Using a Mobile App To Extend the Customer Service Experience With Steve Greer, Chief Marketing Officer at Urban Plates

From Persona To Personal

Steve Greer is the Chief Marketing Officer at Urban Plates, a chef-driven fast-casual restaurant chain in Southern California serving craveable and nutritious made-from-scratch plates, salads, sandwiches, and bowls. He uses creative and strategic thinking, extensive practical experience, and strong communication skills to engage a wide variety of internal and external stakeholders. Steve is a highly accomplished food marketer who started in packaged goods at General Mills and then transitioned to restaurant brands such as Outback Steakhouse, Fleming's, El Torito, and Chevys.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

The prevalence of mobile apps in the restaurant industry has provided consumers the ability to scope out menus, make reservations, join a waitlist, and place orders for pickup or delivery. What strategies can you employ to optimize an app?

Apps are a valuable piece of the customer experience equation. If you want to maximize their value, considerations include user-friendliness, intuitiveness, easy checkout experience, and smooth customer service that feels personal. As an experienced marketing executive, Steve Greer says restaurants can reach a high level of customer satisfaction by developing their own mobile apps instead of having generic, ready-made ones. Although it's more expensive initially, it pays dividends in the long run. A customized app allows you to control the customer experience and avoid having a third party between your restaurant brand and your guests.

On this episode of From Persona to Personal, Roger Hurni is joined by Steve Greer, Chief Marketing Officer at Urban Plates, for a conversation about how restaurants can use mobile apps to provide a high level of service to its guests. Steve discusses how to align the app experience with a personal visit to the restaurant, his ultimate goals for Urban Plates' app, why restaurants should develop their own apps, and the benefits of having a custom app to compete in a saturated market.