Valet Operator Discovery

1. 01
   What kind of operations have you run/worked — restaurant, hotel, hospital, event? Which do you know best?
2. 02
   On a typical Friday night: how many cars total? How big is the worst rush (cars in 15 minutes)?
3. 03
   How many valets per shift? How are they paid — hourly + tips? How bad is turnover?

1. 04
   Walk me through one car arriving, step by step — who touches what, from pull-up to key on the board.
2. 05
   Paper tickets or software? If software: which one, what does it cost, who chose it?
3. 06
   How does a guest get their car back today — hand back a ticket, text a number, call? What’s the average wait, and what wait makes guests angry?
4. 07
   How do you track where a car is parked (lot / row / spot)? How are keys organized? What happens when a key can’t be found?

1. 08
   What goes wrong most often? Lost tickets, lost keys, wrong car pulled, guest disputes?
2. 09
   Damage claims: how often do they happen, what’s the process, what does a typical claim cost the operator? Would timestamped check-in photos have saved real money?
3. 10
   Describe the worst part of a peak rush — first from the valet’s point of view, then the manager’s.
4. 11
   How much payment is still cash? How are tips split — pooled or individual? Ever seen tip disputes or shrinkage?
5. 12
   Cell signal in the garages/lots you’ve worked — does anything phone-based actually work down there?

1. 13
   Who decides what software a valet company uses — the owner, an ops manager, or does the venue dictate it?
2. 14
   What would an operator realistically pay — per month per location, or per car? What does the current tool cost them?
3. 15
   How do valet companies win venue contracts? Would hard data (average wait time, damage claim rate, guest ratings) help win a bid?
4. 16
   Have you seen Oobeo, SMS Valet, CVPS, or Flash in the wild? What did people actually like or hate about them?

1. 17
   If this tool existed tomorrow, would operators actually switch? What stops them — contracts, hardware, training, “we’ve always done paper”?
2. 18
   What single missing feature makes this a non-starter for an operator?
3. 19
   Is there anything about this industry that would make you tell a friend not to build software for it?

1. 20
   When a guest is waiting and the valet who parked their car is mid-run, how do you find it?Listen for stories, not policy.
2. 21
   How do you decide the lot is full, and who makes the overflow call? Ever gotten it wrong?
3. 22
   Do you stack? How do you pick what parks behind what, and what happens at shift change?
4. 23
   If you sketched your lot on a napkin for a new hire, what would you draw — named areas, rows, numbered stalls?

1. 24
   Name specific sites where phones die. Underground, or mid-deck too? Which carrier held out longest?
2. 25
   What does the crew actually do today when signal dies — radios, paper backup, shouting up the ramp, a hotspot taped in a window?
3. 26
   Where does the podium physically sit relative to the structure — street-level curb, or inside the deck itself?
4. 27
   Does venue Wi-Fi exist, and does anyone get to use it? Who pays for hotspot plans today?
5. 28
   Have you seen a valet app fail underground? What happened to the tickets?
6. 29
   Would a ~$500 preconfigured connectivity kit plus a small monthly fee be a relief or an objection?

1. 30
   What POS runs at the venue — Toast, Clover, Square, Micros? And does the valet operator take payments on their own terminal or the venue’s?
2. 31
   Would one handheld that does tickets, payments, and stub printing appeal — or do crews want their phones and nothing else in their pockets?

1. 32
   What’s the longest-delayed claim you’ve seen actually stick — and did any ever go legal?
2. 33
   Do garage-keepers insurers specify how long photo evidence must be kept?

1. 34
   Who prints your tickets today, what does a book cost, how often do you reorder?
2. 35
   If the same stub had a QR that let guests ping for the car and tip by card — what, if anything, would your crew have to change?
3. 36
   What share of your guests would scan vs. just hand the stub back? Would you put a tip QR on the stand sign tonight?
4. 37
   Would you let guests pay from their phone while in line, or must a human always collect?
5. 38
   When the system is down or signal dies, what does your crew do today?

1. 39
   Whose phones run the stand — valets’ own, or company devices? Who pays for the data plan?
2. 40
   Would your valets install a work app on their personal phones — and would you ask them to?
3. 41
   Is there a tablet or phone that lives at the podium on a charger?
4. 42
   When you’ve evaluated valet software, did “is there an app in the App Store” matter to anyone who signed?
5. 43
   How much of payment/tips happens at the stand vs. the guest’s phone? Would tap-a-card-on-the-attendant’s-phone matter?
6. 44
   For hotel/hospital prospects: does vendor onboarding involve a security review or questionnaire?

• Beachhead segment (where the network is warmest)
• What operators will pay, and who signs the check
• The 3 must-have features and the 1 deal-breaker
• Whether offline mode is essential on day one
• One named operator willing to pilot
• Whether “my guys just know where cars are” — lot zones as a wedge, or just a settings page
• Where the podium sits, and whether a connectivity kit is a relief or an objection
• The right default ticket mode — digital / hybrid / paper — and a guess at guest scan rate
• How long after pickup claims actually surface, and any insurer retention minimums
• BYOD vs. company devices, and whether a missing app-store listing gates any deal

Three live screens — stand, guest phone, ready board — running on demo data. Nothing to install.