Stop Chasing Every Walk-In Score Your Leads Like a Pro Kitchen Team
Imagine your sales team focusing only on the hottest prospects, just like your chefs prioritize peak-hour orders. Cut wasted time by 60% and boost conversions by 35% with AI that understands your restaurant's unique rhythm.
Join 250+ businesses with streamlined lead pipelines
The "Lead Overload" Problem
Wasting hours on low-intent walk-ins and phone queries for basic reservations during dinner rush prep, like chasing single-table fillers instead of multi-course bookings
Struggling to spot high-value off-site catering leads for events like corporate luncheons amid the noise of daily walk-in and reservation calls
Losing track of seasonal event prospects, such as holiday party bookings, scattered across fragmented email threads and phone logs from busy shifts
Overloaded servers and hosts chasing every spontaneous walk-in or small party inquiry, diverting them from turning tables and providing attentive table service
Missing franchise or supplier partnership opportunities, like multi-unit deals for branded catering, buried in generic CRM entries from vendor outreach
Dealing with inconsistent lead quality from social media promotions for slow nights, like flash deals on happy hour slots that attract low-spend crowds
Your Custom Lead Scoring Blueprint
We've powered lead systems for over 50 food service operations, from bustling bistros to chain franchises
Why Choose Us
Here's the thing: off-the-shelf tools treat your leads like a generic buffet line, but your restaurant needs a system plated just for you. At AIQ Labs, we build a custom AI lead scoring solution that digs into your specific workflows—think integrating with your POS data, reservation software, and even foot traffic sensors. You're probably thinking, 'How does that work for my spot?' We start by mapping your unique pain points, like prioritizing corporate event leads over casual diners, then craft predictive models that score prospects based on real behaviors, like repeat inquiries or location proximity. No cookie-cutter nonsense. It's flexible, scalable, and owned by you, ditching those subscription traps for a unified system that fits your kitchen's pace.
What Makes Us Different:
Why This Fits Your Restaurant Perfectly
Zero In on High-Conversion Leads
Picture your sales team laser-focused on prospects booking weddings or corporate lunches with 50+ guests, not sifting through tire-kickers asking about single appetizers. Our custom scoring flags leads with 40% higher close rates by analyzing intent signals like inquiry timing during off-peak hours and budget hints for plated dinners, freeing up your front-of-house for what matters—delivering killer customer experiences with seamless table turns.
Streamline Operations Without the Chaos
Let's be honest, juggling leads during peak hours is like running a short-staffed kitchen during Friday night rush. This system automates prioritization for inquiries like group brunch reservations, cutting manual review time by 50% and syncing directly with your OpenTable or Resy calendar to avoid overload, so your team boosts efficiency without sacrificing that warm, welcoming vibe your diners love during high-turnover shifts.
Scale Your Outreach Effortlessly
As your restaurant grows—maybe adding a second location or seasonal tasting menus—our flexible AI scales with you, predicting lead value based on trends like holiday surges in private dining rooms. Expect 25% more qualified opportunities, such as repeat corporate catering contracts, flowing into your pipeline within the first quarter, all without hiring extra staff or wrestling brittle integrations with your POS system.
What Clients Say
"Before AIQ's system, we were drowning in catering inquiries during our peak summer patio season, half of which were just small family gatherings that went nowhere. Now, it scores leads based on our event history with groups over 30 people, and we've closed 12 big weddings plus 8 corporate retreats in the last quarter alone—our team's not chasing shadows anymore, and revenue from events jumped 35%."
Maria Gonzalez
Operations Manager, Bella Italia Bistro (Italian casual dining chain with 3 locations)
"I was skeptical at first, thinking AI wouldn't get our chaotic weekend brunch rushes with long waitlists. But their custom setup integrated with our OpenTable data and prioritized high-spend groups for private rooms perfectly, spotting leads ready to book 20+ seats. Sales outreach time dropped from 15 hours a week to 5, and we're up 28% on private events year-over-year, letting us focus on fresh plating instead of admin."
Tom Reilly
General Manager, Urban Grill Chain (upscale steakhouse with 5 urban outlets)
"Franchise leads were buried in our overflowing inbox from supplier fairs and vendor emails. AIQ built this scoring tool that flags serious investors based on our past deals for ghost kitchens and multi-site expansions—nailed it right from the start. We secured two new locations in under six months, onboarding them with our signature spice blends, and the whole thing feels like an extension of our kitchen command center during prep rushes."
Sasha Patel
Owner and Founder, Spice Route Eatery (fusion Indian restaurant expanding to franchises)
Simple 3-Step Process
Discovery and Mapping
We dive into your restaurant's lead flow—reservations, catering emails, social DMs—and pinpoint what makes a lead 'hot' for your workflow, like proximity to high-traffic areas or budget alignment.
Custom Model Building
Our engineers craft your AI scoring engine, training it on your POS and CRM data to predict conversions with restaurant-specific smarts, ensuring it flexes with your menu changes and staffing shifts.
Integration and Launch
We wire it into your systems for seamless, real-time action—scored leads hit your team's dashboard instantly. Then, we train everyone so it's as intuitive as plating a signature dish, with ongoing tweaks to keep it sharp.
Why We're Different
What's Included
Common Questions
How does lead scoring work specifically for a restaurant like mine?
Think of it like your kitchen's expediting system—prioritizing orders that need quick turnaround. We build an AI model that analyzes your leads' actions, such as how quickly they respond to emails about private dining or if they're searching for venues near high-traffic areas. For a spot like yours, it might score higher for prospects mentioning 50+ guests during peak wedding season. We customize it by integrating your reservation data, so it learns from past no-shows versus confirmed events. The result? Your team gets a simple score from 1-100, focusing efforts where they'll convert fastest, saving hours weekly on follow-ups. It's all built around your workflow, not some generic template.
What makes your solution different from off-the-shelf lead tools?
You're probably thinking most tools promise the world, but they fall flat for restaurants. Off-the-shelf options use broad algorithms that don't grasp nuances like fluctuating diner traffic or catering lead drop-offs during slow months. We craft yours from the ground up, training on your exact data—say, scoring leads higher if they align with your farm-to-table specials. No juggling subscriptions; it's a owned system that integrates deeply with your POS and avoids those integration headaches. We've seen clients cut lead pursuit time by 60% because it fits like a glove, not a one-size-fits-all apron. Let's chat about your setup to show how it'd tailor to you.
How long does it take to set up lead scoring for my food service business?
Setup is quicker than prepping a rush-hour menu—typically 4-6 weeks for a full custom build. We start with a deep dive into your current leads, like reservation inquiries or social promo responses, to map what signals a hot prospect. Then, our team codes the AI model, tests it against your historical data (ensuring it nails things like event lead conversions), and integrates with your tools. By launch, you'll have a dashboard ready to score new leads in real-time. Post-go-live, we monitor for the first month, tweaking as needed—like adjusting for summer patio demand. It's efficient because we focus on your priorities, avoiding bloated timelines from generic vendors.
Can this integrate with my existing restaurant software?
Absolutely, and that's where we shine—seamless connections without the usual glitches. Whether you're on Toast for POS, OpenTable for bookings, or a CRM like Pipedrive, we build two-way integrations that pull in data like table turnover rates to enrich lead scores. For instance, a lead inquiring about brunch might get boosted if it matches your high-occupancy weekends. No superficial links that break; our engineers ensure it's robust, syncing updates instantly so scores reflect confirmed reservations. We've done this for spots with mixed tech stacks, reducing data silos and manual entry by 70%. If you share your setup, we can outline exactly how it'd plug in.
What kind of results can I expect in terms of ROI for lead scoring?
Let's be honest, restaurants run tight margins, so ROI matters. Our clients typically see a 3-5x return within the first year. Take a mid-sized eatery: before, they chased 100 leads monthly, closing 15%. With our scoring, they focus on the top 30, closing 20-25% more while cutting sales time by half—that's like adding revenue without extra staff costs. We track metrics like conversion uplift (often 35%) and time saved (20+ hours/week), tied to your goals like boosting catering revenue. It's not fluff; one bistro client went from $50K to $120K in event bookings after six months. We baseline your numbers upfront to measure real impact on your bottom line.
Is the lead scoring system secure for handling customer data in food service?
Security is non-negotiable, especially with diner info like allergies or preferences. We build with enterprise-grade encryption and comply with standards like PCI for payments and GDPR for privacy, ensuring leads' contact details and inquiry histories stay locked down. Unlike cloud-only tools, your system is owned and hosted on secure, scalable infrastructure we configure to your needs—no third-party risks. For restaurants, this means safe handling of event lead data without exposing reservation patterns. We include audit logs and role-based access, so only your managers see scores. We've audited systems for 50+ food ops, zero breaches, because we treat data like your secret sauce recipe—protected at all costs.
Ready to Get Started?
Book your free consultation and discover how we can transform your business with AI.