Introduction example: SAVOY 麻布十番本店

So we can confidently say, “Our pizza is the most delicious.”

— What led you to join SAVOY?

After graduating from high school, I gained cooking experience while working at a hotel and a bakery.

At that time, I was in a phase of thinking, “What should I do next?”, and when I heard that a friend was going to an interview at SAVOY, I became interested too. As I learned more about the shop, my desire to “work there” grew stronger, and I decided to join the company.

I’ve been working at SAVOY for about three and a half years now, and since last July I’ve been entrusted with the role of store manager, overseeing the entire site while being involved in overall store operations.

I still have a lot to learn, but I want to keep improving the store while protecting the SAVOY brand.

Please tell us about SAVOY’s key selling points.

Of course, the best thing is pizza.

I do eat pizza at other places myself, but I feel that SAVOY’s pizza is the most delicious, and I’m sure every member of our staff would confidently say the same.

Our customers range widely from students to seniors, and recently not only guests from Japan but also more and more people from overseas have been visiting us. I believe one of the reasons we have been loved for so long by such a diverse group of people is that we never compromise on flavor.

At SAVOY, you can’t be assigned to the position in charge of pizzas right after joining the company. To bake pizzas, which are our flagship product, you must complete a step-by-step training program. During the initial two-month trial period, you’re not even allowed to touch the pizza dough; instead, you thoroughly learn the basics first. Only after that are you finally allowed to start practicing making pizzas, and then you must take an exam personally administered by the president.

In the exam, not only the finished baked result but also your working speed and movements are closely observed. They actually check you while using a timer, so it’s pretty nerve‑racking.

Once you pass the first test, you’re allowed to make pizzas for the lunch service, and to bake pizzas during dinner time, you have to pass the next test as well. By setting standards like these, we’re able to keep SAVOY’s flavor and quality above a certain level.

There’s absolutely no compromise when it comes to technology and quality.

Overwhelmed by phone calls and paper ledgers, and plagued by problems caused by misheard information

--- Please tell us about the characteristics of the customers who visit your store.

In terms of age group, my impression is that there are relatively many customers around 35 years old. About 40% of them come with a reservation, and the remaining 60% are walk-in customers. The number of customers from overseas has also been increasing year by year.

Some people find out about us through social media or word of mouth, and there are also cases where posts from influential people lead to visits to our store. We also often have repeat customers and many people come through referrals from their friends.

Some guests even come back to our restaurant during their first trip to Japan in several years. I really want to live up to the expectations of customers who make the effort to visit us like that.

— Could you tell us what led you to introduce Respo?

Before we started taking online reservations, the manager handled bookings over the phone and managed them in a paper ledger. However, our on-site operating structure can change, and depending on the time of day, the manager may not be on site. In those cases, part-time staff end up handling more phone calls, but there’s a lot to learn for taking reservations, and there were situations where less experienced staff couldn’t manage everything, which became a burden on the front line.

When we were handling everything by phone and writing things down by hand on paper, we inevitably had cases of missed or misheard information. Differences in understanding—like the kanji for a customer’s name, the number of people, or the reservation time—often led to problems. While some level of error is unavoidable, just as I was thinking, “Isn’t there a better way to manage all this?”, I found out about Respo.

When we spoke with the sales representative, they gave us a thorough explanation and made suggestions that really fit the way we operate. It felt like they weren’t just putting our reservations online, but were also thinking about reducing the operational burden on our store. The representative visited us many times and took the time to carefully address all of our questions and concerns.

What really convinced us to adopt it was the trust we felt in their attitude of not just “implement and walk away,” but of working together with us and thinking things through.

— What kind of Respo products are you currently using?

We’ve implemented almost all of the products, including the reservation ledger, POS register, and payment terminals. Being able to manage everything in one place is really Respo’s strength. When you run multiple systems separately, data integration and day‑to‑day management tend to become complicated, but with Respo everything is completed on a single platform, so on-site operations are very simple.

Among them, the one I feel is particularly significant is the reservation ledger.

Phone inquiries were cut in half, reservations are strong, and problems have almost disappeared.

Since introducing Respo’s reservation ledger, in what specific ways have you felt it has been beneficial?

I will talk about three points.

First of all, the time we used to spend handling reservation calls has been greatly reduced.

Up until now, it felt like the phone was ringing at a pace of about once every five minutes, but I have the sense that it’s calmed down to about half of that. Of course, we’re very grateful to receive reservation calls themselves, but during busy hours there were times when we simply couldn’t respond to everyone as well as we would have liked.

Just because the number of phone calls has decreased doesn’t mean the number of reservations has gone down; in fact, bookings are strong, and all 19 seats are being filled without any issues. In the past, we had to spend staff and time simply on taking reservations, but now we’re able to focus on welcoming our guests and on the food and service.

The second point is that problems related to reservations have visibly decreased. While maintaining the same number of bookings, eliminating issues with accepting reservations has given each staff member more breathing room.

Back when we were managing everything with paper ledgers, there were inevitably cases of entry mistakes or misheard information. Whenever we had to respond to customer inquiries or confirmation requests, employees on their breaks had to handle them, and there were even situations where they had to check photos of the paper ledgers on LINE during their breaks...

Now all staff can check the same information in real time, and we can view reservation details in an organized way, so we hardly ever have to deal with those kinds of issues anymore. It feels like we’ve been able to reduce the workload on site while maintaining the same number of reservations.

The third feature is the automatic collection of cancellation fees.

Because our shop receives a large number of reservations, a certain amount of cancellations is inevitable. In the past, when dealing with no-shows and last-minute cancellations, we had to contact customers directly to request payment or send reminders, which created situations that were mentally very burdensome for our staff.

Now that we have a system in place that automatically collects cancellation fees, our staff no longer has to contact customers directly to request payment, and we’re also able to properly protect ourselves against the risk of lost business opportunities.

Similarly, I think many busy restaurants are worn out from dealing with cancellations, so I feel this is a unique value that only Respo can provide.

— Did you have any difficulties adapting Respo’s reservation ledger to on-site operations?

There wasn’t anything in particular. Since we have relatively many young staff members, I think it also helped that they weren’t resistant to screen-based operations like on iPads or smartphones. In actual use, the screen is very easy to read, and we can use it without any confusion.

On the other hand, many of our younger staff aren’t used to handling phone calls, so instead of teaching them how to deal with calls, they quickly got used to the simple task of “checking notifications on the iPad and approving them.” We’ve also heard staff say things like, “I’m glad we introduced this system—it’s made things much easier.”

At first, the head office was a bit cautious, but after the actual rollout—seeing that reservations were coming in steadily and that the site was handling them smoothly without any issues—they now view it very positively.

Obtain in advance on the reservation screen the information that used to be confirmed by phone

— After switching your main system for managing reservations from primarily phone bookings to Respo’s reservation ledger, how have things been since then?

By digitizing the reservation process, we feel that stores are now able to spend more time on truly meaningful communication, which in turn has increased customer satisfaction.

I think many people want to value direct communication with customers, and there are also shops that feel reassured by being able to talk with them over the phone.

However, I feel that the main reason is probably the belief that “without a phone call, you can’t communicate properly with customers.” On Respo’s reservation confirmation screen, you can set very detailed questions, so you can collect in advance the information you used to confirm by phone, such as whether the customer has any allergies, whether it’s for a special occasion, or what message they want written on a plate. Since the customer’s input is saved exactly as entered, it also reduces the chances of missed checks or misunderstandings.

Reservation page for SAVOY Azabu-Juban Main Store. Detailed questions and important notes are listed.

Reservation page for SAVOY Azabu-Juban main branch. Detailed questions and important notes are listed.

In fact, after implementation we made it mandatory on the reservation screen to check customer information and important notes, and this has eliminated mistakes related to reservation details.

In the past, we sometimes misheard customers’ names or failed to double-check the messages for the plates, but now we no longer have those kinds of problems.

I believe that for customers as well, the ability to make reservations whenever they like offers significant convenience and value.

We want to remain a benchmark store and, as a group, take on the challenge of opening new locations.

— Do you have any plans or prospects for the future?

First, I want to make our main Azabu-Juban location an even better restaurant.

Restaurants inevitably have busy seasons and slow seasons, but we aim to build a place that can generate stable sales throughout the year without being swayed by those ups and downs. We’d like to reach a point where achieving sales close to last year’s peak season becomes a normal, monthly occurrence.

Also, for SAVOY International, after going through a period of consolidating the number of stores, we are now at a stage where we are taking on new challenges again.

Among them, we want the Azabu-Juban main store to be the standard for the entire group.

Personally, as well as in my role as manager, I want to gain even more experience, get our main Azabu-Juban store firmly on track, and then take on the challenge of creating new locations.

Store Information

SAVOY Azabu-Juban Main Store

Address: 1st Floor, Orient Azabu, 2-20-12 Azabu-Juban, Minato-ku, Tokyo

Phone number: 03-6665-8102

Store information:https://autoreserve.com/jarestaurants/TxdeqSt74Cw1RmmgdoTL