CASE STUDY

Overview.

School friends Robert Beacham and John Whitehead started Bistrot Pierre in Nottingham, England, in 1994. The boutique chain offers guests a wide range of freshly prepared Anglo-French dishes made from carefully sourced ingredients from both local and artisan French producers and suppliers – all at great value.

In fact, guests have been known to line up out the door at Bistrot Pierre locations during lunch hours thanks to the specials offered on a variety of bistro classics and new seasonal dishes.

The company’s chefs regularly take trips to France to get inspiration for new recipes and dishes, helping the brand develop a reputation for a high-quality dining experience in a stylish, relaxing setting.

The brand’s commitment to quality food, service, and hospitality has helped them grow to nearly 20 locations across England and Wales.

But maintaining a healthy restaurant brand requires consistent feedback from guests to ensure their team is providing the best experience possible. In 2019 the Bistrot Pierre leadership decided they could do more to achieve that.

That’s where Yumpingo came in.

Challenges:

• Lack of visibility into guest experience data
• Guest surveys were too long and not scalable
• Relied on sales data and gut-feeling to make operational decisions

A lack of visibility into guest sentiment

Before working with Yumpingo, Bistrot Pierre managers and leadership relied on sales data and a healthy dose of gut instinct to make operational decisions and investments. Sales data and gut instinct are certainly important in the restaurant and hospitality industries, but in an increasingly digital age, guests interact with a brand through multiple channels and at multiple touchpoints — requiring brands to find ways to capture and analyze granular data throughout the customer journey.

In particular, Bistrot Pierre’s leaders knew they needed deeper insight into how guests felt about the brand. But their methods of gathering feedback were proving ineffective.

“Our guest surveys were too long and too few in number,” said Mike Wardell, Bistrot Pierre’s Chief Operating Officer.

Transforming the collection and implementation of customer feedback

“We are now getting thousands of live guest reviews across every shift, dish and server every week, in real time, from real guests,”  Mike Wardell, COO, Bistrot Pierre.

Bistrot Pierre partnered with Yumpingo and quickly tapped into a wealth of real-time customer insights. Yumpingo’s insights armed the Bistrot Pierre teams with the information they need to run a great shift and make improvements if they need to. “The front-line teams are now empowered to make data-driven adjustments based on how guests perceive the food and service in realtime,” Mike said. “This has transformed how we run operations, run our menu development and invest in new concepts and teams."

 

Engaging teams to serve more happy guests

In addition to helping front-line teams be more adaptable, Yumpingo’s insights helped team members become more engaged. Bistrot Pierre displayed the live guest feedback from the platform on digital screens on the pass at all of their locations.

“This helps us fix problems before they escalate, and share positive feedback to reinforce dish and service execution,” Mike said.

And that positive reinforcement goes a long way, according to Bistrot Pierre CEO, Nick White; “The kitchen team became so engaged with the live scores that they turned the screens to face them instead.”

“This is a powerful way to engage teams to focus on the guest.” Nick White, CEO, Bistrot Pierre. 

This project took place between November 2019 and November 2020. If you'd like to find out more about how Yumpingo could help you, please use the form below.