Customers at over 115 Fuddruckers locations will be able to provide feedback on their dining experiences by visiting a mobile-optimized site, scanning a QR code using a smartphone or tablet or via SMS. The benefit of using mobile for customer feedback is that it is convenient for customers and enables businesses to get instant feedback.

“The majority of customers dining at restaurant chains like Fuddruckers have mobile phones,” said Ken Kimmel, president of On The Spot Systems, Newton, MA. “On The Spot makes it convenient for customers to provide real-time feedback from their smartphone while still in the restaurant.

“Restaurant chains like Fuddruckers will receive more feedback with mobile than traditional paper or Web feedback forms, and the feedback is immediate and actionable,” he said. “With the number of smartphone and tablet users in the United States over 55 percent, it’s a smart way to embrace mobile as a two-way vehicle for interacting with their customers.

“It also ensures that their customers are being communicated with in a way that fits into their lives.”

Customer feedback
Fuddruckers is working with On The Spot Systems, which is providing its Satisfaction Management tool to the chain.

The mobile feedback tool presents customers with a short survey to assess the quality of their dining experience. It is customizable so that Fuddruckers customers see a branded experience without the need for the company to build a proprietary application.

Table tents asking patrons to “Tell us what you think” and instructions on how to access the survey are on every table in the locations where the program is in place. The table tents provide a URL, QR code, and a SMS survey code.

To provide feedback via SMS, customers send a store-specific code to a short code. Users will receive a response message with a link to launch the survey.

Servers and managers at each restaurant are encouraging guests to take the survey.

Fuddruckers is also employing a sweepstakes entry within the survey to further encourage guests to provide feedback.

Mobile’s role grows
The On The Spot tool can also be used to conduct market search, collect data and build a list of opted-in email addresses.

Fuddruckers is a fast casual restaurant specializing in hamburgers. Parent company Luby’s Inc. operates 60 company owned locations. There are also 121 franchise locations in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

“Mobile is playing an increasingly larger role in restaurants customer service strategies as the percentage of patrons with smartphones grows,” Mr. Kimmel said. “By capturing feedback from smartphones and tablets restaurants receive information immediately – not days or weeks later as with a traditional ‘at the bottom of your receipt’ survey.”

Final Take
Chantal Tode is associate editor on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York