Experienced operators know that when their call is missed, sent to voicemail, or when the message isn’t passed on, those patrons will go with another option. 

Sadie is an AI phone agent built specifically for Australian hospitality venues, designed to stop venues ever missing another call. Sadie’s new “Forms” feature helps venues capture key details on high-value enquiries, and delivers those details as structured summaries to venue managers and events teams via email or SMS. 

Rather than sending calls to voicemail, leaving staff to listen and transcribe before responding, Sadie Forms gets the right information, to the right person, immediately. No more missed messages, and no more missed opportunities.  

Carlton Wine Room owner Andrew Joy describes how he could see calls were getting missed, and realised revenue was being left on the table:  

“I could see staff weren’t able to get to the phones during busy service, and every call missed is business missed. Experience tells me that if you miss that call, there’s a good chance that patron will never try again.” 

Supporting better hospitality 

Sadie Forms supports a better customer experience for patrons, helping them get from initial enquiry to booking, faster than ever. No matter when they call, there is someone there to speak with them, who knows exactly what questions to ask to progress their enquiry. 

Sadie removes any margin for human error, without detracting from the human connection that is so important in hospitality. Whether it’s the middle of the night or the middle of the dinner rush, Sadie is always upbeat, calm, and patient. When taking down the details of an enquiry, she makes no errors, and never forgets to pass the message on. 

“Human error is always going to happen under pressure, and it’s difficult to quantify, because you don’t know what you don’t know. You might just run into someone on the street who says they tried to call six times on Saturday, and you’re left thinking ‘well, that’s not good’.” — Andrew Joy, Carlton Wine Room 

With Sadie Forms capturing initial enquiry details, that first conversation between a team member and potential patron becomes about relationship-building and personal touch.  

Recovering lost revenue 

Profit margins in hospitality are thin, and with input costs rising, it is critical that Australian venues capture every bit of potential revenue. 

Every incoming phone call is potential revenue, and converting more of those calls to patrons in-venue can have a monumental impact on the bottom line. However, employing extra staff at roughly $33 an hour to ensure those calls are answered is typically not a viable option.  

Voice AI solutions, like Sadie, help venues ensure 100% of phone calls are answered, including those high-value enquiries, recovering potential revenue that would otherwise be lost.  

Izadora Montoril, venue manager at The Bank on Collins, explains how Sadie supports their team, saying:

“Sadie acts as an extra staff member who never misses a call. She’s a strong support tool that takes the pressure off during service, and fills the gaps when staff can’t get to the phones.” 

Sadie's favourite use cases 

Sadie Forms is a powerful yet flexible feature, that unlocks endless possibilities. Forms are completely customisable, so you can decide what information your venue needs to efficiently respond to an enquiry.  

Some of our favourite use cases include:  

• Events and private dining 

• Large group bookings 

• Catering 

• Late arrivals 

• Lost items

• Job applications 

Events and private dining  

Events are one of the more profitable activities venues can undertake, with controlled costs and guaranteed revenue. Leveraging Sadie Forms to capture key details when someone enquires about an event ensures 100% of event opportunities are pursued. 

When events teams follow up enquiries, they’re armed with the basic details, making that initial conversation infinitely more engaging. Rather than trying to ascertain basic details, the team can engage the customer with the event elements that set them apart, increasing the likelihood of locking in the booking.  

Having captured the key details up front, the team can have a conversation without having to cross-check availability. 

Large group bookings  

In Australia, large group bookings are on the rise, with OpenTable reporting an 8% year-on-year increase of this style of dining. This is a big revenue opportunity for venues, with charges that don’t apply to regular bookings, like room hire, decor, cakes, and event planning.  

Most venues require large groups to call to book, with party sizes being limited through standard online booking flows. For patrons, it can be frustrating to be told they have to call for a group booking, only to have that call be missed or sent to voicemail. 

Sadie ensures no call is missed, and with the addition of Sadie Forms, venues can capture key details on big bookings. Those details can then be sent through to the right team member, who can make the booking, and respond to the enquiry.  

Catering and special experiences 

For many venues, catering and experiences can open up additional revenue channels. Sadie Forms helps to capture these enquiries on the spot, so when the team respond, they’re armed with the answers to the customers’ questions.  

Sadie can support catering enquiries even further, with the ability to send automated SMS messages with catering packs and any relevant links. 

Saving staff costs 

As the saying goes, time is money. In Australian hospitality, staff hours are one of the biggest costs of running a venue, at around 30% of revenue. Having great staff, and making sure they are efficiently deployed, can make a big difference to a restaurant's bottom line. 

When staff in the venue are tied up on the phones, they’re not focused on the patrons in front of them. Every phone call they answer has the potential to throw them off their game or otherwise detract from the in-venue experience.  

Sadie helps to filter out the noise, letting staff focus on the face-to-face interaction that underpins great hospitality. 

Nita Kisun, Head of Marketing for JBS Hospitality Group, describes the impact Sadie has had on their team: 

“The feedback has been all good, the managers love not fielding a lot of unnecessary calls, it reduces stress and lets them focus.”  

This sentiment is echoed by Max Mitchell-Adams, venue manager at True South, who says “Sadie has helped relieve the workload on staff during busy service periods, and allowed customers to get a faster response time.” 

Late arrivals  

With Sadie Forms, patrons calling to let the venue know they are running late can get peace of mind, without interrupting staff in the venue for a non-revenue-driving enquiry. 

Using Sadie Forms, patrons worried about losing their booking can have their mind put at ease. Sadie gets all the necessary details, to send through as an SMS to the front-of-house staff to let them know about the late arrival.  

She can even run through the venue’s late arrivals policy and let patrons know about seating timeframes.  

Lost items 

Fielding dozens of calls about lost property, particularly during busy service, is frustrating for staff in-venue, who then have to then race around to see if the item in question is in the venue. Meanwhile, both the patron on the phone, and the ones in-venue are likely getting increasingly frustrated.  

With Forms, Sadie takes a basic item description, and sends the details through to relevant staff, who can return the call when they have a moment, and an answer. This reduces the number of times staff are disrupted with these non-revenue-driving enquiries.  

Job applications  

The old-school resume drop has been replaced by email and phone calls, and Sadie Forms is the next evolution of incoming employment enquiries. Sadie Forms can be used to filter employment enquiries, running through the must-know information like experience, availability and proposed start date.  

Sadie Forms FAQs  

To learn more about Sadie and Sadie Forms, book a 15-minute demonstration with one of our experts.  

How does Sadie Forms Work?  

Sadie Forms is structured lead-capture. When Sadie recognises an enquiry type, the correct form is triggered, and she will run through configured questions.  

What enquiry types can Sadie Forms handle?  

Sadie Forms is customisable, so can be used for any enquiry type relevant to your venue. Our favourite use cases include: events and private dining, large group bookings, catering, late arrivals, lost items and job applications.  

How does Sadie Forms deliver details?  

Sadie Forms can deliver details to front-of-house staff, venue managers, or events teams via email or SMS. Information is delivered as a structured summary, based on how the Form has been configured by the venue.  

Does Sadie integrate with online booking platforms?  

Sadie integrates with all major online booking platforms. To see if yours is included, see the full list on our integrations page.  

Does Sadie work for small venues?  

Yes, venues as small as 10 seats can benefit from using Sadie, as she extends operational capacity beyond available staff hours for a fraction of the cost.  

How hard is it to set up Sadie?  

Sadie can be set up in hours, with the help of our incredible Australian-based support team.