in the ordering path is all in one spot.
09:35I always say to a restaurant, you got to remember, like, do you want to manage eight or nine
09:39different tools or contractors or do you want to manage one?
09:42Do you want to show up high on a Google search result or no?
09:45Well, yeah, of course.
09:47Do you want economies of scale or do you want to pay maximum price for each individual
09:51solution?
09:52So I think that's the way I would describe it is really, if we were, if I could show
09:56you on my phone, I'd just pull up a PDF menu and I'd show them that, then I'd show one
10:00of ours that has beautiful imagery and social validation and say, which one do you think
10:04your wife or your boyfriend would choose?
10:07Just add it, you know, just that alone.
10:09Oh, this one, of course.
10:10Okay, great.
10:11And then you go to the other thing is, but we're all in one platform that puts everything
10:15in one spot so that the restaurants can ensure they have the best chance of success, limit
10:19the amount of work.
10:20Like you said earlier, they don't have time to do it.
10:22So eight or nine, eight or nine different tools or contractors or one, you want to do
10:26a lot of manual work or do you want a lot of it automated for you?
10:28Do you want to show up high on Google or not?
10:31That's it.
10:32How do you dig deeper on product because it's always trying to, I mean, we're here at the
10:38show.
10:39There's people that come every year and they get bigger.
10:41You guys keep growing every year that we come, you keep putting out new stuff.
10:44There's other people that are, you know, riding a wave trying to, you know, come out and sell
10:48something and chances are they might not be here next year.
10:51How do you go deeper on the stuff that's already working?
10:54I mean, we're, we're, we're fortunate that the four of us, co-founders, three of us have
11:00product backgrounds.
11:01I'm, I'm product too though.
11:05Don't let him throw you under the bus like that.
11:06I bring the layman, I bring the layman's perspective, which is very important by the way.
11:09I just want to make sure that's on record.
11:10Somebody has to sell this stuff.
11:11Yeah, exactly.
11:12For the record.
11:14Yeah.
11:15He plays a very important role in product by bringing us back to feedback from restaurants
11:17all the time and meeting with them over and over.
11:19Frequently asked questions help build better products.
11:23I mean, we, we are so dedicated to client discovery.
11:26We have two, we have two full-time employees who do nothing but set up client discovery
11:31sessions, going through prototypes, going through all kinds of little innovation quizzes,
11:36things like that, because the restaurant not going to be able to tell you the tech they
11:39need.
11:40They can just tell you the struggles they're having and then we can figure out what can
11:42we help.
11:44And so that's how we go deeper is, is we just listen and we surface opportunities where
11:48it's like, this is a struggle point that we're in position to help with.
11:51Let's make it happen.
11:52And so, and that's how all of our product has happened since the first one.
11:57But it's, it's also looking at data.
11:59It's also being dispassionate about that.
12:01There's a ton of stuff I want to do that I think is really cool that, that there's not
12:05the data supporting it.
12:06And so we're going to do something that's about the client, not about us.
12:11But it's also just, it's in our DNA.
12:13Like we're just product people that the original idea was from being a product person saying,
12:17why the hell are we looking at text when we're trying to figure out where to eat?
12:20Like if you went on Amazon and you were going to buy shoes and there was just text, you'd
12:24you're not buying anything, right?
12:27And so we started with a pretty simple observation as a product person and product team.
12:33And we just keep applying that same methodology.
12:36And this is the most ripe space in the world for innovation because there's so much stuff
12:40to make better.
12:41There's so much stuff that restaurants need help with.
12:44It's the busiest job in the world.
12:45I think it's the hardest job in the world.
12:46I mean, you're, you're doing it.
12:47You can tell me.
12:48It's not easy.
12:49It's so broad.
12:50If I didn't have a team back in San Diego running our Cali barbecue restaurants, I,
12:54we couldn't be here with this team putting this kind of content.
12:57I mean, it's, it's so hard, but that also, that also means there's so much opportunity
13:01to help.
13:02And so one of the things that's interesting about the phase we're in now is we've spent
13:06so many years building new stuff.
13:09And now we're much more iterating on existing things, connecting the dots a lot more.
13:16And really going from V1s to like V5s and V10s that, that really, really drive value.
13:22It's not always sexy to say, I'm just going to update this thing that we already have.
13:26But then you see results, you know, kind of like we've shared with you and you go, yeah,
13:29that's the right thing to do.
13:31That's really helping a business instead of, you know, creating something that might be,
13:35you know, my passion project or, or something like that.
13:39So honestly, it's just listening to the clients and it's listening to the struggles they have
13:43and then figuring out how we can help.
13:45Can you talk about trade shows?
13:48In real life events, you guys participate, you do events.
13:51Why do you do them?
13:52Yeah.
13:53Where do you see it going?
13:54I mean.
13:55Yeah, we do.
13:56We do some more regional like the Texas Restaurant Association.
13:57We do that share every year.
13:59That's, that's been great.
14:00I think we do it one just to learn, right.
14:02To be, to meet with as many people, whether it's partners who are also assisting restaurants
14:07or clients themselves.
14:09It's great for visibility.
14:10It's also great for us to just always be aware of what's happening and see what people are
14:14excited about.
14:15If they're walking around the show and they're like, Oh, have you been to so-and-so's booth?
14:18That's really cool.
14:19And we're like, Oh, we haven't heard of that.
14:20So yeah, we do, we do more and more.
14:24Just like our webinars.
14:25Anytime you can have an audience in one spot, you know, it's always been very beneficial
14:29for us.
14:30You know, if we get an audience of 50 people, you know, 10 people are going to sign up for
14:33something cause they, they get an opportunity to interact with us.
14:35So I think, yeah, we, we love shows.
14:37I would do more of them.
14:38I was telling him literally this morning on the way over here, I was like, dude, we got
14:41to do more like rent out a ballroom at a hotel and bring people in and have 50 people and
14:46just consult them.
14:47Even if they don't use pop menu, you know, we'll educate them.
14:49And I think that ultimately will come back to us.
14:51And of course, a lot of them will end up being clients.
14:53But yeah, I think we're going to get more active, you know?
14:57I love this show.
14:58I love these events.
14:59I love being around the industry.
15:01I love mixing it up.
15:03It's hospitality.
15:04We're a tech company.
15:05We really grew during COVID.
15:07I mean, we tripled the business during COVID, like number of employees.
15:11I'm so sick of zoom.
15:12I'm so sick of slack.
15:13I'm so sick of technology.
15:17I'm blind now.
15:20And being with people and mixing it up with partners and with other people in the industry
15:23with client, there's just a level of, of yeah, learning and kind of moving things forward
15:29that you can't get when you're, you know, back in the office or back at home, you know,
15:34again on Slack or on, on zoom.
15:37So I have like last year, I felt like it was a big step up from the year before here.
15:43And this year feels like even more.
15:44And I think just the discourse and the things people are sharing, you know, this, when there's
15:49so much need to, to help an industry and there's so much that needs to be done, like this phase
15:55we're going through, just this kind of thing has a real multiplying effect, I think, on
16:00the learning and the sharing of information.
16:02I mean, I, we believe a rising tide lifts all ships and we obviously are hoping that
16:06more people do online storytelling so that they can learn about all the cool things that
16:10are happening, not just in the United States, but all over the globe.
16:13The internet connects us in such a way.
16:15Can I talk, ask you about one of your partners in particular, because you talked about events
16:20and because you guys do such a great job on social, I see where you're participating,
16:25where you're buying in.
16:26Can you talk about giving kitchen?
16:27Oh yeah.
16:28I can't talk about giving kitchen without getting emotional.
16:31So it's a, it's a, yeah, it's real near and dear to me.
16:35I mean, we know the founder Jen very well.
16:38It was based on her husband was in the restaurant industry.
16:41She's in the restaurant industry.
16:42Unfortunately, he got cancer.
16:44Unfortunately, he passed before he passed the entire hospitality industry in Atlanta
16:51rallied around him and they gave him all this money.
16:54They just, they just wanted him to, you know, to have the best chance possible and unbelievable.
17:00He was just like, give this away, give this away.
17:04So they raised like 400 grand and he said, this is not for me, I'm, I'm moving on.
17:09And I also started giving kitchen.
17:10And so what they do is when there are food service workers who are unable to work, unable
17:15to pay their bills, giving kitchen comes in and they take care of them.
17:20It's incredible.
17:21And the fact that you guys support giving kitchen, you give them the platform, but like
17:25that partner ecosystem of understanding, like we're all in this thing together.
17:30It's really hard.
17:31It's really hard to do everything that we do, but for me seeing you guys as a tech company
17:35supporting a nonprofit, sharing their message, giving them the platform, it means a lot because
17:40even me all the way on the West Coast, I see that and I'm like, what can I do for giving
17:44kitchen?
17:45I love that it, you always have to bring higher purpose into your, into your business, into
17:50what you're doing.
17:51You have to attach your daily grind.
17:54It's not always fun.
17:57And you know, all the challenges you go through, you have to attach it to a bigger purpose
18:02and just helping restaurants with tech and marketing and growing and things like that.
18:06Helping them spend less time, helping them grow their business that that's, that's plenty.
18:11But when you can tie it to, Hey, we also help support this whole community.
18:15And when there are people who are down, they get lifted up.
18:17That's it's awesome.
18:20Talk to me about 2024 and beyond.
18:23What does it look like for PopMenu?
18:25Give me the, what are the big dreams?
18:27You can start, I've been talking a lot.
18:34No, 2024 and beyond.
18:35I mean, I think we start, we started this business in the beginning just with the idea
18:40of how can we make it better for consumers?
18:43We didn't, we had underestimated how fragmented it was, how hard it was for restaurants to
18:46manage so many different things, not just tech, but labor and laws and just so much
18:51stuff.
18:53I think for us, it's more like, how do we, how do we get to more people faster?
18:57Yeah, we want to grow the business.
18:59Yeah.
19:00We want to make money.
19:01We want to give a return to our investors.
19:02But I think why we've won over the last several years and why we continue to win is that I
19:06think we actually care.
19:08I think a lot of people care, but you know, I think, I think we're very genuine in that.
19:13You know, he's talking about giving kitchen.
19:14I think, I think about just aside from giving kitchen, if you help a restaurant be successful,
19:19you help people stay employed.
19:21If they stay employed, they get to, they get to support their families, their communities.
19:24And we've always been big about independent SMB businesses because that's the backbone
19:29of communities.
19:30And if you don't have that, that's, you see what happens in some markets, right?
19:33When that goes away.
19:34So I think for us, it's like we continue that mission of knowing who we are and staying
19:39focused to our ethos and helping restaurants be successful.
19:43And we'll always be the ones trying to simplify technology for restauranteurs because it's
19:49now, it's not just important.
19:50It's critical now, and it's going to be more critical tomorrow and next year.
19:54And so the more we can educate people, whether they choose pot menu or not, I think that's
19:58beneficial and that's what we always strive to do.
20:01Our philosophy, maybe we're idealistic, but we always think that that always comes back
20:05to us.
20:06And ultimately at the end of the day, you know, nice guys can win.
20:09And so I think that's what we focus on.
20:11But look, I think we're going to continue to go deeper and wider in our solutions.
20:15We're going to continue to consolidate anything a restaurant is investing in or using today.
20:20If it's not in the pot menu platform, 12, 18 months from now, it will be.
20:23It will be.
20:24And we're going to continue to have more integrations with more partners so that if a restaurant
20:28wants XYZ, POS or some other technology, it's our job to make sure that we're compatible
20:32with them.
20:33So the restaurant has choice and they're the ones driving the decision.
20:37You know, I think when we got in this business, our thing was, hey, a lot of third party kind
20:40of interjected themselves between the restaurant and the consumer, sometimes unnecessarily.
20:45And so I think the more we can make sure that the restaurant has control, the better.
20:48So that's kind of my broad 80,000 foot view.
20:52Yeah.
20:53I mean, I think the interesting thing for us is, I mean, we've been so much about new
20:57product and building more and more.
21:00And I think we've actually built, we built past kind of the vanguard of the industry
21:05to where it's like, oh, now we got to come back and make sure we're connecting with people
21:08and they understand it.
21:09And one of the things we've always done is we've created all this product and said, we're
21:15here to help you, but use it as you like.
21:17You know, and do what you want with it.
21:20And now we're in position to be way more prescriptive.
21:25I love it.
21:26Right.
21:27Prescriptive is great.
21:28You want to be led?
21:29We're going to lead you through this.
21:30We know what should be done.
21:31We have 30 million unique visitors a month coming to our platform, you know, in our client
21:36websites.
21:37We're sending hundreds of millions of emails.
21:38We sent a hundred million texts last year.
21:40Wow.
21:41We've had over, you know, 2 billion plus page views, which is just, those are vanity metrics,
21:45but it means we've done it at scale.
21:48We've gotten to see a ton of what works and a ton of what doesn't.
21:52And we're not going to be shy about sharing that.
21:54We're creating a playbook that's not just about the tech.
21:57It's about everything else.
21:58Like one of the best things you can do to make your pop menu or any of your tech that
22:01you're using that's guest facing more effective is just ask people if they, you know, be a
22:07follower, be a VIP, whatever it is.
22:09It's shocking how many restaurants just won't do that.
22:12I get it.
22:13You don't want to spam or you don't want to seem, you know, um, pushy or whatever, man,
22:17they like you.
22:18They want to hear from you.
22:19And they tell us that all the time.
22:20Every survey that we do is like that.
22:22And so, you know, the playbook will include things like that.
22:25Like, Hey, have your server ask, you know, and, and have table cards that get people
22:29in, give them an offer to become part of the CR, like all of these things that we've seen
22:33successful restaurants do, we're just going to share it.
22:36And we're just going to say, this is what you should do.
22:38And if you don't do it, you're not going to grow like you need to.
22:40And if you don't grow, you're going to be in trouble in this competitive market.
22:43So I think what you can see from us is not so much flashy new product stuff, but like
22:50how do we bed that in and how do we make sure it's a part of restaurants lives and helping
22:55them grow and helping them be better businesses and being more demonstrative and prescriptive
22:59about it?
23:00Because we do know what works, like we we've seen it, we've shown you charts, you can see,
23:06you know, uh, when you follow these certain steps, it just works.
23:10And so I think, yeah, you'll, you'll hear a lot of that from us.
23:12That's a lot about what 2024 is for us.
23:14So you guys have built an AI calendar.
23:17Can you share with our audience what that is?
23:19Uh, yeah, first off it's a, it's a calendar that we pre-populated an entire month's worth
23:23of activity, 13, 14 social posts, four or five emails, three or four text messages.
23:28We pre-populate, uh, based on activity and things that are happening in their business,
23:32on their site.
23:33Uh, we send it to them 10 days in advance of the following month.
23:36So on May 1st, you get the calendar 10 days in advance of that, it turns them into editor
23:42in chief.
23:43They don't have to think of everything from scratch.
23:44They simply look at what we've created, they hit the approve button if they want to go
23:47edit that they can.
23:48Um, but yeah, it gives them a, it takes 98% of the way there.
23:52And what we've seen is that the generated content is actually outperforming as a whole
23:56better than manually created content.
23:58So it's faster, cheaper, and it's effective.
24:01So yeah.
24:02And, uh, it's great that this is, we were already doing AI.
24:07We've had AI phone answering for years.
24:08Um, so we were really well positioned when generative tools like chat dbt showed up to
24:13just work them in.
24:14So we instantly made a social posts enabled with, with chat dbt, which made it super easy
24:18for people to, you know, to, to get the word out about a dish or an event or an offer or
24:22what have you.
24:23Um, but what's really cool about the marketing calendar, the AI marketing calendar is, um,
24:29we have all of this unique data that comes from how the consumer experience is structured
24:34with pop menu.
24:35So as people interact with dishes, as they leave reviews, as they share things, as they
24:40order things, we're, we're storing all that in a profile.
24:43And so we have this really unique data set to bounce off of chat dbt.
24:46So when we create this, you know, month's worth of content that Tony talked about, it's
24:50not generic, it's tailored to the person and we're still very early in that.
24:55But what we see is like every step of personalization just creates so much more, um, responsiveness
25:01to it, engagement, open rates, click through rates.
25:04Um, and we just have so far to go.
25:07Um, and, and so, you know, we're working towards a world where we're actually able to take
25:11these 10, 12, 15 data points we have on any guest and make every single email that's sent
25:17to them, uh, different and kind of bespoke to them.
25:20Um, and so it's great that even before we fully realized that kind of personalization,
25:27the results are, are through the roof and clients are, are loving it.
25:30It's amazing.
25:31Yeah.
25:32So we believe in smartphone storytelling.
25:34We believe that if a restaurant business can become a media business, anybody that's listening
25:38to this can, we believe that pop menu is a media business, but we'll talk about that
25:42offline.
25:43We'll talk about your guys's show.
25:44Um, I've never done this before on the show, but it's national restaurant association show.
25:49So we're going to do it.
25:50This is our rapid fire questions.
25:52Usually I'm asking the guests themselves about their personal tech stack, but now I'm going
25:57to ask you about his personal tech stack and then you about his.
26:00So Tony, you're on, you're up first.
26:02I need to know, does Brendan use an Android or an iPhone?
26:06Android, of course.
26:07My goodness.
26:08Android.
26:09Okay.
26:10What, what, what version or what phone does he use?
26:11I have no idea.
26:12Okay.
26:13Um, is it always updated?
26:14Is it always the newest?
26:15Yes.
26:16Newest and greatest.
26:17He does.
26:18Yes.
26:19How many emails does he get a day?
26:20A hundred a day.
26:21How many does he enjoy reading?
26:22Uh, probably three.
26:23Two.
26:24What is the most used apps on his phone?
26:28Spotify maybe?
26:29Uh.
26:30Don't look at him.
26:31I'm trying to.
26:32Most used apps on his phone.
26:33Most used apps.
26:34Every single day.
26:35Something foodie.
26:36Something foodie.
26:37Um.
26:38Email obviously.
26:39Email obviously.
26:40Slack.
26:41Slack.
26:42Internal communication.
26:43Some music and some food.
26:44Some music.
26:45You don't know if it's Spotify?
26:46I don't know if it's Spotify.
26:47Okay.
26:49And which map does he use?
26:51Google.
26:52Google map?
26:53Yeah.
26:54Without a doubt?
26:55Yeah.
26:56Okay.
26:57Uh, Brendan?
26:58Yeah.
26:59He's going to tell you my wife's the tech one in our relationship.
27:00iPhone?
27:01iPhone or Android?
27:02Uh, this guy's iPhone.
27:03Okay.
27:04And what version?
27:05He's also got a Surface tablet that we've replaced at least nine times.
27:10It's something wrong with the computer.
27:11How many emails does he get a day?
27:14Um.
27:15Tony will pick up the phone more than anybody else, so I bet he gets less than me.
27:19I'm sure he also gets as much spam as I get.
27:21How many does he enjoy?
27:22How many does he enjoy reading?
27:23None of them.
27:24Does he ever forward you any good emails?
27:25Yes.
27:26He does?
27:27Yes.
27:28And he'll say, boom.
27:29He'll say, boom.
27:30Boom.
27:31That's true.
27:32Or he'll say, that's tasty.
27:33Does he prefer a phone call or a text?
27:34Oh my God.
27:35Without a doubt?
27:36Phone call.
27:37I cannot stand calling people when there's other people around me.
27:39We're walking through this thing yesterday and he's like, he's like Siri, he's like Siri,
27:43call Mike.
27:44Hey, where's that pizza vendor that you told us about?
27:46In the middle of everything.
27:47I don't do that.
27:48He calls all the time.
27:50How's his notification management?
27:51Oh.
27:52Um.
27:53Like how many, how many notifications have we pulled out his phone right now?
27:56Oh, shitload.
27:57Like all the apps, they all are notified?
27:59Oh, they all are just like flashing.
28:00Yeah.
28:01And which social media platform does he secretly use?
28:04Uh.
28:05Oh.
28:06Does he secretly stalk?
28:07He's not posting content.
28:08He admits to none.
28:09He admits to none.
28:10He admits to none.
28:11But you know, you're good enough to know what he's looking at.
28:14Mm.
28:15Oh, he knows.
28:17He uses social media?
28:18He uses Twitter.
28:19You know what he does?
28:20He'll watch like a Miami game or he'll watch some show and he'll get fired up and he'll
28:23tweet something and he'll delete it.
28:24Oh, yeah.
28:25That's his, that's how he uses social media.
28:27My wife's enough Instagram for like the whole NRA show.
28:30I'm like, he's like, hey, how was that dinner last time?
28:32I'm like, what are you talking about?
28:33Yeah.
28:34So he knows what I'm doing.
28:35Yeah, his wife.
28:36She shared a picture of us from the tech talk yesterday.
28:39He's like, is that my wife?
28:41How did she?
28:42She knows.
28:43Oh, man.
28:44She's vegan, by the way, in case anyone didn't know.
28:46Smartphone storytelling.
28:47Yeah.
28:48Well, we appreciate you guys.
28:49If you want to connect with me, it's at Sean P. Walcheff.
28:52How can, how's the best way to people keep in touch with you guys?
28:54Get.popmenu.com.
28:55Come get a no pressure demo.
28:58See all the product we've built to help your business.
29:01We won't be pushy.
29:02We want to share it with you.
29:03We want to help you grow.
29:05We're concerned about your business.
29:06We're concerned about your family and that's, that's when it's Tony sales lines.
29:10He's like, I'm really worried about you and he really is.
29:12Yeah.
29:13Get.popmenu.com is the best spot.
29:15We really appreciate it.
29:16And thanks to toast for giving us the opportunity to come to the show, to talk to pop menu,
29:21to find out all the coolest digital hospitality tools that are out here.
29:24As always, stay curious, get involved.
29:26Don't be afraid to ask for help and reach out anytime.
29:29Talk to you guys soon.
29:32Thank you for listening to restaurant influencers.
29:34If you want to get in touch with me, I am weirdly available at Sean P. Walcheff, S-H-A-W-N-P-W-A-L-C-H-E-F.
29:43Cali barbecue media has other shows.
29:46You can check out digital hospitality.
29:48We've been doing that show since 2017.
29:51We also just launched a show season two family style on YouTube with toast.
29:56And if you are a restaurant brand or a hospitality brand, and you're looking to launch your own
30:01show, Cali barbecue media can help you recently.
30:04We just launched room for seconds with Greg Majewski.
30:09It is an incredible insight into leadership, into hospitality, into enterprise restaurants
30:15and franchise franchisee relationships.
30:19Take a look at room for seconds.
30:20And if you're ready to start a show, reach out to us, be the show.media.
30:25We can't wait to work with you.