CHRISTA QUARLES solve rather than what the company sells so that they are not just another number in the headcount .
She has plans to bring OpenTable to new heights by reshaping how its users go out to dinner with mobile payments , personalized recommendations , premium reservations , and other updates that will keep the company at an advantage over the start-ups that continue to make tasks like placing reservations and orders more convenient and personalized . Ms . Quarles plans to especially focus on the review aspect of dining out per the user analysis of her growth strategy , as online reviews have become crucial to businesses of all sizes to get recognized and address problems .
Drawing upon her vast background in business intelligence and strategic growth management , OpenTable ’ s business model is expected to see more changes under Quarles ’ s leadership , with goals of getting more user interaction and driving more business to restaurants that use OpenTable but also utilizing being a part of the Priceline Group . Quarles plans on making OpenTable universal through Priceline ’ s technology and global travel aspects , vastly expanding from the eight countries the company currently operates in so that all users who are global travelers can seamlessly become global diners no matter what territory or market they are in . She is also harnessing the power of social media and search engines by forming key partnerships with Instagram and Google , so that photos of food and restaurants will integrate with OpenTable reviews straight from the users and simply entering a restaurant ’ s name in Google will result in a button that lets the user make a reservation through OpenTable . Quarles will be adopting additional revenue streams for OpenTable as well , such as paying a premium for reservations at restaurants that fill up quickly , and she has been experimenting with surge pricing akin to Uber .
An integral component of her leadership philosophy includes working towards and even being affirmed by problems : that failures are one-directional and indicative of stagnation rather than innovating and drastically improving internal processes .
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