PLANTA was founded in 2016 by founder Steven Salm and co-founder and Executive Chef David Lee, with the simple but noble goal of making plant-based dining more accessible to everyone. Planta has since expanded to 15 locations across North America, becoming a household name in plant-based dining.
PLANTA restaurants are buzzy, chic, and bustling, meaning Front-of-House staff must always make micro-decisions in real-time. Should the host answer the phone, or tend to the guest in front of them?
It’s an impossible situation that inevitably leaves some guests with a sub-par experience. Although PLANTA had a phone system in place, they didn’t have an accurate view into call metrics like answer rate nor did the system have voicemail; the phone just rang all day.
Christine Hasircoglu, PLANTA’s VP of Restaurant, brings with her an impressive 20+ years of industry experience. That said, she knew what problems PLANTA had to fix on its road to operational excellence.
“We had a couple of problems that we were trying to solve,” says Hasircoglu. Between limited visibility into their phones and ongoing labor challenges typical in the industry, improving overall operational efficiency was a top priority for PLANTA. Additionally, Hasircoglu states that measurement was key to raising the bar for all of their locations. “In our business, the classic mantra is ‘manage what you measure,’” she said.
Slang.ai was the answer to PLANTA’s problems. What started as a test with two PLANTA locations quickly expanded to all locations after they saw immediate efficiency gains. “Now Front-of-House is fully focused on the guest experience,” Hasircoglu said.
Since adopting Slang.ai, PLANTA can answer calls in a hospitality-first way and have rich insight into critical operational metrics. “We’re able to track call volume and what people are calling about, which is so insightful, and guests can make reservations directly through Slang.ai. Now our on-site teams barely have to answer the phone. It's great.”
“Technology like Slang has truly transformed positions in our restaurants and allowed our teams to be more guest-focused." — Christine Hasircoglu, VP of Restaurant at PLANTA
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