Qu - Restaurants Reinvented - Diane Le and Olga Lopategui - Transcript
[00:00:00] jenifer-kern_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:00:00] Hello, everyone. And welcome to restaurants reinvented. I'm Jen Kurt. And I'm the hostess here of the show today. I'm really excited because I have two NAMIC fantastic smart women who are experts in their fields of loyalty and digital marketing. And I'm really excited to have this conversation today.
[00:00:21] We're going to be focused a hundred percent on loyalty, which has everyone knows, has been a huge. Topic in the pandemic. I think it was already gaining, gaining some, some pretty big traction, but there's, there's a movement out there to redefine loyalty. It might be just my movement, but we're going to talk a little bit about that today.
[00:00:39] And we also had a pre-show discussion about putting on makeup for the first time in quite a long time. So that should be fun. So without any further ado, I want to introduce Diane Lee from Punchh. Hi, Diane.
[00:00:53] diane-le_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:00:53] Hi, so glad to be on here. Thanks for having me.
[00:00:57] jenifer-kern_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:00:57] Thanks for joining. And we also have Olga, I'm afraid I'm going to mispronounce your name, but I'm going to try it. Olga LOPA take, we look at tag away.
[00:01:08] olga-lopategui_1_02-11-2021_103809: [00:01:08] Yes, that was a very, very, very close, always great to talk to you.
[00:01:13] jenifer-kern_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:01:13] Welcome to the show. Olga. Um, now Diane, your role at punch. Let's talk about that a little bit. I know your title is digital strategy and account director. You had a start in e-comm and fashion, and then you were also the director of digital for the coffee bean and tea leaf. So if you can give our listeners a real quick intro about your experience and what you're working on today as pertains to loyalty, that would be awesome.
[00:01:36] diane-le_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:01:36] definitely. Um, so for those who don't know, a punch is a loyalty, um, and digital marketing solution. Uh, we focus heavily on restaurant brands. Um, so we have over 200 different restaurant brands. Um, anywhere from our smaller brands, all the way up to yum brands and some of the really big players out there.
[00:01:56] Um, so on my side, I work on digital strategy. Um, I actually work with Olga, um, on a couple of shared brands and we sit together and we talk all things loyalty. Um, prior to being at punch, I was the director of digital for the coffee bean and tea leaf. So I was on brand side and prior to being in the restaurant space, I was actually in the e-commerce world.
[00:02:16] Um, so it's been a nice transitioning, starting from a place where they have lots and lots of data. So starting an e-commerce you update on everything. And it's been great going from that over to the restaurant space, which up until recently, you just didn't have access to that much data.
[00:02:30] jenifer-kern_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:02:30] right. So true. So true. Well welcome. And Olga quick intro and a little background on yourself, please.
[00:02:38] olga-lopategui_1_02-11-2021_103809: [00:02:38] Um, sure. I, so, um, my background is, was restroom Browns as well. So I've been in a restaurant marketing for over 15 years. I started out with young Browns. It's a hub KFC, a little bit of taco bell. I was mostly on the international side, um, throughout my corporate career. Um, and then I transitioned over to TGI.
[00:02:58] Friday's also international. And as I've been working as a franchise consultant, um, in various roles with essentially a franchise consultant for restaurants, um, within those systems, I've grown to be very interested in how restaurants can use data because just as the analysts saying, um, restaurants. Have absolutely no data.
[00:03:20] And now they have a flood of data and they very often don't know what to do with it. So after I left corporate world, it kind of made it my joy and passion to try help restaurant brands make use of all that data that they are currently accumulating and use it for smart marketing.
[00:03:35] jenifer-kern_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:03:35] absolutely absolutely. Well, let's jump right in because this topic is so hot right now. And so trendy, I believe, um, you know, loyalty is something that I'm still shocked when I go to some restaurants and. They give out punch cards, right? Not to use the word punch the wrong way, but it's like a piece of paper and I'm like, are you kidding me?
[00:03:56] Like that happened as recently as six months ago. But I think the larger point is that. In the past loyalty was really about just discounting and points, a very transactional sort of mindset. Um, I believe that's changing, but you guys are the experts. And so I'd really love to hear from you too. How do you define loyalty today and how do you see it evolve?
[00:04:22] diane-le_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:04:22] Yeah, I I'm looking Olga, I guess I could start. Um, so for us, well, so poncho actually came from those punch cards. So the original name or punch, um, stood for restaurants, used to have these. Literal punch cards, these physical little business cards, and they would use a hole puncher and punch up. And once you hit nine of something, you would get the 10th one for free.
[00:04:42] And that was, that was the Oh, gee punch, or that was the O G loyalty program. Um, but now, I mean, back then, thinking about that, all you really knew about a customer was they came in nine times and hopefully they didn't cheat you by buying their own little punch hole. Punch her thing. Um, but nowadays is really, really about customer relationships and about creating a one-to-one relationship with your customer.
[00:05:09] So if you know that, you know, this is Jennifer and she comes in, you know, every two weeks and she buys, this is her favorite item that she likes to buy, and she likes to buy things for her kids. When she comes over here, then. I as a marketer should be talking to you, Jennifer, in that way, I should be giving you.
[00:05:29] Um, special benefits and perks that relate to who you are as a person who, in that example, if you have a kid and you bring them in, and it's a special occasion that happens on a regular basis, I should be making, I should be using that information to make a really good one-on-one relationship with you.
[00:05:46] Versus if I have, you know, a hypothetical Tim and he. Comes in everyday for lunch, but it's just him. We want to make sure that your brand is making that personal relationship with Tim and a different one with Jennifer and using all that data to create this really personal relationship. So that's, to me where loyalty is going is really that one-to-one relationship building
[00:06:07] jenifer-kern_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:06:07] one-to-one relationship building personalization and more about the customers.
[00:06:13] olga-lopategui_1_02-11-2021_103809: [00:06:13] Yeah.
[00:06:14] diane-le_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:06:14] go for gold.
[00:06:15] olga-lopategui_1_02-11-2021_103809: [00:06:15] Yeah, absolutely. I completely agree with Diane here. I think if you look at the evolution of loyalty programs, you know, where we started first that came from airlines and those loyalty programs where this mama's programs was multimillion dollar implementations, restaurant chains. Couldn't run sink about.
[00:06:31] Using something like that, then you get until they early two thousands, maybe 10, 15 years ago. And then the larger restaurant chains finally get an opportunity, still a multi-million dollar implementations, but they get an opportunity to introduce those loyalty programs. And they think of them as differentiators.
[00:06:47] At that point in time, we have a loyalty program that guests are going to be more loyal to us because we have a loyalty program and another 10 years go by and Browns. Bunch and some of the punch competitors, even smaller Browns. Now they come in and they democratize the space. You're in a very small restaurant chain, Kim have a little tea program now.
[00:07:05] So it's become what we call table stakes in the restaurant industry. It's almost expected that you have some kind of problems. I'm kind of have something that allows your customer to, um, And I choose to use your brand more efficiently. So we're transitioning from, um, what I would call from the loyalty phase in your, maybe similar to other than Dan was describing irrelevance phase.
[00:07:27] So you use your loyalty program. To gain information about your customers, and then you use that information to market, to them efficiently and building that one-on-one connection. And that's what differentiates you, not the fact that you give them points. Everybody gives them points or almost everybody gives some points points.
[00:07:44] Don't make them loyal. It's your relationship that you can build because you know their purchasing habits and you can append the data about them on different place. So that's how it's transitioned. It's, it's super exciting. Um, it's a, it's a big change.
[00:07:58] jenifer-kern_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:07:58] Yeah. Yeah, it is a big change and I think it can be pretty overwhelming for a lot of brands and operators. Um, and I think it would be really helpful if you two could talk about how did they get started on the process, because it is a big process and we're actually working with a brand now, right. Where we're going back and forth talking about, should you roll out the POS first and just do the, you know, the online loyalty first and then do the app and roll out the loyalty or do you want to roll it all out together?
[00:08:31] Because that's a lot, that's a big undertaking. Right. Um, but beyond that, like where do you recommend? And I know Diane, you do a lot of strategic consulting, where do you, and although you too, where do you guys recommend to start and how do they build from there?
[00:08:49] olga-lopategui_1_02-11-2021_103809: [00:08:49] Opinion.
[00:08:50] diane-le_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:08:50] I have lots of opinions, so, okay. One I, I do, we work for punch. So one of the things that we're known for is, um, in our implementations process, we always do when possible. We always do both POS and online ordering and launching both at the same time, because we believe that omni-channel and just being able to.
[00:09:08] Have a good experience for the guest and for them to have the same experience, whether they're doing it online or in store, that's important to us, um, especially with this pandemic happening and everyone's shifting their behavior over to online. Uh, it's really important for us in our brands that you kind of launch with both at the same time.
[00:09:24] Um, so that that's a little punch bug. So aside from that, I mean loyalty at the heart. And what I always said when I was a brand marketer is. All about what your customer experience is. So if you think about forget technology, just think about what's a good experience. If you're a customer, if you're, if you're an operator and you are in the store, you know, off the top of your head, who your loyal customers are, you know, the ones that come in everyday, you know, their name, you know, their orders, think about how you would treat them.
[00:09:54] Forget technology is how do you, as a, if you're a GM of a store, how do you treat your best customers? Um, if they're coming in everyday, you know, their name, you know what they're ordering. You let them know that they're special in certain ways, or if you're a general manager and you see somebody who you haven't seen before, so you own a coffee shop and this person is brand new.
[00:10:13] You know, maybe you want to give them something that is like a sample of something, um, that you're known for. Maybe you want to welcome them that way. So I would say if you're thinking about what the brand experience is, start off with what the customer experiences, if you were just a manager at a store, how do you want to treat your best customers?
[00:10:29] How do you want to treat your new customers? And then we can take that experience that you want to create and digitize that. So we can automate that and digitize that. But before all of that really is just about customer experience, like make a good customer experience, idealize how you want to treat your customers and we'll work with you to figure out how to digitize all this.
[00:10:47] Um, and so that's always how I say it started off. Forget all of that. Just think through what do you want to do for your own customers? And then let's build that.
[00:10:55] olga-lopategui_1_02-11-2021_103809: [00:10:55] Yeah. And I, I think kind of piggy backing on that. Uh it's uh it's um, one of the things that Browns often, um, no forget about on the process of implementation of loyalty programs is how important the connection is between marketing and operations. In the process, because at the end of the day, it's the store experience that makes it go slow.
[00:11:15] And when they allow to program a rewards program, implementation is all centered on exclusive in the marketing department on here, it marketing and technology, but they, the teams on the ground, they're not involved at all or very heavy, very minimal involvement. It, um, it creates, um, I challenge for the Brown, but in terms of acquiring guests into the program, because the best guests come from the restaurant, they already inside the store.
[00:11:39] They're not online, they're physically there. Um, and it creates challenges in terms of. Building that omnichannel experience, where they experience is very smooth going from digital into the store and back. So, um, to me, focusing on making sure that they, the ops teams are just as up to speed as your marketing team and your it POS team.
[00:12:04] That's really absolutely critical for success of those programs.
[00:12:07] diane-le_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:12:07] yeah, piggybacking off. All good. I talk about this a lot. Honestly, your frontline staff and your operations team can make or break your loyalty program. If they are bought in and they are asking every guest who comes in, are you a member of this horse program or program is going to soar. And if they're not bought in and someone comes in asking, you know, what is this loyalty program?
[00:12:28] They can kill it by saying, I don't know, that's something corporate's doing. They can completely kill it. So, uh, your ops team makes such a big difference. It really is a very, very key lever that we don't always talk about.
[00:12:41] jenifer-kern_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:12:41] So, yeah, so that all comes down to training, right?
[00:12:45] olga-lopategui_1_02-11-2021_103809: [00:12:45] Yep.
[00:12:47] diane-le_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:12:47] yeah, the training and motivation. So what I always recommend is. You know, before you launch your program, give your ops team and your frontline staff, a reason to be excited about it. So whether that means you put your employee discounts within the app, or you give them kind of a special experience just for your employees within the app, that will get them excited.
[00:13:05] So you don't always have to push this as a talking point. If they're genuinely excited, they will talk about it. Um, so, but trading is the other big part of it. So training definitely, but also if you can figure out other ways to incentivize them to get excited about it, um, that'll really make it sore.
[00:13:23] olga-lopategui_1_02-11-2021_103809: [00:13:23] Yeah. So one other thing that I always recommend, and I'm planning to do this with our joint Q M Q and my customers, Dunn brothers and punch customer, as well as they're going to start their loyalty program, restart their loyalty program very soon. Um, is, um, I'm doing a friends and family discount. So, um, since they, our employees and their restaurants, very often other customers of the same restaurants, their friends on their families usually go to the same restaurants.
[00:13:52] It's really a good way to jumpstart the program by offering a special offer, a special discount, special gift. To, um, to found the family. And again, that, that gets people excited, but it's training who wants to look at PowerPoint slides, but if you can use the program and it's easy and it's simple and you can get your reward and you get your free cup of coffee, it makes you feel bad.
[00:14:12] Um, you know, so, uh, it's much better than giving them a bunch of slides about this is how you scroll through the app. Nobody wants to see that.
[00:14:21] jenifer-kern_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:14:21] Right. Totally agree. And, um, I mean, training is always a big topic when you, when it comes to rolling out any kind of new program. But I think the employee motivation aspect that you're talking about right now is so interesting because there are so many technologies out there now that are trying to keep the employees in the store.
[00:14:40] Motivated on task. Um, you know, productivity wise as well as, as, as through things like this. So I'm curious if that's part of your software at PAJ. Is that something where you can integrate an employee instead of program into that? I know there's like gamification apps now and all that kind of good stuff.
[00:15:00] diane-le_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:15:00] Yeah, definitely. It depends on the brand, but certainly if you're able to, yeah. The ability to basically import in any groups. So if you have a list of your employees, we can give them. And a number of our brands have done this, where they have a recurring employee discount that it shows up in their app every day, or they have specialized programs for employees in their apps.
[00:15:18] And that's all powered within our platform. Um, you treat your employees like you would treat. I guess, you know, like our special guests are there. They're ultimately your very top VIP's because they are advocates and your make it or break it. So all of that, um, completely do in our loyalty program. And I have to imagine others as well, but certainly within our brands, that's done a lot.
[00:15:40] jenifer-kern_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:15:40] that'd be such a big piece. In fact, one of the podcasts that I did a few months ago was with Aaron from Del taco, and she said this quote, and I'm going to read it cause I actually made sure I had it available for this podcast, because this was actually when she said this quote, it was really what it got me thinking.
[00:15:59] About loyalty. And then all the Margaret has said a bit on the podcast had been bringing it up as well. But what she said is loyalty is creating employees who have a sense of purpose and pride. So how do you give that to a customer?
[00:16:14] diane-le_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:16:14] Hmm. I love
[00:16:16] jenifer-kern_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:16:16] the you,
[00:16:19] diane-le_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:16:19] How, you know, it really is. I'm sitting here. I'm like, Oh, that's, that's really good.
[00:16:26] jenifer-kern_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:16:26] Yeah, but it's, it's exactly what you two are talking about right now. I mean, you're talking about motivating when you're talking about motivating the employees to talk and, and talk to customers about it. Right. And, and remember to, to bring it up, but this is going a little bit of a step further, right?
[00:16:43] Like if, if you have happy employees, then your loyalty gets extended that way as well.
[00:16:50] olga-lopategui_1_02-11-2021_103809: [00:16:50] Yeah, but also thinking from the loyalty program perspective on its own. So as you think about the data that you have about you or your guests, what loyalty program allows you to do is to build a connection with the customer, just because a customer gets a sense, you get them. If you, if you consistently communicate them about the things that matter to them and about the things that they care about, then your probability of building that connection is much stronger on their probabilities of loving the brand and coming back to the brand as much harder.
[00:17:19] And so the example that I, um, I like to give, uh, I have a lot of my husband's examples because his, he has every single app on his phone, on the orders, through the apps, um, all the time. So my will, I'm not going to name the brand, but, uh, um, one thing he said to me the other day, he's like, what is it about this particular brand that makes them think that they will ever want to buy a hundred dollars worth of catering?
[00:17:43] If I, if I only come in once a quarter and buy one $6 sandwich every time, and it's always the same sandwich. So w w what is it about the, you know, Seven emails that they sent him through December, trying to get him to buy a hundred bucks worth of catering. And that's, that's really leaves you with the impression do they get me?
[00:18:05] Absolutely not. These guys, they don't, they may have a good sandwich, but they don't get me. I'm not doing things like that. And doing things like promoting the sandwich of he or something adjacent to the sandwich that he likes to him. Um, that's what would make a lot more sense in building that connection, building that loyalty.
[00:18:23] jenifer-kern_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:18:23] right, right. Go ahead, Diane.
[00:18:26] diane-le_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:18:26] Oh, no, I was just gonna say, so I'll go 100%. Right. But I know we talked about this before for brands or starting off that that can also feel really daunting sometimes. When you think about how many guests you have and how do I get so particular, but, uh, you know, one thing. Thing that keep in mind is really just getting started with some segmentation to start off with is great.
[00:18:47] So an oldest example, if you are starting off and you're just trying to figure out how do I grasp all this data, even segment people by, okay. Are these high average ticket spenders or low average tickets vendors? Like if they're high. You know, either their catering or their families, and we can talk to them that way.
[00:19:03] They're low. Maybe they're regular lunch eaters, just starting off by that, that one segmentation type can already give you this level of personalization. That's a lot more than, um, you know, a lot of brands are doing so while we want to create this amazing one-to-one relationship, don't feel daunted, just get started with something and it'll get you there.
[00:19:25] You'll get there.
[00:19:27] olga-lopategui_1_02-11-2021_103809: [00:19:27] Yeah, and then definitely there's a million ways to slice that audience and you can, you can slice them on their product preferences on their average check, on their frequency of visit. Nobody has to do all of it at once. Nobody can do all of it at once, at least until. Like very robust AI solutions are here and there.
[00:19:43] They're getting there, but they're not quite there yet. Um, so you just start with, and that's what, that's what I work with Brown. You just started with common sense. You look at the response. If you look at the most popular products, you look at just very basic purchase patterns, depending on what kind of brand it is.
[00:19:59] It doesn't have to be like a science. You can boil it down to common sense.
[00:20:04] jenifer-kern_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:20:04] Right. Right. Well, I think that, you know, we, we all know that operators are strapped in terms of their resources that they have right now. And everything that you're talking about, both of you, it makes total sense. Like the digitization focusing on the data, starting small, doing some segmentation, I'm curious where you believe the, the resources are.
[00:20:28] That need to be focused on this. I mean, obviously this typically falls in marketing, right. Um, do you, do you usually recommend that there's one person fully dedicated to managing the loyalty program is one, not enough. I mean, obviously it depends on the brand size, but this is another thing that they have to spend time.
[00:20:47] Right. Managing, um, in a lot of cases, the data isn't there, right. There's only pieces of the data. Which is okay too. You can still get started that way, but from a resourcing perspective, what do you, what do you to see the most? And then what do you recommend?
[00:21:04] diane-le_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:21:04] so on. Uh, So I always recommend my brands have a few key players within their team. Doesn't matter their size. And sometimes people can play multiple roles, but you need to have certain roles in place. One is an executive sponsor. So you need to have buy-in at the very top that says, this is where we want to get started.
[00:21:20] Um, nothing can really Apple without that. So you need someone who will believe in it and help advocate for it. Um, two, you need a good technical it person to help advocate. So this is a technology product, um, and for them it's. Most likely not a full-time thing. It's generally a part-time thing, but just having a resource I can help with technical issues will be key.
[00:21:42] And then on the marketing side, I generally recommend two people. So one is generally a product manager or product owner or someone who's going to own the loyalty project and think through strategically big picture is typically. Can range from like a VP of marketing all the way down to, you know, maybe a director or even a manager of the program.
[00:22:02] And then you need somebody who can be more in the weeds. And actually help execute. And sometimes it's very hard and I'm sure you guys all know it's hard to switch between very tactical execution and like big picture strategy. So we generally recommend having that broken out into two different roles.
[00:22:18] Um, but for some brands having that in one place can work as well. Maybe at that point, your time. You know, you spent a couple of days just thinking big picture strategy, and then a couple days just execution. Cause sometimes going back and forth, it's very hard to get, um, to get caught up in, but it's easy to get caught up in the weeds.
[00:22:35] So from a resourcing standpoint, executive sponsor technical person, and then usually two different marketing folks.
[00:22:42] jenifer-kern_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:22:42] Okay. Wow. And that's for any even smaller brands
[00:22:46] diane-le_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:22:46] Yeah, even smaller brands. And, you know, again, if your technical person doesn't need to be full time, but just having a resource on your side that can look into the technology is great. And then, um, I mean, Even for smaller brands, we do recommend someone who focused on the bigger picture and how it fits into their overall marketing strategy and execution strategy.
[00:23:05] And then somebody doing it tactically, but it doesn't need to be full-time for either one of those. Um, and in some cases it's one person, but maybe you split your time. So you're not wearing both hats at the same time.
[00:23:15] olga-lopategui_1_02-11-2021_103809: [00:23:15] Yeah. And, um, I think they aren't, it's like this very much reflective of, um, you know, my, my consulting business model, but it is where, where I have found my niche is helping smaller Browns, usually smaller brands. Although you work with some large ones too, um, Uh, help helping those smaller, smaller brands basically take care of both execution and strategy on a part-time basis, because for a brand was 50 units or less, it's virtually impossible to have somebody and not even one person full-time on loyalty program.
[00:23:48] Um, having two people running loyalty program is practically unsinkable in terms of resource allocation. So what you can do is having an, um, And experienced, um, a consultant on your side is you can dedicate a few hours a month of their time running a program, and they're going to do it much, much more efficiently than you will be able to do on your own.
[00:24:09] And, um, frankly, the programs, uh, they, they do kind of run themselves, but not completely. So there are certain things that you can do with this programs. You set them up and they, they keep on going and, uh, they still generate. No reasonable return on investment, but by putting a few extra hours of thinking into the program and every month or so, and a little bit of time and the execution, you can actually stretch them so much further.
[00:24:35] You can get so much more out of them. And that's what I, I like helping brands was just like push them into that next step. Um, and a little bit further in a shorter amount of time.
[00:24:44] diane-le_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:24:44] Yeah. And again, I mean, start with where you're at. If you only have one person who can only dedicate part of their time to this, start off with that and run it, user technology to make as many automated programs as you can, as August said, you know, there's a lot of things you can kind of do. That's automated you that at one time, and then you review it periodically.
[00:25:01] If you only have one person start off with that and then you'll build from there. But when we kind of see the best programs running, or, you know, maybe a goal state would be at some point to have someone focused on execution and someone else focused on a bigger picture strategy.
[00:25:16] jenifer-kern_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:25:16] Yeah. Yeah. Well, I'd love to hear from both of you, since you both are involved in a lot of different projects and brands, what would you highlight as some of the best execution or loyalty programs that you've seen recently and like specific examples of either projects or applications of, of changing and evolving their loyalty programs that have actually resulted in ROI or driven some positive business growth.
[00:25:43] olga-lopategui_1_02-11-2021_103809: [00:25:43] Uh, you know, like my, my North star and I've never worked with them with Starbucks and it's not surprising everybody, everybody loves the Starbucks loyalty program, but you know, whenever, whenever I have, um, a question is how will they do it? What's the right way to go about it. I tend to go back into the Starbucks app.
[00:26:01] And the articles about what Starbucks has done over the years, how they have evolved their, um, their program, because it's just such a landmark program for the food service industry. It's at one point in time, it was, I believe it was responsible for 40% of mobile payments, um, across the U S overall, before the pandemic.
[00:26:19] So it was. Primary driver of mobile payments in the country. So it's, uh, Jimmy just fascinating how far they have taken it and how much they have done with the program for the industry overall, because it's, they've made it a standard and they've made it clear to other brands. How much value you can get out of running this program?
[00:26:37] Correct.
[00:26:38] jenifer-kern_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:26:38] Right.
[00:26:39] diane-le_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:26:39] Yeah. Um, I have to apply a couple of punch clients because they're, they've been fantastic, but, um, taco bell recently launched their loyalty program. Um, so it launched at the third quarter of last year and they are. Killing it. And that team is so, so smart. Um, their segmentation and their personalization strategies are fantastic.
[00:27:00] And you know, when we talk about loyalty and once you decide to invest in loyalty, it's really important to lean into your, into loyalty and making that a core part of your marketing strategies as a brand. And talk about does that they have a lot of exclusives that are available only for, uh, rewards members.
[00:27:17] Um, they do a lot of their fun partnerships and they funnel that through it rewards and they get great ROI from that. So, um, talk about, uh, I I'd say that's one of my favorites. Um, and then the other one, I have a lot of favorites and they had some really,
[00:27:34] jenifer-kern_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:27:34] How about a smaller one, because let's just face it like Starbucks, they built their own technology. They've got all the money in the world. I mean, talk about probably one that's like a hundred unit chain or
[00:27:44] diane-le_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:27:44] Yeah.
[00:27:46] jenifer-kern_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:27:46] yeah.
[00:27:46] diane-le_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:27:46] Yeah, definitely. I mean, honestly, I actually find the smaller unit chains they're there actually, because they're able to be more agile and more nimble. They actually have better results in everybody. Also, when we look at our platform, we look at all of our clients and how they compare almost always it's the smaller chains that actually do the best because they're able to launch these routes.
[00:28:05] Really fun programs that, uh, made these larger chains. It's just too hard for them to kind of execute across everything. Um, so comes to mind, we have this chain called, uh, this burrito chain called Freebirds and they do a lot of really, really fun stuff. So they had a while they had a promotion where every time you came in, you had your chance of winning, um, Well, you know, uh, winning a prize every single time he came in and you knew that every third visit you would get a chance to win something.
[00:28:34] Um, we have, uh, I mean, I can think of so many, there's just so many smaller brands that are doing some really, really fun things when their loyalty. And again, when we have our client awards at the end of the year, we look at all the results and almost always it's our smallest brands that do the best. So, um, yeah, lots of really fun stuff.
[00:28:53] I mean, I know that you've worked on a few of these punched brands. There's anything you want to highlight.
[00:28:59] olga-lopategui_1_02-11-2021_103809: [00:28:59] Fevers. I, I work with three birds as well as like, sounds like an official official plug here. But, um, I think one of the, one of the fantastic things, uh, um, about, uh, their program is going back to their operations. They've been excellent at driving so many people into the program. So they've been fantastic about acquisition.
[00:29:17] And then once you have that acquisition level where every in their case, it's almost 30% of their guests that come into the store, our loyalty members, that's when you can actually shine with things like, well, let's get you a prize on every visit because it's not there. Isn't there enough people in the problem that can take advantage of those challenges and special prizes.
[00:29:36] So it makes a difference when your customer base is very small in the low of the program, it's really not worth doing, going through all of that. So it's, um, shout out to us to a small brand that has been able to gain so many users into, into the program. Their database is comparable in size with some of the very much, much larger, sometimes larger brands.
[00:29:56] Um, No they'll work with, I've seen that the cross, um, in various smaller Browns. So usually one of those brands get the program going. And then the franchise community for franchise Brown, there's a line. They can get people into the program so quickly and then they can do so many localized, special offers on the bounce.
[00:30:14] Was those, those, those guests it's um, it's amazing how it builds a connection.
[00:30:20] jenifer-kern_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:30:20] that's awesome. And I know you've also helped roll out the El Pollo Loco loyalty program, right? Olga.
[00:30:24] olga-lopategui_1_02-11-2021_103809: [00:30:24] um, I did not help roll it out. I just help, uh, help manage it and improve it over the past year. So, and, uh, it's been, it's been a lot of, a lot of fun to work with them. Cause it's, it's a large brand. That's a very well known brand with very large, slow tier loyalty member database. And what we have been able to do with was they'll play a local is.
[00:30:48] Essentially do some basic basic segmentation to get the program to where, um, our, um, How are guests are now receiving more custom, more personalized offer. So just as Diane was saying, families are getting offers that are more relevant for families. Um, well more frequent lunch users are getting offers that are more relevant to those, um, to those lunch users.
[00:31:09] And we've been able to grow the program very substantially in terms of, uh, most membership numbers on sales and most importantly, return on investment for the brand over the past year of, Hey there? Yeah.
[00:31:20] jenifer-kern_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:31:20] Well, Andy gave you a big shout out when he was on the, on the show last year as well. So I knew that you were involved somehow. Um, let's talk about metrics for a second. Cause as you're, as you both are talking, I'm thinking about how do you measure the success of the loyalty program, whether it's an existing program or a new, you know, new program and, and.
[00:31:40] You know, new technology you're using, what are the metrics that the team should be looking at? Shared metrics across technology and ops and marketing? Um, you've mentioned like number of users. I'm really curious, like in terms of measuring the ROI and the effectiveness for driving actual growth, what do you say about the top metrics that, that folks typically look at?
[00:32:05] diane-le_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:32:05] uh, so for me, the top three is always. One participation rate. And so we define that as what percentage of your overall sales are coming from loyalty. And we want to see that number grow more and more loyalty members come in. Um, two is an increase in the number of visits they're doing. So we want us to make sure that over time when someone's coming in, they're making more and more visits, and that's why we have lots of programs and then three is spend lift.
[00:32:31] So how much is someone in a logic program spending as composed to those who are not in there? Um, so for us over here at punch, we get all of the data from all of your POS. So we're able to see what a loyalty member spends versus a non loyalty member. And for us, ROI is always how much does, how much more does a loyalty member spend versus a non loyalty member?
[00:32:53] Um, and we're constantly measuring. So over and over for my brands, we're able to see that watching members, you know, have four or five, six times the number of visits and spend then a novel LT member. And that's really where the ROI sits for noise for us.
[00:33:07] olga-lopategui_1_02-11-2021_103809: [00:33:07] Yeah. Interesting, interesting point. There is, I've been working with a lot of, um, a lot of CMRs. So there is that chicken and egg problem that many people in the industrialized. So ISA, are they, are they spending more because they're loyal to members or are they loyal to members because they found, um, Dentist and more time to come in more and they're more likely to sign up for the loyalty.
[00:33:30] And this is the question that keeps on coming, coming up was, uh, a lot of, a lot of marketers. There are different schools of thought, but they it's an, I, I can definitely tell that there is a combination of both. But the well-structured loyalty program can move your loyalty members to become even more loyal, even more frequent than spend more.
[00:33:52] And they'll pull your local example over the past year is an excellent example of that, because back in about a year ago, their average loyalty guest was spending just about as much as non-guilty guests, but then when the loyalty program was not utilized in the most efficient way. So sometimes they even had a negative spam list, lifts, solos.
[00:34:11] Remember sometimes what's found less, um, than non loyalty member. So that barriers were asking, well, why are we doing all this? So we were just discounting our customers. Why, why should we do this? So was the programs that we haven't reduced over the past year. The spend, there has been a double digit increase in spend among the loyalty members and now it's very positive.
[00:34:33] So, um, they, um, the current loyalty guests are spending way more than non loyalty guests. So if you run the program correctly, you can shoot up number. It just, it's not, it's not static. You just got around the right, right problems in the right offers for the right guests.
[00:34:48] jenifer-kern_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:34:48] Right. That's fantastic. That's fantastic. I mean, there was also the, um, the first one you mentioned Diane, I think you said it was participation. What do you see if, you know, if I want to put you on the spot here top of your head, what is like an average, best practice for participation in terms of users of the loyalty program versus the non-users.
[00:35:09] diane-le_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:35:09] Uh, like percentage wise, maybe between them. Yeah. So I always say, okay, the 10% of, if you can get 10% of your customers to become loyal to members, then your loyalty program starts having legs, because that means for your frontline staff, what an every 10 people who are walking in. Is a loyalty member, which means you've got to know what about the loyalty program and you know that it has enough traction that you want to start pushing it.
[00:35:34] If you have less than that, if say it's a 5%, that means only one in every 20 is a lot to remember. And you start there, there's a snowball effect of having more and more folks on there. So I always say a good metric if you're starting off is aimed for that 10%. So one in every 10 people who walks in, they should be a loyalty member.
[00:35:51] Um, if you can get to 20, 25%, you're in great shape, because that means one every, for every five is low to member. And then as Olga had mentioned, the really, really successful programs have like 40, 50, 60% of their members of their guests are actually loyalty members. And that's when you know, you have a solid program.
[00:36:09] Um, but I would say if you're starting off in per 10%, just one in every 10 members or people who've walked into your store push, like they should be a little member in order to start seeing traction.
[00:36:20] olga-lopategui_1_02-11-2021_103809: [00:36:20] Yeah. And then I'm slightly more aggressive. I think 15%. That's a good number, slightly ever, slightly more aggressive because I'm always thinking about that. Uh, team members staying there at the cash register, um, asking, are you a member of Mt. Loads program? I'm a member of the loyalty program. Cause you got to do it, you know, for.
[00:36:36] Good couple of years to ask every customer, um, that question and if you get them, no, I'm nine times out of town. It gets pretty painful, like seven times out of eight. It's a little bit better to me. It's just that pain limit of asking the question that so many people are saying no to you want to hear a yes.
[00:36:55] Often enough to, to realize that okay. They use it. Okay. It makes sense.
[00:37:00] diane-le_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:37:00] Yep. I was having this conversation about with, uh, one of my other colleagues who does not work in the restaurant space, but works in loyalty and in a lot of other industries, the number and that percentage is a lot higher. So I think for us within the restaurant space, I mean, it started off with zero cause he had 0% of your guests in that space.
[00:37:17] Um, you know, whether it's 10 or 15%, we definitely see there's a clear break and kind of a nice breakthrough when you get your guests to that point. And then we'll just keep increasing it from there. But if you're launching a program. Um, yeah. And you come from another industry or you've seen numbers elsewhere just to know that the restaurant space is different.
[00:37:35] As we all know, it definitely has its own quirks in that participation rate is one of those weird quirks where it's a little bit lower than other industries. When you compare the loyalty programs
[00:37:45] jenifer-kern_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:37:45] Yeah, so great, great insights. So aim for the 10, or if you're older, the 15,
[00:37:51] diane-le_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:37:51] over a Tabor, Olga.
[00:37:52] jenifer-kern_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:37:52] your top performers are around the twenty-five percent. It sounds like you're saying
[00:37:56] diane-le_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:37:56] Yeah. Like Yeah. Like 30, 40% I think.
[00:38:00] olga-lopategui_1_02-11-2021_103809: [00:38:00] possible. Yeah.
[00:38:01] diane-le_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:38:01] 25 you're good. 20, 25 is good. Uh, and then great is like 35 on it.
[00:38:08] jenifer-kern_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:38:08] Fantastic. How often are people able to convert in this store? Like at the time of purchase? Oh, so they answer a, your, your 10%, you know, one out of 10 says yes, for the other eight or nine that say no, how often can the person convert them to the loyalty program there in the store? That's something that's kind of discouraged because it could slow down the lines and, and whatnot.
[00:38:34] diane-le_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:38:34] Well, we're on the loyalty side. So I say, no, you keep pushing. And a lot of our brands have really great sign up incentive. So for a lot of our brands that, you know, it's a free, main item or free, you know, for me, when we say you're doing your customers a disservice, if you don't let them know that there's a way for them, they get some free stuff and free food.
[00:38:53] Um, but again, it's very dependent on training and your ops team, which is why really happy to sell into your ops team. Um, but I know you've been working on this. Particular topic heavily. So I'll
[00:39:04] olga-lopategui_1_02-11-2021_103809: [00:39:04] Yeah, but they don't, it also differs by the type of the restaurant, um, your, your am. So if you're in QSR and drives through, you probably don't want to drive downloads while people are waiting in the drive through just because of. You know, it's it's, there is no peer pressure to move, move down the line.
[00:39:19] Um, as you're standing there in front of the drive-through window, downloading your app and fumbling with the phone, um, you know, in, in store when you're in the line and fast, casual is no, there is definitely an opportunity and apps download so quickly. It's very easy to sign up. It doesn't take long. If you have three or four people in front of you and you see the point of sale message saying, Hey, download, get free this on that.
[00:39:41] You can definitely do it while you're still in the line and the full service environment. Absolutely. You have to push it at the beginning of the meal and remind the guests at the end of the meal so that they can, um, And download the app, join the program, get their first credit. And then also there are tools like delayed reward.
[00:40:01] So you get XYZ on your second visit. So make this your first visit, scan the receipts so that you're an active member. And then you will get a reward after that, that will allow you to claim a main course or something high value for the second week. It's got some advantages and disadvantages to doing it this way, but that's an option too.
[00:40:20] diane-le_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:40:20] Yeah. And also, um, so SMS or text to join. So texting to join a legit program is a great use case. If you are, he was sorry. You want to slow down the line. People can literally text one word to a five digit number and then they can join the loyalty program like that. So if you're in a space where people are moving really fast, but you want to get them in a loyalty program, um, texted joined as an exploding, like crazy.
[00:40:42] And it's funny, cause SMS has been around for a while and people have tried to make this a thing. And I kind of feel like at this point I finally has some legs and we're seeing some really good results from that.
[00:40:50] jenifer-kern_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:40:50] Yeah, I haven't seen that yet. I haven't gotten one of those. I'm trying to think like the, the reason I brought it up was because last time I was at a fast casual and they did have that instead of that at checkout there, they said something like, you know, get your next free meal. If you join our loyalty program.
[00:41:05] And there I was in line, like about to pay and I'm trying to download the app on my phone and I'm like getting nervous. Cause I see all the people behind me and, um, So, yes, I was curious about that. How, you know, converting people at the point of sale. And I think like that all the, all the examples you're giving are really good ones.
[00:41:24] And thanks to think about it. If you could send a text like SMS, a text link to someone and they only need to put one word, like they don't need to filter.
[00:41:32] diane-le_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:41:32] well, they have to do it. We have a double opt ins. They have to opt in because there's some regulations around that. So two words, two words you have to do,
[00:41:38] jenifer-kern_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:41:38] I got it.
[00:41:40] diane-le_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:41:40] Free birds actually. So we had talked about them earlier. It's a small brands and that they they're one, uh, they're, they're one that does text to join.
[00:41:46] And it's very fun, not just for, at the POS, but also on social media. Um, you can always just say, you know, Texas random word and see what happens and, you know, they end up joining the loyalty program that way. So it's very fun.
[00:41:58] olga-lopategui_1_02-11-2021_103809: [00:41:58] Yeah. And the key, the key though, is once you get those people to opt into the SMS program, you want to convert them onto proper members. So full members you want, you want to drive them to download the app. You want to drive them to give them the email because you can use a semester for a period of time, but you can't use it forever.
[00:42:15] If you abuse it, people tend to opt out from SMS faster than they do from other channels. So it's really, really important once you get the man, make sure this is not the only way to reach out to them and make sure you can convert them very quickly so that you don't abuse the channel,
[00:42:31] jenifer-kern_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:42:31] Right. I could see that too. So don't just stop with the sending the link. Then it's a process from there to process from there to get more.
[00:42:39] olga-lopategui_1_02-11-2021_103809: [00:42:39] give them incentives because everything needs an incentive. Sadly.
[00:42:43] jenifer-kern_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:42:43] You gotta work on it. That's, you know, it's just another reminder that you get, you get out of it, what you put into it. Right. Um, so let's talk a little bit about the future of loyalty and where are you to see loyalty headed? Not just in 2021, because it's rapidly evolving in 2021, but even beyond 2021, what, what, what is your crystal ball saying to you right now?
[00:43:07] olga-lopategui_1_02-11-2021_103809: [00:43:07] You you have one, you have a crystal ball.
[00:43:11] diane-le_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:43:11] Well, I don't have a crystal bulb, but I'll go, you know what I would say, uh, for me, honestly, and truly, I feel like machine learning and AI is going to take over where the Mark, like it's going to change how the marketers are thinking about it, because right now, if you think about how the more advanced brands are doing their little team marketing, they have a number of ideas.
[00:43:30] They have a test market. Um, they do these, you know, offers and they match them up with segments, I think are going to respond back to those offers and they measure it gets a control group and they see which one's the winner. And then they deploy that nationwide. And it's a lot of work, um, what's happening right now and where it's going to be going in two, three, four years.
[00:43:49] It's really machine learning will tell you, you know, if this is the right offer for this particular segment, this is who's going to want this based off of our data. And here's when you should serve it up to them. Um, So I'm really excited just because I think it's when we talk, it's about having all those data.
[00:44:05] And what do you do with all this data and how do you make it actionable? We're kind of at this point right now, where everyone's getting a ton of data and it's a little bit hard to figure out what to do with all of this. So while the industry and marketers are figuring out how to start using this data technologies, Continuing to evolve to the point where machines are taking care of this, and they're making it really, really easy for the marketers.
[00:44:25] So we're not quite there yet, but we're so close to that kind of being the point. Um, and I think a lot of. Marketers loyalty marketers specifically. Um, and over the next, you know, five years, they're going to relearn how to think about marketing and how you come up with all these things, because it's a machine based.
[00:44:43] And I think the operations teams will also have to become a lot more flexible in how they do things, because when you think about true one-to-one marketing and how you treat an individual, but there needs to be some flexibility in how this is done. So I think as technology increases and machine learning and AI becomes a really big player.
[00:45:01] All of the different systems that are involved are going to have to learn how to adjust. So that's where I see kind of the restaurant loyalty space
[00:45:07] jenifer-kern_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:45:07] You work it on that? A punch
[00:45:08] diane-le_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:45:08] waiting, wink,
[00:45:11] jenifer-kern_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:45:11] Yeah. Okay.
[00:45:15] diane-le_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:45:15] wink, waiting. Very, very likely. So, uh, we tried to stay at the forefront of technology.
[00:45:20] jenifer-kern_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:45:20] Awesome. Awesome.
[00:45:22] olga-lopategui_1_02-11-2021_103809: [00:45:22] Yeah, I completely agree. I think that, um, AI machine learning that's, that is the future of loyalty programs and marketing in general. And what, what I'm really looking forward to in the coming years is. Moving moving loyalty from just loyalty. That's one little like at the loyalty programs alone into, um, like true omnichannel.
[00:45:42] We've been talking about omnichannel for a couple of decades. Now. It still hasn't happened. We still came up with track the consumer behavior across all the channels that they're in. But I think we're getting closer and closer. And to me, being able to close that loop to understand how is my marketing effecting my consumer, not just through the loyalty channel, but also.
[00:46:00] Consumers adjacent coming from different channels are using loyalty and non loyalty in different ways. So understanding how all of this fits together and how your marketing dollars work and what's the best way, where's the best place to put your marketing dollars. Um, To me, that's, that's really one of the more, um, more exciting parts.
[00:46:18] Um, and the other piece I think they, for, for us as marketers and every now and then you hear this fear of machine learning is coming. It's going to take over everything. I'm not going to need anybody to do anything manually or apply human brains anymore. It's really not true because you, um, The creation of the programs is always sits with the marketer.
[00:46:44] It was a human inside, which machines cannot give us yet, maybe in the distant future, but we are still decades away from where, um, Machine learning is going to completely replace a human market. It's going to automate the boring tasks of doing AB testing, all of, uh, scrolling through those audiences, trying to figure out which segment exactly does it need to be.
[00:47:06] But the fun part of marketing is going to stay with us.
[00:47:10] jenifer-kern_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:47:10] Yeah. Yeah. And so as we start to kind of wind down and wrap here, I'd love to know what are your top recommendations to marketers today as pertains to their loyalty programs? What advice do you have? For marketers who are really just trying to get their hands around the data, start with this personalization and segmentation drive that more frequent, loyal user.
[00:47:35] Um, yeah. What are your recommendations?
[00:47:39] olga-lopategui_1_02-11-2021_103809: [00:47:39] So my, my main insight is >> don't think about loyalty program as loyalty. Think about it as a marketing program for loyal members. So when you position that as, uh, this is what makes this program makes my guests loyal. Suddenly you're doing completely different things with a program and expected to do things that I don't think it really can.
[00:47:58] In many cases, I like to shift the thinking and the organization from this is for problem that makes guests more loyal to this is the program that helps me learn about my guests and market to them smarter and cheaper. So you're reducing your cost of marketing. You're targeting them better. You're bringing them back more and that's really the center of the loyalty program.
[00:48:19] And that's where segmentation comes in and custom create personalization. All of that is not for the sake of loyalty, but for the sake of getting your marketing dollars to go much, much further. So that's my 2 cents of advice to those who are starting.
[00:48:34] diane-le_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:48:34] Yeah. And I would just say, um, you know, marketers, a lot of the marketers that come in before all this technology stuff, they tend to be people who just care about what the customer experiences. So even though we're layering on all these things, like data and machine learning and all of the stuff. Keep it with the heart of a marketer's role is which is to make a great customer experience.
[00:48:56] And I would just say, just part of making a great customer experience is segmenting your customers by what we know about them. So whether they just came in or they're really loyal or they buy a lot or they don't. I mean, all of this advice that we're talking about just have to deal with. Breaking up or customer.
[00:49:13] So you make a great experience for them kind of individually. So, um, over number. And I think for me coming from the brand side, it's very hard to juggle these things and there's so much new technology that's coming up and it can feel very overwhelming at times. So it always just boils back down to. What is a great customer experience for your customers, for someone that's new for them, someone that's been there for a long time, like, what is that?
[00:49:33] And then that really is the crux of the basis and the foundation of how you build a loyalty program. Um, so yeah, yeah,
[00:49:42] jenifer-kern_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:49:42] Do the right thing for your customers.
[00:49:44] diane-le_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:49:44] do the right thing for customers. Yeah.
[00:49:46] jenifer-kern_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:49:46] all comes back to that because here we are still in a pandemic. You know, you guys are more on the, on the West coast here on the East coast. So many things still closed and shut down. And, you know, I have my, my feet, little escapes. I do go to Starbucks to get my customer experience, you know, to get my, my shot of, of dining out.
[00:50:05] But keeping that customer friends centers. So important, you know, in serving that, making that good service, serving great food, we need it. It's comforting. It makes us feel good. So. Okay. Well, one more thing I want to talk to you ladies about here. I have these two talented women and, uh, I know you both have your MBAs.
[00:50:27] I snooped around in your LinkedIn and saw that I was so impressed with that. Um, and you're both new moms. Yes. So work-life balance work-life balance women. How did, how do you do it? What, what are some of your tips?
[00:50:41] diane-le_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:50:41] Okay. A little one personally, I'm like work-life balance is not a real thing, especially during the pandemic women. We're juggling so much. I have, like, I have my daughter in the other room over here and then she we're in a nanny share. So in our little pod, so she has her friends. I have two babies in the house right now, and I'm running between work and following up with clients and trying to put together decks, and then they start crying and I'm like, you know, can I help?
[00:51:08] There's no such thing as work-life balance. I feel like that is such a, it's just not, but.
[00:51:15] jenifer-kern_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:51:15] It's definitely a dated term in the pandemic, for sure. For sure. A hundred percent agree. A hundred percent agree.
[00:51:21] olga-lopategui_1_02-11-2021_103809: [00:51:21] Yeah, I think that that's, that's one of the hardest things that, you know, babies, babies don't understand that you have a call or a podcast or a client meeting. They just. Totally don't get that. And, uh, um, the thing that's been particularly hard for me, it was the, it was having two and one, one very fresh, one, another one for four and a half year old.
[00:51:41] Um, it's uh, it's that for me, Israel, this pandemic period, uh, weekends on weekdays have kind of blurred into one. There was more work during the week and less work on the weekends, but every day has some component of work and a significant component of childcare. And just breaking up that monotony when you can't really go on vacation, that's been, that's been really, really tough cause it's been, I think it's the first time in my life when I had a year without a vacation, I'm a big fan of vacation.
[00:52:16] diane-le_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:52:16] Yeah, honestly, and I will say I am so proud of all the women that I know and men too, but we were all going through this really tough time together. And it's very interesting when collectively as a nation, when worldwide, when you know, everyone's dealing with the same thing, cause kids are home from school, um, you know, for new moms, you went through the whole pregnancy process alone.
[00:52:36] Because they don't allow a lot of people into the hospital. It's like, we're all having this very collective experience together and it is tough. And I look whether, you know, I'm looking at YouTube or whether I'm looking at my clients on roll on zoom calls, I know everyone's going through so much together.
[00:52:51] And I mean, all of every single one of them. So, uh, it's been tough, but it's been good. I mean, it's been tough, but it's okay. Nice going through this together. And honestly, I just have so much respect for. For all of you for everybody, for all the women, for all the mothers for all of that, this has been
[00:53:11] olga-lopategui_1_02-11-2021_103809: [00:53:11] Yeah. And if I can add just like, one-on-one last a shout out, if you do have a partner that, um, that is good, it really helps. And I, I, uh, have been just so grateful to my husband. Who's taken on a lot of responsibility for childcare. Now, a lot of people don't do that. A lot of other days are hard to her open to that, but he's just been such a wonderful dad.
[00:53:36] And I could not have been able to manage both both of my boys if he wasn't so involved outside his close your work hours. Cause he does crazy work hours as well. So having the right partner on this is just such a blessing.
[00:53:50] diane-le_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:53:50] my husband's gonna get mad at me, but I don't shout him out as well. So I, I know you're going to listen to this, uh, shout out to my amazing husband because not only do we have our first child, but she was ended up being a special needs child and she has a lot of health concerns going on. And. Would not have been able to handle the pandemic work for both of us and you know, all of her doctor's appointments and all of that stuff without my husband.
[00:54:15] Um, but my mom's a single mom. So for all the single moms out there even more, uh, view like so, so much all really for everybody, it's been a tough year for. The restaurant industry as a whole. Um, but also for everybody. And I'm constantly in awe of all the good things I'm seeing out there in spite of this really difficult time.
[00:54:37] jenifer-kern_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:54:37] Yeah. Oh, you get Eli gave me little goosies when you were sharing. I mean, gosh, it's true. It's like the compassion right now. The compassion for that, that we need to give to each other. Um, whether we're living in the same house together or on zoom calls together all day, and just realizing that we don't know what other people are going through at this time.
[00:55:00] Right? Like here, here I sit with you two with these little babies. Well, my youngest is 22, so yeah. I haven't had those challenges in the pandemic and I really don't know what it's like, but listening to you, it gives me a significant amount of respect and compassion hearing. You both share some of your personal stories from the pandemic, because I don't think we can share them enough, honestly.
[00:55:23] I mean, I think we all need to hear that. Like you said, I believe to like the personal and the professional has really come together, like never before. Um, you know, and, and not everyone does have partners that can help them. There are a lot of people that are very, very lonely in this time. And, um, You know, my, my heart goes out to those folks and, and the folks in the restaurant industry literally working 24 seven.
[00:55:48] And yeah, now I gotta give a shout out to my husband, but in, cause the precious on lady, but he's been amazing with me as well. And today I could give you the perfect example is I said, you know, I usually record these, I go to the office to record these, but we had. So weather events and snow and rain, and I didn't make it in today.
[00:56:06] And so I was really worried about it, our dog, which is my baby, right. It's like, you got to watch the dog when I'm doing my podcasts or chorus, because he will come and like wine outside my door. I have to get up and let him in get up and let them out. I'm like, I can't do that on a podcast. So, um, I am very blessed to have a wonderful partner as well.
[00:56:29] Who is. Was there with me through raising, raising a lot of boys and, um, you know, through the times of working and, and craziness. Um, but I think, I think there's some silver linings that we're all getting to, to kind of exhale a little bit and spend some more time with each other and, and have that compassion.
[00:56:49] So. Thank you both so much for being so real and joining today and sharing all your expertise on loyalty and marketing and all things restaurants. Before we wrap, I want to give you both one last, shout out, whoever, whatever you want to say. I mean, we've all given shout outs to our partners now, but, um, any last little promo you want to do, either for yourself, your brands, your companies, your teams. your time.
[00:57:19] diane-le_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:57:19] If you were interested in loyalty and you were a restaurant brand or C store or grocery brand, um, come and talk to fudge just because we work with so many different brands, I would love to talk with you. And I'm genuinely just interested to hear, you know, it's a tough time for all. And we've seen really, really good ROI for our brands, especially during this tough time.
[00:57:38] So come and talk with us. We'd love to hear from you. Um,
[00:57:42] olga-lopategui_1_02-11-2021_103809: [00:57:42] Well, and then the similar spirit of self, if you're a brand that has a little deplorable program, whether it's with poncho was a different platform. Or you're thinking about starting one, and it doesn't matter if you're a large or small, if you just want to reach out and bounce some ideas. And if you want to make your existing loyalty program potential a little bit better, or if you want to decide, well, should they be even getting into loyalty programs right now?
[00:58:06] I'm always happy to jump on a column, you know, do a quick consultation, just, you know, make a connection. So find, find me on LinkedIn and I'll be delighted to talk to you guys.
[00:58:17] jenifer-kern_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:58:17] yes. And I've had the tremendous honor of working with both of you. And I just want to say for our listeners, these two women really know the ins and outs when it comes to loyalty. So add them to your network. Diane Lee, L E on LinkedIn with Pudge and Olga Lopeteguy. Also on LinkedIn and your names will be on the, on the promo, but definitely tap into these resources, marketers.
[00:58:41] I mean, these, these ladies really have great suggestions and ideas and knowledge when it comes to loyalty. So thank you so much. Have a blessed day ladies and keep up.
[00:58:55] diane-le_1_02-11-2021_113808: [00:58:55] Thank you so much.