Find out how to pair internal and external data with the Co-Founder of Aben.
Give An Ovation is the podcast where we interview restaurant owners, operators, and experts, to get their strategies and tactics so that you can deliver a 5-star guest experience. Available on all major podcasting sites.
FREE E-Book Download
The Off-Premise Restaurant
by Restaurant Experts
Tammy Billings is the Co-Founder of Aben, a marketing operating system that alerts, executes, & measures ROI from data. Tammy created Aben because she believed that the data available to large enterprises should be available for all businesses to leverage.
Starting at In-N-Out Burger as a teenager, Billings transitioned into the industry full-time at age 30 as the Director of Marketing for LA Live, where she oversaw 14 restaurant tenants. After LA Live, Billings went on to work for SBE and Grill Concepts, Fishbowl (now Personica), Marketing Vitals, and Wisely, which was sold to Olo in 2021.
With an affinity for sales, technology, and data analytics, Tammy brings a wealth of experience in restaurant tech and marketing to this week’s episode. Tammy’s expertise is also why we were so excited to recently add her to Ovation’s board of advisors! Read about it here.
Here’s one of our highlights from this episode and Tammy’s answers to some of our questions:
Featured takeaway: Integrating technology into your restaurant will be critical going forward
“Customers are hungry for technology. We’re less averse to ordering at a kiosk and walking up to a counter to put in a code. Technology is a big part of the guest experience and the brands who aren’t embracing it are going to be the brands that get left to the wayside.”
What is the most important aspect of the guest experience nowadays? (20:30)
“I would argue that the most important aspect is labor supply. I talked to someone the other day who is having difficulty keeping stores open. If you can build your team and get people to work with you, you can keep locations up and running for guests.”
What successful things have you seen or tried lately? (21:20)
Value messaging.
“My friends over at Del Taco have released 20 items under $20 and I feel like they hit value messaging at the perfect time. As gas prices rise, we’re going to see a lot more value oriented offerings and I think they beat everybody to the punch.”
Who deserves an Ovation in the restaurant industry? (24:38)
“My partner, Jordan Thaeler. Oftentimes, whistleblowers call to sort of share what’s happening in the industry and he publishes great content.”
For more, check out the Aben Website and Tammy’s LinkedIn!
Thanks for reading! Make sure to check out the whole episode, as well as other interviews with restaurant gurus by checking out “Give an Ovation: A Podcast For Restaurants” on ovationup.com/podcast or your favorite place to listen to podcasts.
