Service with a Strategy: The AI Boosting Restaurant Profits and People

ORLANDO, FL – December 09, 2025 – In an economic climate where every dollar counts, the hospitality industry is navigating a perfect storm of rising inflation, tightening consumer spending, and fluctuating demand. For restaurants and hotel food and beverage (F&B) outlets, the pressure is immense. With average net profit margins often hovering in the low single digits of 3-5%, the traditional model of relying solely on bringing more customers through the door is no longer enough. The most significant, yet often overlooked, opportunity lies not in finding new guests, but in better serving the ones already seated at the table. A new wave of innovation is aiming directly at this challenge, seeking to transform the dining experience into a more profitable and personalized interaction for everyone involved.

The Anatomy of a Thin Margin

For decades, the F&B sector has operated on notoriously tight margins. While a dish might have a high gross profit, the net profit that remains after accounting for labor, rent, utilities, and marketing is a fraction of the menu price. This financial reality makes restaurants acutely vulnerable to economic pressures. When operational costs rise and patrons become more selective with their spending, that thin margin can vanish entirely. This is the critical problem that Orlando-based Frontline Performance Group (FPG), a firm with a 30-year history of optimizing revenue in hotels and car rentals, is now tackling with its expansion into the restaurant space.

"Room rates are declining and inflation is tightening spending," noted Geoffrey Toffetti, CEO of FPG, in a recent announcement. "The most reliable opportunity is maximizing revenue from the guests you already have." This perspective shifts the focus inward, from customer acquisition to customer value optimization. The strategy is not about cutting costs to the bone, but about strategically increasing the average check size in a way that feels natural and enhances the guest's visit. The launch of FPG's new platform, CheckMax, represents a significant bet on this approach, leveraging technology to unlock revenue potential that has long been left on the table.

Beyond Order-Taking: Empowering Servers as Revenue Drivers

At the heart of the CheckMax philosophy is a fundamental reimagining of the server's role. The platform is designed to evolve frontline staff from passive order-takers into proactive service professionals and revenue drivers. It addresses what Toffetti calls a "major gap in structured sales and service training," where servers learn the menu but not the art of sales, influence, or guest psychology.

CheckMax combines a suite of tools to build these skills. The system uses a blend of e-learning modules, bite-sized video training, and real-time goal tracking to instill principles of suggestive selling. This isn't about aggressive upselling, but about authentic engagement. "When servers recommend and personalize authentically, they enhance guest experiences," explained Paul McLoughlin, President - International at FPG. "Confident, tailored service—like suggesting the perfect beverage pairing—raises hospitality standards and captures revenue that would otherwise be left on the table."

Powered by FPG's proprietary IN-Gauge software, the platform allows servers to set their own revenue goals, monitor their sales progress live, and see how they stack up on a team leaderboard. This gamified approach fosters friendly competition and provides clear metrics on performance, such as average revenue per guest and potential earnings. By making the process transparent and rewarding, the goal is to improve staff motivation and retention—two persistent challenges in the high-turnover F&B industry.

The AI Engine Behind the Enhanced Experience

While the human element is central, the engine driving this transformation is artificial intelligence. CheckMax integrates directly with major Point-of-Sale (POS) systems like Oracle Micros Simphony, Toast, and Square, allowing it to pull real-time transactional data. The AI then gets to work, providing automated analytics and AI-driven coaching to identify sales trends, predict performance, and drive consistency across the entire team.

Instead of relying on a manager's occasional observations, the system offers continuous, data-backed feedback. For instance, it might identify that a particular server excels at selling appetizers but misses opportunities for dessert or premium beverage pairings. The AI can then deliver targeted micro-training to help that individual improve. FPG is also introducing a proprietary metric to measure "sales quality" at both the server and outlet level, offering management a clear, portfolio-wide benchmark for performance that goes beyond simple revenue numbers.

This data-driven approach allows for a level of precision and consistency that is difficult to achieve through traditional training methods alone. By investing just minutes a day reviewing insights and coaching their teams, managers can empower their staff to measurably boost revenue, guest satisfaction, and overall performance within a single quarter. The promise is a 5-15% increase in revenue per guest, which, given the industry's slim margins, could potentially double a restaurant's bottom-line profits.

A Proven Model Expands Its Reach

FPG's move into the F&B space is not a speculative leap but a calculated expansion based on a proven model. The company has spent three decades partnering with global hotel and car rental brands, using its IN-Gauge platform to empower frontline employees and drive incremental revenue. This established expertise lends significant credibility to its new venture.

Sloan Dean, former CEO of the major hotel management company Remington, attested to the efficacy of FPG's approach. "When I was at Remington, I brought FPG's front desk solution into every single hotel," he stated. "Their F&B capabilities are not only amazing but also compelling and truly innovative." This endorsement highlights the trust FPG has built within the broader hospitality ecosystem.

By connecting F&B performance to the holistic hotel metric of Total Revenue Per Available Room (TRevPAR), FPG is positioning CheckMax as an essential tool for any hospitality business with a food and beverage component. The system was developed in close partnership with three global hotel brands and leading management groups, ensuring it was built to solve real-world operational challenges. As the hospitality industry continues to seek ways to build resilience and optimize every square foot of its properties, integrating human-centric service with intelligent technology is emerging as the definitive path forward.