Ordering Made Easy

I am delighted to head into the final two months of 2011 while celebrating some amazing milestones:

• 150+ restaurant brands now choose OLO for mobile and online ordering
• 10x more customers use OLO than did 15 months ago

Six years ago, I quit a dream job and withdrew my admission to Harvard Business School to found OLO because I believed that trends in mobile, online, and social would soon come together and unlock massive potential for the restaurant industry through self-service ordering.

Today, I am proud of what the OLO Team has built through hard work, guidance from OLO’s investors, advisors, and partners, and feedback from OLO users and restaurant brand clients.

OLO place-shifts the “point of sale” from the counter to the customers, allowing customers to order and pay from anywhere using OLO’s unique platform and exclusive industry partnerships:

• OLO’s private-label system makes it easy for restaurants to integrate mobile and online ordering on their own website, with their unique brand look and feel and without exposing their customers to their competitors.
• OLO’s platform can integrate multiple point of sale (POS) providers to provide a unified consumer-facing platform, perfect for franchised restaurant chains with a heterogeneous POS landscape.
• Restaurant brands will soon be able to promote their takeout and delivery service and grow market share through OLO’s exclusive relationship with GrubHub, the #1 consumer-facing portal that lists all local restaurants with takeout and/or delivery and allows customers to order online or through GrubHub’s apps.

Now over 150 restaurant brands choose OLO as their mobile and online ordering provider, including Cold Stone Creamery, Five Guys Burgers and Fries, and Sonic Drive-In.

OLO Q3 Highlights 

OLO’s Mobile Apps Are Getting 5 Star Reviews — by people who know what apps are supposed to taste like ;) 

• OLO was honored to receive an incredibly positive review of the Five Guys iPhone app (built on the OLO API) from the Senior Editor of Macworld
• Congratulations to Five Guys and Solertium (http://www.solertium.com): you are both the best of the best.
• OLO is eager to help more restaurant brands launch and operate five-star apps.

Read the review from Dan Frakes, Senior Editor of Macworld here: http://olo.tumblr.com/post/10163230059/macworld-review-five-guys-shines-baja-fresh-falters 

Mobile Ordering – We Have Liftoff!

• OLO was the first company to introduce mobile food ordering in the United States in 2005, back when text messaging was state-of-the-art.
• Then iPhone came around in 2007 and changed the game. And Android caught on even faster!
• Now in 2011, it is amazing to see that the mobile ordering customer experience has gotten so easy to use that mobile-originated orders can represent more than 33% of all OLO order volume on some days (up from 10% just one year ago!).

Read the Nation’s Restaurant News piece by Alan J. Liddle here:

http://olo.tumblr.com/post/11610729570/nations-restaurant-news-five-guys-online 

Toward an Open Industry Standard for POS Integration: Meet SSOI

• “What if all POS systems could interface with all self-service ordering systems?” It was a question that OLO asked with the greater interest of the restaurant industry in mind.
• OLO believes that open technology standards beget innovation.
• I was honored to be elected Chairman of the Self-Service Order Interface (SSOI) work team of the Association for Retail Technology Standards, leading a group that includes representatives from CISCO, Epicor, EPSON, Five Guys Enterprises, Heartland Payment Systems, HMS Host, NAFEM, OLO, PAR, RSPA, and Yum! Brands.

Watch my SSOI presentation with Zerrick Pearson of Five Guys here:

http://olo.tumblr.com/post/11108480491/ssoi  

Q4 Upcoming Events

Restaurant Finance and Development Conference – November 7-9

I look forward to catching up with clients and friends at the Restaurant Finance and Development Conference at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas.

Register here:

http://www.restfinance.com/RFDC/

I would value your feedback on this update and would love to find new ways to work together and grow together in 2011, 2012, and beyond.

My best,

Noah

p.s. OLO is Hiring! If you know someone who loves restaurants, the Internet, and New York City, please direct them here: http://olo.tumblr.com/post/11745570381/clentservicereps

Client & Customer Service Associates

OLO is seeking ambitious and dedicated Client & Customer Service Associates to join the OLO Client Services Team in New York City.  If you have superb social skills, a detail-oriented personality, and strong computer skills you may very well be qualified.  Ideal candidates are excited to work in a fast-paced, ever-changing and team-oriented environment. 

About OLO

OLO Online Ordering is in the business of helping restaurants increase same store sales by improving their takeout, delivery, and catering performance.  Nicknamed “the Fandango of Food” by New York Magazine, OLO has helped over 150 restaurant brands implement award-winning mobile and online ordering programs since 2005.  OLO’s clients include Five Guys Burgers & Fries, Cold Stone Creamery, SONIC Drive-In, and many more iconic brands.

Responsibilities

• Assist Client Services Team manage client relationships from post-sale through program launch leveraging tools such as Basecamp, Salesforce, and Zendesk
• Create and maintain client menus
• Answer support calls and emails for clients
• Conduct market and industry research (ad hoc basis)
• Answer support calls and emails from customers
• Consolidate market feedback for product and process improvement recommendations
• Complete general administrative tasks
• Escalate issues and concerns when necessary to relevant personnel
• Help to develop new and improve existing Client Services processes

Requirements 

• Excellent oral and written communication skills 
• Strong customer service skills
• Ability to multi-task, while maintaining robust organizational and problem solving skills
• Web and computer skills (MS Office Suite, Cloud-based software, etc.)
• Ability and willingness to work outside of the normal “9-5” hours
• 4-year college degree

Compensation / Perks

• Great salary and equity
• Medical insurance, 401k
• Casual, open office environment w/ great opportunities for growth
• Work with some of the most talented and fun people in the industry
• Work in NYC, the best city in the world!

Email jobs@olo.com with your resume and brief cover letter with the subject, “Client & Customer Service Associate Application” to apply.