Operators are constantly searching for ways to slash spending on high-spend categories like labor and food and beverage. But there’s a sneaky leech on resources that isn’t always considered when cutting costs—equipment maintenance.
“This is a major cost center for restaurants,” says Kuljeev Singh, founder and CEO of restaurant repair and maintenance platform ResQ. “It’s important that operators find ways to retain revenues in these areas. ResQ takes on everything to do with repair and maintenance so operators don’t have to worry about any of it.”
An end-to-end platform, ResQ manages each aspect of equipment maintenance and repair and drastically reduces the amount of time operators spend keeping tabs on equipment, locating vendors for repairs or preventative maintenance, and invoicing vendors once work is complete. Instead, operators log on to ResQ’s app or desktop site and send a quick request for a repair or preventative maintenance (ResQ’s platform issues handy reminders for scheduling preventative appointments). The ResQ team takes over from here, outsourcing requests to the appropriate vendor in its extensive network of vetted service providers.
Through ResQ’s process, all the legwork that typically goes into maintenance is streamlined: When an operator enrolls in ResQ, the company sends a team of onboarding specialists to their unit(s) to tag each piece of equipment with a barcode that contains details about that item’s make, model, preventative maintenance requirements, and issues that could pop up in the future. After a brief online training, staff are able to submit a work request with a simple scan of a certain item’s barcode.
“A lot of companies say their tech is easy to use, but, literally, if you can use a smartphone, you can use ResQ,” Singh says. “Because ResQ was created by restaurant operators for restaurant operators…we’ve removed any unnecessary steps that confuse the process for a busy operator.”
But while using ResQ is simple, the platform’s benefits are manifold. In addition to slashing the time operators spend locating issues with appliances and selecting and paying vendors, ResQ also offers a 24/7 support team to clients. The easy access saves operators money by nixing the time between an equipment breakage and repair, meaning that little time and, thus, little revenue is lost due to faulty apparatus.
“Every account has a dedicated pod of trained staff, meaning ResQ is an extension of your team,” Singh says.
In the midst of the hiring crisis, this extension of staff is crucial, particularly during equipment emergencies. Singh cites one operator who contacted ResQ’s support team at 2 a.m. with reports of a flood in their restaurant. By 4 a.m, a vendor had arrived at the business to take care of the issue.
The data garnered by ResQ also yields high returns. The platform gathers a bevy of info that is less a general snapshot of a restaurant’s work requests over a given time period and more a deep dive into recurring problems and specific needs for each and every piece of equipment in a unit. ResQ’s data offers detailed trendlines for individual pieces of equipment, allowing operators to zero in on pesky returning issues and replace malfunctioning items.
In an industry where labor is tight and every dollar counts, this data—and the streamlined repair and maintenance systems that ResQ offers—is a way to slash costs in a spending category that isn’t always considered.
“Operators don’t have extra time on their hands,” Singh says. “Usually, the maintenance experience is quite fragmented. But we’re here to consolidate all of those channels and take care of everything to do with repairs and maintenance, from gathering information on equipment all the way to invoicing and payment.”
To learn more, visit the ResQ website.
By Rachel Pittman
