Melanie Cardona knows what her guests expect, because she expects it too.

“I’m guilty of it,” she says. “If I want a birthday dinner, I reach out to three places. Whoever gets back to me first is probably the one I’m going to book with.”

As National Sales Director for Andretti Indoor Karting & Games, Cardona oversees event sales across all 14 of their locations, and she sees those same expectations reflected in guest feedback. “Someone sends something the morning of, and then at 2pm, they’re already saying, ‘I haven’t gotten a call back,’” she says.

For Andretti, that creates a challenge. The company’s event business is built around personalized service, from the first sales conversation to the moment a guest leaves. So how do you preserve that personal touch when customers increasingly expect immediate answers?

When great service isn’t fast enough

At Andretti, personalization goes well beyond the booking process. Every event gets a dedicated host from arrival to departure, and the sales process starts with questions: What is the birthday guest excited about? What’s their favorite color?

“If we find out Ben’s favorite color is green and he really likes Paw Patrol, we’ll make sure we add a picture in the room with Paw Patrol and have green uplighting,” Cardona says. “Just things that show that we pay attention and that we care.”

Creating that kind of experience starts with understanding what each guest wants. But before Runhappy, the first interaction didn’t always give Andretti much to work with. Guests filled out a form on the events page and received an automated email promising a response within 24 hours.

“I always thought that gave them the opportunity to consider looking somewhere else,” Cardona says.

Some leads arrived without a date or event type. The website didn’t show pricing, because the team had believed that getting guests into the building would make the sale. “In today’s world, that doesn’t work,” she says. “People want to know what they need to budget for. They want to know pricing.”

One of the things that kept Cardona up at night was missed opportunities, like an inquiry for a full-venue buyout arriving when no one was in the office.

A better way to start the conversation

Cardona had watched competitors introduce instant responses and online booking. She knew Andretti needed to evolve, but she didn’t want to sacrifice the personal relationships that made its events business successful. Runhappy offered a way to start the conversation immediately while keeping her sales team at the center of the experience.

Andretti piloted Runhappy in three Texas stores. For Cardona, the deciding factor was being able to read the conversations. “We were seeing what people were asking, what they needed, and those who dropped off, maybe because of pricing,” she says. “Luckily, we were able to recover them and offer them a different package. It’s seeing what you typically don’t.”

The data also showed when guests were reaching out. “After 5 p.m., there’s nobody in the office,” she says. “And 45% of our conversations are happening after 5 p.m. That’s why, after testing in just three stores, we decided it was critical to go to 14 locations.”

Another important factor was the team’s ability to make Runhappy their own. Andretti named its AI agent “ANDI” and tailored its responses to reflect the brand's personable approach. When the team identifies an opportunity to improve a response, they can make the change themselves.

“Sometimes with new initiatives, you don’t have the power to edit or change anything,” Cardona says. “This is different. There’s an edit button, and we can make it whatever we want.”

More information, better conversations

Cardona now has results to bring to Andretti’s ownership team:

• 45% of Runhappy conversations happen after 5 p.m., when Andretti’s sales offices are no longer staffed.

• Cancellation rate dropped from 60% to 40%: the decline in Andretti’s reported cancellation rate compared with the same time last year.

• 30-40% of leads are “saved leads”: prospective customers whose information was captured so the sales team could follow up.

For Cardona, the numbers reinforce the value of responding faster and capturing opportunities that might otherwise be missed. “We’ve been able to get back to people quicker and save the lead,” she says.

One important change is that Runhappy captures contact information early in the conversation, even if a guest gets distracted or leaves before completing their inquiry. Instead of losing that opportunity, the sales office can follow up the next day: “I saw that you were interested in booking a birthday party. Can I answer any questions?”

But the benefits extend beyond recovering leads. Salespeople can see what a guest has already asked, giving them a head start on building a personal connection.

“If someone asks about parking, or whether grandparents get in free, or if they can bring a cake, it’s easier to carry the conversation,” Cardona says. “They’re able to get a little further, quicker, so we’re able to convert quicker and get to the next lead.”

Those conversations have also become a tool for continuous improvement. Senior sales managers review them to identify common questions and scenarios the team hadn’t anticipated. Recently, a guest asked about a party for twins. “We didn’t think about that, and it happens in our building all the time,” Cardona says. The team used that insight to train ANDI to respond to similar inquiries in the future.

Making time for what matters

When asked for the advice she wishes she’d heard earlier in her career, Cardona gave an answer that applies to her whole team. “Don’t confuse being busy with being effective,” she says.

For a sales manager, that means asking how a 20-minute conversation could take 15 or 10 minutes while staying personal and impactful. “You have to really focus on what’s important,” she says. “What’s going to get me to my sales goal?”

That’s where she sees Runhappy fitting in. “Now we’re creating more time to get to the next lead, or to confirm our next events,” she says.

For Cardona, the goal isn’t simply to move through leads faster. It’s to give her team more time for the work that makes Andretti’s events memorable: understanding each guest, building relationships, and bringing their vision to life.

After 16 years with the company, she knows that great service has always been personal. What’s changing is how quickly that personal experience needs to begin.

Want to know more about Melanie? In our Q&A, she talks about going from cashier to National Sales Director, the mentor who shaped how she leads, and what she has learned about where the events industry is headed.