Comment Cards Go Paperless
Behold, the future of the comment card. Most paper comment cards are filled out by only 1-5 percent of diners; this contraption, however, has gotten a 75 percent return rate from diners at a mongolian barbecue restaurant in the Tampa area. The man behind the contraption, Ken Todd, came up with the idea after a bad experience at a restaurant; he wanted to convey his displeasure without making a fuss.
Todd started a business, got a patent in 2000 and ended up partnering in 2002 with Dallas-based Long Range Systems, a producer of restaurant paging systems. The idea is simple: At meal’s end, your check arrives on a black clipboard with a keyboard embedded in it. Hmm, that’s fun. Feel like taking a quick survey? Sure.Survey pads are placed in a docking station, the data is downloaded every night and the restaurant is sent a pdf of the results the next morning. “A lot of measurement devices don’t isolate individual servers,” says Todd. “We generate a report every day that rates individual servers on whatever the restaurant is trying to measure. A restaurant can instantly react, and servers can be coached and counseled.”
According to the blog post, only five restaurants used the device last year, but that number jumped to 300 this year. If you want to see it for yourself in Miami, you'll have to check yourself into Mercy Hospital, where it's given to patients so that they can rate their overall experience.
Survey Says... [The Mouth of Tampa Bay]
