CASE STUDY: Seamore’s

Introduction

Seamore’s, in New York City, is renowned for its commitment to ocean health and sustainability. With a total of seven restaurants spanning across New York, Arlington, Virginia, and Dairy, Connecticut, Seamore’s prides itself on serving seafood sourced directly from fishermen.

And that pride extends to their commitment to deliver outstanding customer experiences.

We caught up with Jay Wainwright, CEO at Seamore’s, to find out how they’re using Black Box Intelligence Survey Studio to increase the quality and guest experience across all of their venues.

“[Survey Studio is] becoming a real factor in how we do business every day.” – Jay Wainwright, CEO, Seamore’s.

Challenges

Like many restaurants, Seamore’s has grappled with the challenges of understanding and responding to customer feedback effectively. The anecdotal nature of feedback obtained through platforms like Yelp and Google Reviews wasn’t really cutting it when it came to understanding what they needed to focus on and improve.

Jay had used mystery shopping programs in previous business ventures but found the data to be somewhat limited. He felt that Seamore’s needed a way to obtain precise and immediate insights into their guest experiences and food quality.

Power of Point of Sale Integrations

Jay said that, within the first week of using BBI, it changed his perspective on what could be achieved with the right guest feedback software. “It was when I learned that it was tied to the check. That was mind-blowing: that the customer is going to review the specific items they ate and that the check is integrated with BBI Survey Studio.”

BBI’s data delivered Seamore’s valuable insights into portion sizes, dish pricing, and the popularity of menu items they’d been previously missing.

Learn more about our Toast integration here

Impact on Food Quality

The BBI Survey Studio platform allowed them to understand whether customers were returning for specific dishes or if they were primarily attracting newcomers. These insights prompted the team to reevaluate their recipes and menu items.

A notable example was the popular fish and chips, which sold well, but the guest feedback didn’t always tell a positive story. Many restaurants, when they get feedback like that on an item, come to the same conclusion; that they need to improve the recipe to increase return visits.

Jay explained how Seamore’s set about adjusting its recipe and focussed on providing a better product. “The interesting thing is the items that sell well and get bad reviews. It’s been a really tricky thing to deal with. But because your data is broken out by visual taste, portion and value, you get good insights into specific dishes, like our fish and chips.”

“We immediately changed the recipe when we started with Black Box! We saw that we had a problem that we had no idea about. And it’s gotten much better, and our food scores, in the aggregate, are in the 92 range now.”

The service aspect

BBI Survey Studio was especially useful in tracking service quality because it can segment feedback data into specific aspects of service.

Seamore’s was able to focus on critical service checkpoints such as checking for allergies, greeting guests, and check-backs. By honing in on those, they ensured their guests were having a consistently great experience from the moment they entered the restaurant until they left.

Taking a subtle approach to feedback collection

One key to Seamore’s success with BBI was their subtle approach to collecting feedback. Rather than pressuring customers, they introduced the digital survey as a quick and unobtrusive step in the payment process.

As Jay said, “We’re very subtle about asking for feedback. We have a very defined script of how we drop the device. We’re using it as a check presenter, and we’re saying, ‘Thank you very much. Your check is enclosed. There’s a quick digital survey. If you feel like it, I’ll be right back.’”

This approach is proving to be effective, with a high response rate and valuable feedback that doesn’t negatively affect the guest experience.

Conclusion and Future Direction

Black Box Intelligence provides Seamore’s with a wealth of data and insights, enhancing their ability to make data-driven decisions that benefit their menu and service quality.

 “It’s become an integral part of the day-to-day fabric of our company very quickly,” Jay said. “It’s hard to see how you could have this tool and it not become really important.”

Jay and the whole Seamore’s management team’s experience with BBI serves as a testament to the power of data-driven decision-making in the restaurant industry. It highlights the importance of integrating technology seamlessly into the dining experience to maintain and improve service quality and food quality, ensuring a consistently exceptional experience for customers.