Max your revenue with HostBuddy
One guide to everything: the five steps that turn an AI co-worker into measurable revenue, every tool in the box, and the playbooks that run your marketing while you run the store.
The Revenue Maxing path — 5 steps
HostBuddy is a Digital Co-Worker for any business: it answers your phone, takes orders on every channel, grows your guest list, and turns that list into revenue. This is the order that works — each step feeds the next. (Prefer the story version? Watch the Revenue Maxing episodes — one day of AI for your business, morning to night.)
Get a phone number
A dedicated line the AI answers every time — every missed call becomes a captured order and a captured guest. $1/month, live the same day.
Full walkthrough →Link your POS
Sign in with Clover: your full menu imports itself, finished orders print to your register, and your guest book fills from POS customer history.
Full walkthrough →Run a test campaign
One sentence becomes a designed email — and the offer is enforced automatically at checkout. Draft, preview, send.
Full walkthrough →Grow your audience
The RAFFLE keyword, CSV import, and automatic capture from every order. Campaign revenue scales with your list.
Full walkthrough →Enable the Slack channel
Nearby offices install the HostBuddy Slack app and their daily lunch thread becomes a standing group order.
Full walkthrough →After the path: switch on Playbooks, Membership, Value packs, and Loyalty — recurring and prepaid revenue on top of the campaign engine.
Every tool, at a glance
Phone AI
A dedicated number answered by the AI on every call — takes orders, answers questions, upsells, even during the rush. Replaces a ~$39.99/mo business line for $1/month.
Learn more →POS link (Clover)
One sign-in imports your whole catalog — categories, items, modifiers — and pushes completed orders to your register.
Learn more →Campaigns
Describe an offer in one sentence; HostBuddy designs the email and enforces the offer at checkout during the window.
Learn more →Guest book
Your own guest list — grown automatically by the ordering agent, raffles, CSV import, and POS sync. The audience for every campaign.
Learn more →Raffle
Guests text a keyword to your number, the agent captures name + email into your guest book, and you draw a winner anytime.
Learn more →Slack lunch ordering
Offices bind a channel to your store and the whole team orders in one thread with per-person carts and one live order card.
Learn more →Insight Playbooks
Standing strategies — excess inventory, win-back, birthdays — that read your live data and draft campaigns for your approval.
Learn more →Membership
A recurring paid club (billed monthly) with per-visit benefits — predictable revenue from regulars.
Learn more →Value packs
One-time prepaid credit: pay $50, get $60 of store credit that auto-drains at checkout. Cash up front, a reason to return.
Learn more →Loyalty
Free for every store — $1 spent = 1 point, 100 points = $5 off, keyed to the guest's phone number. Zero setup.
Learn more →Bar tabs
“Open a tab” places a card hold; orders attach until it's closed. No walked tabs.
Learn more →Ordering channels
Phone, SMS, WhatsApp, browser, and in-store kiosk — one brain, one menu, one cart across all of them.
Learn more →Want the details on all of them in one place? See Every revenue tool, explained.
Marketing on autopilot: Playbooks
Three standing strategies read your live sales data every night and draft campaigns — moving overstock before it expires, winning back regulars who went quiet, and celebrating guest birthdays. Nothing sends without your approval. How Playbooks work →
Ask Buddy — your in-product guide
Everything on this page can also simply be asked. Sign in to your HostBuddy console and tell Buddy what you want in plain English — “how do I max my revenue?”, “run a 10% off weekend campaign”, “get me a phone number in 408” — and it will walk you through it or just do it.
Sign in and ask BuddyFrequently asked questions
What does HostBuddy cost to try?
Every store starts with 200 free AI exchanges. $5 buys 500 more. Sending a campaign costs 50 credits. The Phone AI line is $1/month. See pricing.
Do I need a POS to use HostBuddy?
No. Clover connects with one sign-in, but any store can upload a menu PDF in Settings and take orders by phone, text, web, and kiosk.
What is the fastest first win?
Get a phone number and put the RAFFLE keyword on your counter — the line answers every call and every raffle text becomes a guest you can email.
Where do guests pay?
Guests pay by card or PayPal, or — when your Clover is connected — on Clover's own hosted checkout with Apple Pay and Google Pay, settling straight to your account.
Can the AI really handle my menu?
Yes — your menu (from your POS or PDF) is the only thing the agent can sell from. It knows every item, price, and modifier, and asks required questions like size or protein before checkout.