Delivering Happiness & Trust with Every Meal

Northland Investments, Inc. is a Midwest franchise partner for over 40 quick service restaurant locations in Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio. Starting in the early 2000s, the majority of the stores are Taco Bell and multi-branded Taco Bell/KFC locations, and they are continuing to grow throughout the Midwest.

Chad Weiss is located in Grand Rapids, MI, and serves as the Director of IT for all locations.

He is responsible for everything tech related, from phones to the Point of Sale system, Internet, video cameras, and sales reports.

Being hands-on in all of these areas requires him to travel between different storefronts for weeks at a time to make sure that everything is going smoothly, and each location must be handled with care.

Since joining the team in 1991, Weiss has worked with three VoIP providers.

Before Nextiva, Weiss and the restaurants faced a lot of issues, with previous providers. One of the significant points of trouble was customer service.

Stand-Out Service

Weiss stated, “They were not flexible. They were cookie cutter. When I called in, it was difficult to talk to a real person and actually make changes.”

Other issues included rising prices, slow problem resolution, and having to power cycle devices due to the low-speed Internet.

“Stores would be calling me frequently with problems. It was just a huge time-waster.”

In early 2015, Taco Bell corporate suggested making the switch to Nextiva, a recommended partner in service.

It was ultimately Chad Weiss’s decision, and he began the process of shifting providers in May 2015.

Steps included signing off on the Letter of Authorization to port phone numbers over to Nextiva and shipping Analog Telephone Adapters.

Switch All of Your Franchises to a Better Communication Network

Branches of the franchise were added throughout the summer, and over 30 restaurant locations transitioned to Nextiva by August 2015.

“The process of switching was simple. Our district managers and techs were able to install the network easily, and I worked with Nextiva to stay on top of the migration, check on circuits, and more.

I was able to talk to Nextiva multiple times a week to get updates, and they helped in any way that they could. With other providers, it was like we signed the contract and were told, ‘good luck.’ With Nextiva there was a structure in place to make you feel comfortable,” Weiss stated.

Adopt a Platform that Saves Company Time

The stores mainly use their phones to take calls from customers, whether they are inquiring about hours of operation, wishing to speak with management, or looking for a forgotten item.

All these calls are critical to the business, and since moving to Nextiva, they have saved a lot of time and maintenance.

“The service is much more reliable. The stores don’t have to call me nearly as much as they used to, and adopting the platform was simple too. And because Nextiva was so accommodating with creating a custom plan, each store is able to call into Nextiva representatives who are knowledgeable about our specific system set-up.”

Weiss also mentioned, “The phone service is very reliable, as well as the customer service!”