Speaker 1: Hey everybody, I'm Paul Mullinari. I'm the founder and principal
Speaker 1: consultant at Popcorn GTM. You know, we work with restaurant
Speaker 1: technology companies to help them build and execute better brand
Speaker 1: marketing and smarter go to market strategies. Today, I'm going
Speaker 1: to walk you through three essential strategies that every restaurant
Speaker 1: technology company needs to get right to succeed in this market.
Speaker 1: This exceptionally competitive market. So whether you're a pre launch
Speaker 1: or scaling really fast, these are the foundational moves that
Speaker 1: drive growth, improve sales performance, and create lasting value in
Speaker 1: a crowded market. So when restaurant technology founders pitch their product,
Speaker 1: one of the most common pitfalls that we see is
Speaker 1: being too broad. You know, selling to restaurants that's not
Speaker 1: a strategy category. You need to narrow it down. You know,
Speaker 1: are you targeting to quick service chains, independent full service restaurants,
Speaker 1: or maybe enterprise groups with fifty plus locations. Your ICP
Speaker 1: that shapes everything from your messaging to your roadmap. It
Speaker 1: also allows you to find and convert customers faster because
Speaker 1: your solution speaks directly to their pain points, So your
Speaker 1: ideal customer profile critical. It's incredibly important to narrow your
Speaker 1: focus down because when you're narrowing your focus, it enables
Speaker 1: you to make much better connections with the people that
Speaker 1: you're trying to sell to. This gives you a much
Speaker 1: more specific opportunity to address their pain points. And most importantly,
Speaker 1: from a restaurant technology perspective, you need to understand who
Speaker 1: your target markets tech requirements are. So, for example, if
Speaker 1: you have a middleware solution that sits in between a
Speaker 1: point of sale and a KDS, a kitchen display system,
Speaker 1: well you can basically eliminate everybody in the market that
Speaker 1: doesn't have a KDS. So why waste your time talking
Speaker 1: to people that don't have a KDS? Do you follow?
Speaker 1: So what we need to do is we need to
Speaker 1: hone our message to our ideal customer profile and understand
Speaker 1: exactly who they are so we can talk to them specifically.
Speaker 1: So why this matters. Tailored messaging and product fit drive
Speaker 1: faster sales cycles and a lot stronger retention. Your sales
Speaker 1: and marketing alignment is non negotiable. You need clearly defined
Speaker 1: pipeline from lead generation all the way through to closed deals.
Speaker 1: That means getting precise about what counts as a marketing
Speaker 1: qualified lead and what makes it a sales qualified lead.
Speaker 1: You know, when everybody understands the criteria and handoff points,
Speaker 1: you avoid wasting time and you can forecast growth a
Speaker 1: lot more accurately. This is especially critical for early stage
Speaker 1: teams trying to scale efficiently. So let's get your sales
Speaker 1: and marketing team on the same page. What is an
Speaker 1: MQL and what is an SQL. Let's all agree to it.
Speaker 1: There's already tension there between sales and marketing. Sales is
Speaker 1: always looking for, you know, the glengarry leads, and marketing
Speaker 1: is always trying to support sales as best they possibly
Speaker 1: can with content they think they need. And the tension
Speaker 1: lies where the leads that marketing generates gets handed off
Speaker 1: to sales, and sales says, wait a minute, these guys
Speaker 1: aren't really qualified. So that's why it's so important. When
Speaker 1: marketing understands exactly what a sales qualified lead should look like, well,
Speaker 1: now they don't have to bother providing leads that don't
Speaker 1: match that criteria and creating that added tension. So that
Speaker 1: really ensures that handoffs are smooth, timely, and a lot
Speaker 1: more are predictable. Right, So why does it matter because
Speaker 1: consistency builds predictability in revenue and growth. So tech partnerships
Speaker 1: these are not just nice to have anymore. They are
Speaker 1: major growth accelerators. If your platform integrates with major point
Speaker 1: of sale systems or other digital restaurant tools, you immediately
Speaker 1: increase your relevance in your reach. Partnering with complementary providers
Speaker 1: can also help you co sell, It'll allow you to
Speaker 1: access new marketplaces, and it even enhances your product offering. Heck,
Speaker 1: it's probably enhancing your partner's product offering. So restaurant operators,
Speaker 1: to them, an integrated stack is more valuable than anything,
Speaker 1: and it's so much easier to manage. That's why integrations
Speaker 1: should be a core part of your go to market playbook.
Speaker 1: This and the many many people that I speak with
Speaker 1: in the industry all the time, we all kind of
Speaker 1: believe that strategic partnerships are beginning to be the heart,
Speaker 1: in a lot of ways, the soul of how you
Speaker 1: are connecting with restaurant brands. Here's the reason why, and
Speaker 1: I alluded to this earlier, is that restaurants really value
Speaker 1: an integrated technology stack. What that means is is that
Speaker 1: they want to work with technologies that work well together.
Speaker 1: They want to know that the integrations, the ties that
Speaker 1: bind these technologies are tight and kind of bulletproof. Right.
Speaker 1: So these relationships that you form with other technology companies, man,
Speaker 1: they are worth their weight in gold. They really do
Speaker 1: accelerate the growth. And without a solid partnership strategy where
Speaker 1: you're out there working with the core technologies that make
Speaker 1: your solution. Hum. I can't stress enough how important it
Speaker 1: is to make friends and be part of the restaurant
Speaker 1: technology community to ensure that your solution fits with the
Speaker 1: greater ecosystem. Again, why does this matter? Strategic partnerships unlock
Speaker 1: access to new customers and increase your stickiness. So listen.
Speaker 1: If you're building or growing a restaurant tech company and
Speaker 1: want support refining your go to market strategy, reach out
Speaker 1: to me Paul Mullinari at Popcorn GTM. We help founders
Speaker 1: accelerate growth through focused sales, marketing, and partnership strategies. And
Speaker 1: be sure to check out savor fm for a ton
Speaker 1: of great content, including the most awesome Restaurant Masterminds podcasts
Speaker 1: where I'm actually a co host. It's packed with real
Speaker 1: world insights from leaders all across the restaurant industry, hope
Speaker 1: to see you there. Take care. This is Paul signing out.