We knew from the very beginning that Cradle was built to support companies with global ambition, whether they were already established or working towards reaching that goal. Like us, First Table was inspired and founded in New Zealand (Queenstown), to help businesses (restaurants in their case) better connect to their existing and new customers. Their concept is quite compelling: get 50% off of your food if you are an early bird customer. That was enough of an incentive for us to leave work early one day to dine at one of our favorite Malaysian spots, Mutiara.
It tasted as good as it looks!
Lucky for us, we were their first customers of the day and got preferential service as soon as we arrived. It helped being early birds as our food came out piping hot and fast! I am usually the type to always order the same thing (you gotta try their butter prawns) but the half priced mains compelled us to try something new, without forgetting those buttery goodness, of course. The meal was superbly satisfying, even more so after seeing our bill!☺️
Nothing beats a firsthand experience of your customer’s own product or service, as we have with several of our best customers. More importantly, it helps us better empathise with their customers’ pain points (if any) and translate these experiential moments into our own product’s design and service offering.
Background
A sweet deal for delicious food
Bread and Butter: First Table offers half-price meals on participating restaurants’ first table of the night. For diners, it’s a great way to discover new restaurants that, otherwise, might not have been considered. For restaurants, it solves the age-old problem of slow starts to dinner trade.
Operations: They have a growing team based in their native NZ, Australia, and U.K.
Customers: They have over 700 restaurants that serve tens of thousands of adventurous foodies in 13 global cities.
Phone Setup: They had a NZ landline number for inbound support.
Challenge
When we first talked to First Table in 2017 they were just a young startup (like us) with mostly presence in New Zealand. Their support team also worked remotely so they needed a phone solution that could work anywhere that they worked.
First Table Team
What was the single most important problem that you were looking to solve with a new phone system?
Flexibility of coverage — having anyone in the team be able to login remotely to cover phone queries as we are based in multiple cities across the globe. Some of us also work remotely so staying connected with our customers on one phone system is critical.
Solution
Since Cradle was designed for full global coverage from the very beginning, we were able to provide a phone solution that would not only support their initial NZ based operation, but also scale as they continued to expand globally (with rocket ship speed). They now have teams in Australia and U.K. and they were able to add new employees to Cradle and configure new routing schemes with just a few clicks.
How has Cradle helped resolve your challenges? Which feature was key?
Being reachable anytime and anywhere with no restrictions other than the ones we have chosen to personalise Cradle to our needs.
What delighted you the most?
Being able to advertise just the one number, with the ability to have other staff members log on when required.
What are still some challenges that have yet to be fixed?
None so far!
Your overall experience with using Cradle and any anecdotes, perhaps?
Fantastic support team that were on the ball and on hand to answer any queries. Very receptive to feedback.
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