Red Rocks Café is a well-known name in Charlotte, North Carolina, with two bustling locations. Established over 30 years ago, Red Rocks is deeply rooted in the community, priding itself on consistency, an inviting atmosphere, and a menu that keeps its loyal guests coming back. Each location experiences heavy foot traffic, particularly during peak hours, with regulars and event-goers making it a constant hub of activity.
For restaurants like Red Rocks with constant daily demand, the volume of in-house guests and phone calls created a significant operational bottleneck. Staff at both locations were overwhelmed with endless phone inquiries, which included everything from takeout orders to catering and reservations.
“We get phone calls all day long, especially from regulars who know what they want or from large parties calling ahead,” said Emily Smith, Events & Reservations Manager at Red Rocks. “It’s chaotic. Calls would pile up, and we couldn’t keep up.”
The impact on the front-of-house staff was considerable. The responsibility of answering the phone fell first to hosts, then bartenders, and eventually to whichever manager was available, creating a distraction from in-person guests.
"If you’re on the phone with a customer, you can’t properly greet guests walking in the door, and we found ourselves juggling—either keeping someone on hold too long or losing the attention of someone standing right in front of us," Emily explained.
Red Rocks needed a way to manage the high call volumes. After careful consideration, the team decided to implement Slang.ai’s voice AI answering solution. The shift was transformative.
With an AI-driven automated phone solution, Red Rocks had the ability to answer more incoming calls and handle multiple inquiries simultaneously. Slang.ai can answer common questions about hours, various policies, dietary concerns, manage reservations, and much more. This was also particularly useful for handling guest inquiries about special event bookings and catering services, a growing part of Red Rocks’ business.
For Red Rocks Café, Slang.ai has not only alleviated the burden of high call volumes but has also improved staff efficiency and overall customer satisfaction. By allowing staff to focus on in-person guests and ensuring no phone call goes unanswered, Red Rocks has been able to enhance the quality of the guest experience.
“Before, it wasn’t uncommon to have customers hang up out of frustration after being on hold. That’s no longer a problem. Slang handles all of our incoming calls, and that has really helped us during peak hours.”
— Emily Smith
Events & Reservations Manager at Red Rocks Café
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