Johnny's Steakhouse Uses Analyzed Data to Streamline Ops

11/28/2013
Johnny’s Italian Steakhouse is a distinctly upscale steakhouse complimented with a rich Italian background featuring traditional and innovative items and a superior wine list. The classic interior is reminiscent of the supper clubs of yesteryear. The sophisticated design of the restaurant is welcoming and warm; the illuminated lighting creates an air of mystique and privacy. Johnny’s offers lunch and dinner. In hotel adjournments a complete breakfast solution is also provided. With new-fashioned luxuries and old-fashioned service and hospitality, Johnny’s Italian Steakhouse brings the Rat Pack era to the 21st Century.

Growth Necessitates Big Data Processes
Ambitious franchise expansion made Johnny’s Italian Steakhouse realize that they had outgrown internal Excel spreadsheets. With eight company owned units and imminent franchise expansion plans, Johnny’s needed the ability to get near real time data to help their managers better control costs on a daily basis. They searched for a solution that allowed them to share all of their day part and labor data from all stores with the whole team. Their challenge was to find a cloud-based software to utilize data from the field and help the franchises with their performance metrics.

Johnny’s chose Ctuit Software as their partner to reliably collect and disseminate information for all of their locations. Making Ctuit an integrated tool for all franchises, the corporate office gets field reporting on traffic, sales and labor on a daily basis. “Ctuit allows us to drill down and provide guidance to operators. Their iPhone application, On The Fly, makes it very easy to get metrics from every location in the palm of your hand,” states Ajay Singh, VP Brand Development.
 
Data Equals Increased Functionality
By selecting Ctuit Software, Johnny’s Italian Steakhouse has gained significant new functionality, giving them daily and even hourly access to relevant data in an easy-to-use format. Every department at Johnny’s has benefitted from their partnership with Ctuit from Executives, marketing, store level, accounting and operations.

Marketing uses Ctuit to drive data on guest counts and guest checks to reach their marketing goals. When launching seasonal promotions or special events, marketing benefits from looking at data from previous years and they are able to redefine marketing messages.

Having automated reports produced by Ctuit, the Accounting team can true up their schedules without hiring an extra person on staff to run reports. By giving all operators seamless access to Ctuit RADAR’s consolidated online database, Johnny’s has created a healthy competitive spirit among stores. The new iOS app provides instant reporting in the palm of your hand.

Instant Feedback and Response Time
By tracking daily sales with Ctuit, the corporate office can offer immediate assistance if a negative trend is spotted and provide a well-deserved pat on the back when a location is trending positive. In the past, hotels have been leery of running restaurants on site as they were hard to control. Hotels are now embracing Johnny’s Restaurants because they can watch sales and control labor costs on a daily basis. The response from franchisees has been extremely positive as they like the simplicity of the tool and usability.

With Ctuit Software, Johnny’s is able to prevent a rise in labor before it starts. “Ctuit allows us to stay within one percentage point of our labor targets. If we see the trends going up, we can jump on it quickly,” states Ajay Singh, VP Brand Development. He continues, “Ctuit RADAR allows us to work in our boundary and not go above it. This represents significant costs savings in real dollar terms.” Johnny’s is also able to compare sales, labor, food costs and other metrics with their sister stores and share best practices.
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