Qdoba Mexican Grill and zpizza choose Exit41 as call center
partner to Drive Business Growth
ANDOVER, Mass.,– Feb. 6, 2009 Exit41, Inc., a leading provider of online ordering and call center software and services for the restaurant industry, today announced the addition of two restaurant concepts to its newly expanded Call Center in Andover, Massachusetts: Qdoba Mexican Grill, a Colorado-based fast casual Mexican concept and wholly owned subsidiary of Jack in the Box Inc. (NASDAQ: JACK), and zpizza, a Southern California-based gourmet pizza restaurant.
Since the 2006 grant of U.S. patent (US 7,110,964 B2) for its restaurant Call Center solution, Exit41 has extended its restaurant Call Center capabilities to include off-premise catering orders and “ASAP” orders for takeout and delivery.
To deliver a high touch, branded ordering experience for the restaurant, Exit41 staffs its Call Center with professional agents, each of whom receive 30 hours of training. Agents are able to focus on taking the customer’s complete order, while providing order consultation which results in a higher average check size. In addition to taking inbound orders, agents leverage a central customer database to make proactive outbound calls and drive sales for the restaurant. Orders are processed via Exit41’s enterprise Call Center ordering application, which is designed specifically for call center agents and supports the order process with features including automated cross-sell and upsell, and real time integration with leading point-of-sale systems.
With Exit41’s centralized Call Center model, restaurants are able to increase sales, save labor, increase the average check size, improve the customer ordering experience, and build loyal relationships.
“Many restaurants come to us because they are challenged with effectively serving both customers on the phone and customers inside the restaurant. During busy periods the phone can sometimes go unanswered,” said Joseph Gagnon, chief executive officer of Exit41. “Exit41’s role is to ensure that all orders are captured, while at the same time consistently providing a superior level of service and maximizing the dollar amount for each order.”
Following a successful regional rollout, Qdoba Mexican Grill has more than 150 corporate and franchised locations using Exit41’s Call Center Services, with plans to rollout to all of its more than 450 locations nationwide by mid-year.
“Catering is a core growth strategy for Qdoba, and we’re excited about the potential advantages that utilizing Exit41 will bring to our system,” said Karen Guido, vice president of marketing, Qdoba Mexican Grill. “We consider the Exit41 Call Center an extension of our restaurants and of our brand. So far, with this centralized model we are seeing higher check sizes and are able to simplify restaurant operations so our employees can focus on food and service for our in-restaurant guests.”
Exit41 is also taking orders during peak periods for zpizza, a gourmet pizza chain with 25 restaurants leveraging Exit41’s Call Center Services and plans for a full rollout of 82 stores by mid year.
“Simply put, this is a much more effective and efficient way to run our business,” said Chris Bright, president, zpizza. “Within days of having Exit41 take orders for our restaurants, the value was evident. They are able to capture simultaneous orders during peak periods, increase our check size, reduce labor costs, and improve the guest experience.”
About Exit41
Exit41 is a leading provider of ordering software and services that enable restaurants to more effectively run their business, better serve customers, and drive profitable business growth. The Exit41 Enterprise Suite includes integrated online ordering software, call center software, and call center services for catering, takeout and delivery. Founded in 1998, Exit41 is headquartered in Massachusetts and is backed by blue-chip investors. For more information, visit www.exit41.com
About Qdoba Mexican Grill
Qdoba Mexican Grill puts a fresh spin on flavors in its nouveau-Mexican fast-casual food. The menu offers a variety of choices that are all made fast, fresh and right in front of the customer. Since its beginning in Denver in 1995, the fast casual chain has shown continued growth with more than 470 restaurants in 40 states. Qdoba is a wholly owned subsidiary of Jack in the Box Inc. For more information about Qdoba, please visit www.qdoba.com
About zpizza
zpizza is a fast growing, Southern California-based gourmet pizza chain with 87 locations around the country. zpizza opened in Laguna Beach, California in 1986 to create a pizza that is lighter, healthier, delicious and creative. For more information on zpizza, please visit www.zpizza.com