TUESDAY / OCTOBER 11, 2016 / 2:15 PM
CX ROI: What’s the Value of Investing?
In the past, calculating the ROI of customer-experience improvements was a huge challenge, which meant that a it was nearly impossible to decide which initiatives were necessary. But what about now? In this session, restaurant operators who have been quick to invest in offering a more innovative customer experience, will share how and why they implemented a variety of platforms and programs and how those enhancements led to an increase in profits.
PANELISTS
Steve Heeley | CEO | Veggie Grill
Steve Heeley is CEO of Santa Monica, CA based Veggie Grill, the leading fast casual, veggie-centric concept in the US. He is a veteran of the restaurant industry, having had leadership responsibility for every aspect of the business throughout his career. Steve was an early leader in the fast casual space and has served as CEO of three separate companies and COO of three companies, among other responsibilities. Prior to Veggie Grill, Steve was President and CEO of Earl of Sandwich, LLC, a high-volume fast casual sandwich brand. Steve led the company’s 30% annual growth throughout the US and internationally.
Frank Klein | CEO | Asian Box
Frank Klein is CEO and President of Asian Box, a lifestyle fast casual restaurant group he co-founded. Frank cares deeply about staff engagements and in this day of heavy competition for labor provides an interesting perspective on attracting and retaining key staff. Frank has consulted with some of the biggest names in the restaurant industry and takes pride in his work also for The District of Colombia Public Schools as well as minority concession owners in The National Parks. His business endeavors focus heavily on sustainability in operations, care for the Earth’s resources and building sustainable and profitable operations with a socially conscious mindset.
session sponsor
Srini Kumar | CEO | CraftWorks Restaurants & Breweries
Srini Kumar is the CEO of CraftWorks Restaurants & Breweries, the largest craft brewery casual dining restaurant operator in the country with restaurants primarily operating under the Old Chicago Pizza & Taproom, Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurants and Rock Bottom Breweries & Restaurants brands. As CEO, Srini brings more than three decades of industry leadership experience to the company. Previously, Srini served as head of Pearle Vision where he led the brand to strong positive growth with double-digit EBITDA growth for the franchised system. Srini also had a successful career with Dunkin Brands and held several positions including chief brand officer of Baskin-Robbins Worldwide.
MODERATOR
Brad Christian | Managing Director | Market Force Information
Brad Christian has served as Managing Director at Market Force Information for the last ten years. He is responsible for consulting and customer experience program design for numerous restaurant organizations in North America. With a focus on driving location performance improvement, he provides guidance on customer experience measurement tools and analysis to help client organizations drive increases in guest satisfaction, loyalty and financial performance. Brad is based out of Norcross, Georgia.
