Meals Plus Monthly E-Newsletter - January 2016

The Meals Plus Help Desk's
2015 Report Card is In!

Meals Plus continues to provide top-notch customer service - fast!

The Meals Plus Help Desk is excited to report another successful year with our 2015 performance statistics, including those provided by Meals Plus customer survey feedback.

The average time to answer a support call in 2015 was only 41 seconds. That's right – even including July and August numbers, when call volume increases six-fold, Meals Plus customer calls in 2015 were answered in less than a minute on average! And first-call resolution topped 90% again, coming in at just over 91.9% for the third straight year.

And the results of our random post-support call survey speak for themselves! On a scale of 1-5, Meals Plus customers rated their satisfaction on the following:

• The courtesy of the Technical Account Specialist: 4.95
• The technical skills/knowledge of the Technical Account
       Specialist: 4.91
• The timeliness of the service provided: 4.94
• The quality of the service provided: 4.93
• The overall service experience: 4.93

To learn more about our award-winning help desk,
visit our website!

Tips from Cynthia Sevier, SNS,
Child Nutrition Operations Consultant

In our white paper, "Keeping the Lunchline Moving: Tips to Increase the Speed of Your Lunchline," William Richie of Anderson County School District 5 (SC) and Child Nutrition Operations Consultant Cynthia Sevier, SNS, examine ways in which your lunchlines can be more efficient. According to Cynthia, line setup and flow are two key elements of a speedy lunchline.

"Regarding your lunchline setup, make sure food is constantly replenished and available. When students have to wait in line for food to be replenished or the lunchline isn't completely ready for service, your lunchline is easily clogged.

Make sure that the lines of students waiting to be served does not interfere with students returning dishes to dish room or trashcans. If you can, limit the number of students in your cashiers' area so that cashiers can easily hear students at your registers."

To read more about the four indicators of financial health,
download your free copy of
"Keeping the Lunchline Moving: Tips to Increase the
Speed of Your Lunchline"

How Meals Plus Account Manager Joy Miller Gave Back this Holiday Season

Meals Plus Account Manager Joy Miller’s call to volunteerism is strong. She is currently an active member of Junior League Dallas and especially enjoys projects that benefit children. Last month, she worked with Community Partners of Dallas, which works to “stop the abuse and start the healing” of abused and neglected children in Dallas County.

Through Community Partners of Dallas’ Toy Drive, Joy participated with hundreds of volunteers to help sort and grant wishes for over 5,300 children in the Dallas area! Each child received two “wishes,” filled with the help of corporate partners and individual supporters. If a child comes into Community Partners of Dallas’ care after the “wish” deadline, they even have a Last Stop Holiday Shop with undesignated toys that will be gifted to the children to ensure every single child is served. For many children, this is the first gift they have ever received, and for all, it’s a special time they will always remember.



“The staff and volunteers at Community Partners of Dallas are amazing!” said Joy, “They are talented, passionate individuals who are dedicated to serving children in need. It was a real pleasure being part of this event.”

Thank you to Community Partners of Dallas, Joy and everyone that made this year’s toy drive a huge success, as well as everything you do year-round to help children in need!

Meet the Meals Plus Team: Graham

Get to know the Meals Plus Team! Graham is an integral part to the Meals Plus Team, as he represents what's important to child nutrition – feeding children and keeping your lunchlines moving!

The Dish: How long have you been at Meals Plus?
Graham: I have been a part of Meals Plus since 2007, but really became 'the face of Meals Plus' in 2011. I started off small, by encouraging Meals Plus customers to register for our helpful webinars, and now I attend child nutrition conferences, am featured in School Nutrition magazine, and travel with our technical account specialists for new customer 'go-lives' and training sessions. I love it!



TD: What duties does your position entail?
G: I am sort of a liaison for Meals Plus Customers. Like I said, I connect them to our webinars, trade shows, and at new customer 'go-lives,' I help train cashiers. I've been in school cafeterias for years and want to help our customers fully utilize the Meals Plus product suite so they can operate the ideal K-12 lunchroom.

TD: What do you like most about working with Meals Plus?
G: I really love connecting with our customers! I like to think that the Meals Plus Team takes care of the people who take care of feeding children, and isn't that the most important thing? My absolute favorite part of being in the cafeteria is seeing the students come through the line. It makes you realize that everything we do is for them.

TD: What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
G: I am passionate about school nutrition and making sure Meals Plus customers have what they need to keep their lunchlines moving, so I like to read articles and watch webinars about our industry. And I take every opportunity to attend child nutrition events and talk to directors across the country about their operations. It's so beneficial to find out what challenges they are facing and what successes they are having in their cafeterias, so I can help prevent the bad and share the good. Outside of the child nutrition industry, I like cooking, traveling, sports, and going to the beach!

TD: What was your favorite lunch when you were in school?
G: Like most of the Meals Plus Team, my favorite meal was pizza. But last year, we published our first-ever Meals Plus Customer Cookbook, and WOW, did our customers submit some great recipes! They were are all tasty (click here to read some of the recipes) and one of my favorites is the Baked Cornbread Apple Cranberry Stuffing from Tracy Green-Deserto at Orange-Ulster BOCES (NY).

Visit our blog to meet the rest of the Meals Plus Team!

School Nutrition Conferences

We are spreading the word on how Meals Plus makes managing your school's students, staff, menus, finances and inventory easier. Come see us at the following conferences:

In This Issue

- Recipe Sharing in
  the Cloud
- Tech Support
  Stats
- Best Practices
- Meet the Team
- Joy Gives Back
- Speeding Up Your
  Lunchline
- Conferences

Components

- Point of Sale
- Free & Reduced
- Online Services
- Inventory
- PowerSchool
  Connector
- Menu Planning
- Nutrient Analysis
- Accountability
- Financial
- Time Clock
- Fixed Assets

Free Resources

The Five P's of Promoting Your School Meal Program

Fiscal Survival 101: Financial Success in the Era of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act

Keeping the Lunchline Moving: Tips to Increase the Speed of Your Lunchlines

Managing the Money on the Pantry Shelves: Inventory Management for Your Child Nutrition Program