A “Costly” Menu Board Mistake

A lot of the conversations start the same; “hi, I am looking for an idea on cost for digital menu boards. “Well of course the chat continues on to determine their particulars, budget and most importantly their objectives. The twist in a lot of these instances is when the price is presented for a system that checks off all of what they are looking for.

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Digital Menu Board Support: Who Has Got You Covered?

The dreaded monthly fee. Wait-a-minute, maybe I shouldn’t be so dramatic as we’re seeing more and more people adapt to the idea. There are a number of reasons for monthly fees, 1- cloud-based access, 2- software as a service (SAAS), 3- support, etc. Today I would like to focus on #3.  The point is not to get focused on the monthly fee itself, which could also be in the form of an annual or semi-annual fee but to understand the value around it. [Read more...]

5 Tips to Minimize Your Menu Boards Research

We love talking to people when they call in looking for menu boards.  They come in all different shapes and sizes.  Some are looking for a large scale digital roll-out and others for a single counter display. Though no matter what they might be looking for a lot of people don’t have a plan for the phone call they have just made.  This is fine, after all it is our job to walk them through different options to see if their is a fit. However with the shoe on the other foot, it certainly would be nice if someone had told me what I could of done before I picked up the phone so that I could get down to business and find what I am looking for in a fraction of the time.

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5 Ways to Prepare for Your Menu Board Install

There tends to be a decent chuck of time that passes from when you begin to think about a new menu board system until the time it is ready to ship. You have to identify the company, the product, get the design done, revised and then ultimately approved.  They it hits the production queue and waits until it is ready to get manufactured and assembled.  In most cases, you’re looking at 4-6 weeks depending on product type and scope of product.  [Read more...]

More Random Menu Board Thoughts

In my attempt to come up with a sole direction for this blog I just kept coming up with a mixed bag of talking points which on their own weren’t worthy of a whole post.  So I thought to myself, “Well it’s been a while since I have been random.”  So without further adieu, here are some more random menu board thoughts.  [Read more...]

Breaking Down Menu Board Lead Time

“Yesterday”- this is what we are frequently told when we ask when our customers for their menu board need-by date.  After a shared chuckle we have to break the news as to what their expectations should be regarding the time that elapses from start to finish.  [Read more...]

5 Menu Board Company Misconceptions

Everyday we get a lot of calls from all walks of life.  From college kids working on a project to someone working a business plan to single restaurant owners to large companies.  The line of questioning comes in from all angles and the responses are based on those we are talking to. It is without fail, however, that a lot of people call in and have some preconceived notions about menu board companies that aren’t accurate.  Don’t get me wrong, there are just as many, if not more, thoughts that are but it may help you along if we refute some of those that are largely incorrect.

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Blog Excerpts Part I- Digital Menu Boards

Over the last few years, we have written over a hundred blogs.  For the most part, we cover five areas, 1- Digital Menu Boards, 2- Drive-thru Menu Boards, 3- Traditional Menu Boards, 4- Display Fixtures & Graphics, and 5- Random Thoughts & Industry news.  As we continue to write blogs on a weekly basis we do recognize that there is some redundancy in what we talk about, however, there are some key takeaways that should not be overlooked.

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5 Effective Uses of Digital Signage

When we discuss digital signage with people, we always ask what their objectives are. This is the single easiest way of determining which solution, if any, would be ideal for them. For the most part, the responses are similar. On the restaurant side, it’s “I want to be able to changes my items and pricing and maybe promote a special or two.”  As many of you know, this is just scratching the surface in terms of most digital signage software capabilities. The more alarming issue is that a lot of those who go the route of digital get it designed, set up and turned on and nothing much from there changes over months to even years.  This is a discouraging trend that can give the idea of digital signage a bad name.  Put another way, if you ask someone who doesn’t use even half of the systems functions how it is working out for them, they may have a negative viewpoint.  However, I would submit to you that those who utilize the system frequently would rave about its flexibility and impression.

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Blog Excerpts Part V- Random Thoughts

When we sit down weekly to write our blogs we have a list of notes to draw ideas from. In most instances there is enough that we can pull to warrant a post around a sole topic. However, at other times it hasn’t been the case. Rather than bypassing a week, we’ll take a collection of these notes and put together some “random thoughts.” Looking back, I have liked how the random blogs have come together. They cover a lot of area and offer some particular insights that would otherwise not be shared. In the last of installment of five we take a look at some of them.

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