The Impulso Podcast E129: Why Great Food Isn’t Enough for Restaurants to Succeed, Featuring Prof. Sherri Kimes
Aug 13, 2025
Join Prof. Sherri Kimes, Professor Emeritus at Cornell University and an expert in hospitality revenue management, as she reveals why many restaurants fail despite their good food. She discusses the importance of managing demand, pricing, and customer interaction over culinary brilliance. Discover how digital-first companies like Luckin Coffee are reshaping the landscape and why AI's role in the industry is more nuanced than it seems. Kimes also shares valuable insights on simplifying operations to ensure success in the competitive hospitality sector.
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Customer Interface Replaced Phone Calls
- Technology transformed customer interactions: reservations, ordering, and data capture moved online.
- Sherri Kimes warns data alone is useless without turning it into actionable information.
Operators Misread Customer Preference
- Sherri Kimes ran paired studies where operators predicted customers wanted human contact for ordering.
- Customers largely preferred self-service and avoided phone calls.
Manage Capacity With Forecasts
- Forecast demand and decide which reservations to accept, not first-come-first-served.
- Use allocation and pricing to manage capacity profitably across slow and busy periods.
