Latest / Chicago Sam's Franchise GPS / How to Drive Restaurant Sales at the Local Level | Franchise GPS | Ep 8

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How to Drive Restaurant Sales at the Local Level | Franchise GPS | Ep 8 · Chicago Sam's Franchise GPS

• 00:00:00:01 - 00:00:29:19 Speaker 1 I'm Justin Egan with crave for the brands guest hosting for Sam Stanhope. Today's episode is amazing. It's all about marketing. First time franchisees think marketing may start with meta ads, email blasts, coupon drops. But what if the real answer was just way simpler than that? In this episode of Chicago Sam's franchise GPS, we sit down with the one the only Alexis Gillette, one of the sharpest minds in franchise marketing and someone that I'm so glad to know and be able to call a colleague. 00:00:29:22 - 00:00:55:08 Speaker 1 She's going to break down what actually drives restaurant sales at the local level. We're going to get into a lot of things. We get into why franchisees may fail before they ever open. The biggest mistake operators make with marketing spend. How community relationships outperform digital ads and why the heroes of the community like schools, teachers, nurses, and youth sports might be your most valuable marketing channel. 00:00:55:12 - 00:01:33:19 Speaker 1 We're also going to touch on the truth behind national ad funds, tech stacks, loyalty programs, and the local store marketing playbook. If you're thinking about buying a franchise, opening your first restaurant, or trying to grow traffic in your local market, this episode is basically a masterclass in what really matters. Let's get into it. This is Chicago, Sam's franchise GPS. 00:01:33:21 - 00:01:58:18 Speaker 1 Welcome to Chicago, Sam's franchise GPS. I kind of alluded to our audience. These are like friend nurse, first time franchisees, folks that are early on in their in their decision making process. Maybe they just signed some deals and they're just getting started. So today's episode is going to focus around marketing. I mean, let's face it, not everybody is a born marketer. 00:01:58:19 - 00:02:12:22 Speaker 1 Not everybody has the skill sets. Maybe they know people, maybe they don't. Right. So today, what I was hoping we could do is just kind of call on some of your experience. In how many years have you been doing this? 00:02:13:01 - 00:02:14:05 Speaker 2 22. 00:02:14:09 - 00:02:36:16 Speaker 1 22 years. That seems to be a common trend for executives at crave early brands. So that's a good thing. So your 22 years of experience is going to come in handy, and it's going to be like a master class for folks who want to get in on marketing and understand what to expect. So does that sound good to you? 00:02:36:17 - 00:02:37:04 Speaker 1 We can get. 00:02:37:05 - 00:02:39:10 Speaker 2 Sounds great. Thank you for having me. 00:02:39:15 - 00:02:50:19 Speaker 1 Awesome. Well, pleasure to have you here. I like to ask everybody like how they got started in hospitality. Do you think we'll need another hour? Or do you think. 00:02:50:21 - 00:03:16:22 Speaker 2 I actually started in retail? I sold clothes at Nordstrom. It was my favorite place to shop. One day was there with my mom. I asked the woman who was helping us how old I needed to be to get a job. She said, 16 and I said, I'll see you in a few months. So I sold clothes there for several years into college, and then my first real job was actually in the casino business. 00:03:16:22 - 00:03:31:01 Speaker 2 So I have spent 22 years, as you reminded me, in retail service based businesses, experience based businesses, and my favorite restaurants. 00:03:31:03 - 00:04:06:08 Speaker 1 Gotta love restaurants. That's why we're all here. Pays the bills. All right. So a lot of your experience was, you know, working as, you know, supporting franchisees, working on the corporate side. So we're going to get into some some fun stuff today. But from your experience, you know, working with like both emerging brands. Right. And first of all, how would you describe an emerging brand like what's your thoughts on like emerging versus big time? 00:04:06:10 - 00:04:41:08 Speaker 2 So I would actually go back to kind of some marketing speak where we talk about aided and unaided brand awareness, and all that means is that somebody knows who you are and what you sell without being prompted, without being asked. And we want to be sure that as much as possible, that we're gaining as much recognition. And emerging brands are those that are constantly fighting for that share of voice, fighting for that attention. 00:04:41:08 - 00:05:11:23 Speaker 2 Because the ultimate goal is that word of mouth becomes your best marketing vehicle. And of course, in the digital age, word of mouth is that share ability, that virality in the social space. So an emerging brand is one that is still fighting for their spot, their seat at the table. And I think, honestly, most brands would fit into that category, especially in the restaurant space. 00:05:12:00 - 00:05:19:10 Speaker 2 It's just a very, very crowded area and one that you want to be sure that people know who you are and what you sell. 00:05:19:11 - 00:05:44:05 Speaker 1 No doubt. So if I was a first time franchisee and I'm looking at all my options, right? I mean, I know more about, you know, the bigger brands because I'm a consumer. Those brands are in my face all the time. You know, I'm there with my family. I'm experiencing them. I might look toward an emerging brand, you know, because it's, you know, a little bit lower price point to get into. 00:05:44:05 - 00:06:02:05 Speaker 1 And, you know, maybe I can get in early and kind of help mold or grow with the, with the company. But if I'm looking at it from like a marketing perspective, like what are the advantages of the smaller emerging brand, you know, compared to the big brands? 00:06:02:10 - 00:06:08:14 Speaker 2 So this is where we need to extend the podcast to an hour. Yeah, I'll try to keep its. 00:06:08:18 - 00:06:10:09 Speaker 1 Mission accomplished. 00:06:10:11 - 00:06:50:20 Speaker 2 I'll try to keep it tight. There are many advantages to working with an emerging brand, and you kind of started to hint at it when you talk about shaping what that future is all back up, just a step and, you know, the foundation of a franchise business is that you are buying into a system. And what I love about franchising is that not only are there regulatory components of that system in those processes, but there's also a real foundation in the industry. 00:06:50:20 - 00:07:18:12 Speaker 2 And a lot of these emerging brands, growth brands have a lot of folks like myself that have a ton of experience for the bigger brands, have history doing this for many years. And so I think when you are working through your thought process on what are the types of brands that I want to consider, what's the right brand for me, what you're buying into is the culture. 00:07:18:14 - 00:07:48:02 Speaker 2 You're buying into a system regardless of where you go. So what you want to make sure? Of course, you're assuming that the financials make sense and the systems are in place and all of those things. Those are basics. That's table stakes. But ultimately, in a system like crave, worthy is you're buying into our culture, you're buying into our fundamentals, our values, things like, you know, prove the doubters wrong. 00:07:48:02 - 00:08:13:06 Speaker 2 That's one of our core values and something that we all live by, not just on the corporate side, but also our franchisees. And we hope that they live and breathe those values, too. We want to be sure that we have the right people walking alongside us, helping us build the next restaurant brand, the next big restaurant brand, as you say, for the future. 00:08:13:08 - 00:08:39:22 Speaker 2 This isn't something that we can do alone. That's why we're franchising. You can be a part of something that we're building with you, something that we who have a lot of experience doing this, who are working across over 20 brands today, can help you with guidance and support in that system and that process to drive the unit level that you need as an entrepreneur yourself. 00:08:40:00 - 00:09:00:14 Speaker 1 It's interesting because one of the brands that is in the early portfolio happens to be one of the brands that my partner and I, Matt founded, wing it on. And for a long time we knew like franchisees needed support. Like that was what we did. You know, we were all the hats we gave, all the support. We did not know about the importance of culture. 00:09:00:14 - 00:09:26:23 Speaker 1 I'm going to say it now like we did not know about that, like we knew obviously there must be some culture brewing here, but we didn't focus on it until we got acquired by Craver, the ranch. And at that point it got to be like an moment, like, oh, okay, now we get it. You know, it's like we had all the systems, we had all the recipes, we had all the playbooks, we had everything in place. 00:09:27:00 - 00:09:40:18 Speaker 1 Now it's like, you know, recruit franchisees that mesh well with the culture. And then you'll start to see things kind of happening a little bit easier for you. So no doubt that out there. Yeah. 00:09:40:20 - 00:09:43:08 Speaker 2 No doubt. We love our winget on guys. 00:09:43:09 - 00:10:23:07 Speaker 1 No doubt we. Oh baby let's roll. So if if I'm okay. So if I'm in your shoes and I've seen you know franchisees come into the system that are new, I've seen franchisees that have been in the system for a long time. I've probably gotten a lot of feedback from franchisees on things. I guess the question that I'm trying to get to here is, you know, a lot of times franchise ORS are doing a lot of things and maybe not always the right things, you know, according to the franchisees perspective. 00:10:23:07 - 00:10:47:09 Speaker 1 So what do you think is like the biggest gap between, you know, the marketing support franchisors believe that they're providing versus, you know, what the franchisees actually need on a local level every day to drive sales. Because I always thought I always thought like in marketing, you should spend time in the field. A lot of people don't do that. 00:10:47:10 - 00:10:58:16 Speaker 1 You know, they don't, like, have an appreciation for what's actually going on. They just get hired in and all of a sudden they're doing marketing. They're not quite, you know, versed in what's being dealt with in the trenches. 00:10:58:22 - 00:11:29:14 Speaker 2 Yeah. That's a that's a fair question. You know, one thing that I have learned and am constantly working on is listening really, really simple. And whether that's reaching out directly to folks proactively or being available to them at any time by phone, email, I really make an effort to make sure that we're listening. Now, that doesn't mean that we can always deliver on what's being asked. 00:11:29:14 - 00:12:02:08 Speaker 2 We have a fiduciary responsibility as a franchisor to make sure that we are helping all of the franchisees, all of the restaurants in the system to help deliver the financial goals that we have. And so while I think it's really valuable consistently to get that feedback, to make sure that it's unfettered and raw and that we have a very candid and transparent relationship that includes lots of uncomfortable conversations. 00:12:02:09 - 00:12:29:20 Speaker 2 My job is to listen. My job is to listen, to try to understand so that I can help develop solutions that deliver on what they're asking. You know, marketing, I believe, is a serve and support function. That is how we run our day to day at Craven and making sure that we understand wholly what's going on in the field, the operation, how it goes to market. 00:12:29:22 - 00:13:03:12 Speaker 2 We lean on our culinary and supply chain friends to better understand what they're seeing, what they need, but also a two way street of innovation and helping them understand. Here's what we're hearing from consumers. Here's what we're hearing from franchisees. And they do the same. And then, of course, I crave worthy. We have a function that I find to be one of the most valuable in the franchise system that not all systems have, which is ops services that go to market, what I also call restaurant readiness. 00:13:03:14 - 00:13:44:18 Speaker 2 That's led by a phenomenal leader at Craver, the Cassie Miller. And she helps ensure that everything is right, that it's ready to go, and that the folks that are inside the restaurants every single day, which may or may not be the franchisee, have what they need to be successful to execute those programs. At the end of the day, if we're doing all those things, whatever we do from a marketing perspective would be successful because we've taken in the feedback and we're delivering programing that can be successfully executed at the store level for the best possible guest experience that they can have. 00:13:44:20 - 00:14:10:10 Speaker 1 Amazing how much of the guest experience is in your experience based on like technology or some aspect of how technology is either deployed, whether it be the point of sale, how how our internal customers, our employees are running POS, how easy it is for them, how easy it is for for guests, and whether or not there's mobile and online and all that. 00:14:10:11 - 00:14:16:13 Speaker 1 Like how much does that have to add to the experience quotient, if you will. 00:14:16:15 - 00:15:10:03 Speaker 2 An incredible amount. And in 22 years, the way it's evolved has been tremendous. Before I get to the rest of that answer, I do just want to acknowledge nothing replaces the human interaction between the front line or the franchisee in their community and those guests. So it doesn't matter how many kiosks or cool apps or fancy systems that we have, if we are not creating a solid guest experience in that tech or the basic human interaction when they arrive at the restaurant, or even having a neat, clean and organized restaurant that people are excited to come back to, we've lost. 00:15:10:04 - 00:15:35:10 Speaker 1 Yeah. What I love about what you just said was that if I'm a friend and I love hospitality, like those are the things that I got out of bed for anyway, I didn't get out of bed to run a tech stack, you know, I need help with that stuff. But I'm really doing and focusing on the things that I can control, the standards that I put into place in the culture that I'm building with my team, which is a huge relief. 00:15:35:12 - 00:16:05:03 Speaker 2 Absolutely, absolutely. And one of the things I love about Crave Worthy is our head of it. Christopher has spent an exorbitant amount of time creating the best possible stack, using all the best tools in the industry across the board. And what we also benefit from is that all of our brands are on these systems, and if they're not already, they're moving that way in that direction over time is at least the idea. 00:16:05:03 - 00:16:50:11 Speaker 2 And it's a great opportunity to make sure that there's lots of leverage from that perspective that helps with scale, not just from a functionality standpoint, but also from a pricing perspective. We want to be sure that these emerging brands get the same benefits as those big chains that also get the same level, whether that's supply chain or tack, the tech stack that we have, like I said, has all of the best in the business, and we continue to evaluate these partners to make sure that not only are we leveraging all of the parts and pieces of our offering, I call that kind of wringing out the towel to make sure that whatever we're paying for, 00:16:50:12 - 00:17:14:19 Speaker 2 we're using to the fullest extent that we're learning from it. From a marketing perspective, there's so much data that we can review and access, making sure that we're learning from that, sharing that back out with our partners across the board and making sure that, again, we're delivering a great experience and ultimately helping drive your business every single day with every single guest. 00:17:14:20 - 00:17:42:05 Speaker 1 Yes, absolutely. 100%. Great. Great point. I'm wondering, like, have you ever come across a situation where maybe a franchisee wanted access to things like, well, let me run my emails and let me run my push notifications? And do you have any tips or suggestions for folks who might want to go that route or explore that route? Because, you know, maybe they are tech savvy. 00:17:42:06 - 00:17:48:22 Speaker 1 Maybe they they want to give it a shot. What are your thoughts on that? 00:17:49:00 - 00:18:15:11 Speaker 2 Well, there's there's kind of two parts to this. The first is remember that franchising is about joining a system, a system that already exists. We have done the heavy lifting for you. And while we are number two, always willing to listen and want to understand and maybe get your help to test some things, try some things that's always on the table. 00:18:15:13 - 00:18:49:11 Speaker 2 We want to be sure that you know that those are not things that you have to consider and worry about. If you wanted to do all of your own things, you would start your own restaurant all by yourself. And that's okay too. And we truly wish you the best of luck. By joining the Crave or the system, we can benefit together as a partnership to make sure that all of the work, all of that heavy lifting that we have done to build all the systems, the processes and the technology for you are being leveraged to their fullest extent. 00:18:49:11 - 00:19:06:20 Speaker 2 And as you see opportunity, we welcome you to share that. But if ultimately you have a plan in place or an idea of what you're looking for, franchising may just not be the right fit for you because that is not just specific to crave. Worthy. 00:19:07:00 - 00:19:33:00 Speaker 1 No, I hear you 100%, and I think that a lot of times, you know, a franchisee or a location that may not be performing as well, you know, a franchisee or any business owner looks to see what you know, what tools do I have available to kind of pull some levers and maybe make some things happen, you know, and it gets to be maybe where there's a little bit of a, you know, a desperation level. 00:19:33:01 - 00:19:55:20 Speaker 1 And so I think I need to leverage certain marketing tools more because I know if I just send more texts or blast people with emails, you know, maybe that could do something for business. Same thing with like, couponing, right? It's like, okay, on the surface level, maybe that seems like a good idea, but, you know, how would you recommend a franchisee work with a franchise or to come up with the right plan? 00:19:55:23 - 00:19:58:11 Speaker 1 You know, what would you recommend? 00:19:58:13 - 00:20:40:07 Speaker 2 Definitely. Well, interesting segue, because the two most effective marketing tools that you have actually aren't technology based at all. The first one is operating the best darn restaurant you can. Is it clean? R you getting the food out warm as it's supposed to be, exactly as they ordered it in a timely manner? Are you treating someone in the most hospitable way, inviting them to come back, making sure that people feel that experience before they walk out the door so that they are dying to come back a second time? 00:20:40:09 - 00:21:15:10 Speaker 2 The second tool that you have is local store marketing. Nothing replaces it. This is, for all intents and purposes, that door to door knocking on those businesses, those homes through community folks to make sure that people know who you are and what you sell. And that isn't just from a brand perspective. It's also from you as an owner so that people know who you are so that they want to support you and your team and your managers. 00:21:15:10 - 00:21:41:00 Speaker 2 That's how the best people are hired. That's how the schools want to come in and partner with you for a spirit night. That's why all of the nurses at the nearby hospital come over to your restaurant before their shift or after their shift. It's why the servicemen and women stop by your restaurant instead of the one on the corner on the other side of the road. 00:21:41:01 - 00:22:10:18 Speaker 2 Being in your community, welcoming folks in like it's your home and then treating them that way when they get there is the best possible path forward. If things are tight, you want to make sure that you've got boots on the ground. Delivering local store marketing, making sure that your restaurant is up to snuff. You're running the playbook, you're running the process, and you're working the plan. 00:22:10:20 - 00:22:44:07 Speaker 2 As a franchisor, crave worthy will be side by side with you. Along the way, we will help ensure that you have all the tools and parts and pieces that you need to be successful, whether that's evaluating your pal and helping you find areas of opportunity on those line items all the way to providing, for example, a flier or a to go menu that you want to pass out to the local to community to try to drive those orders back into your restaurants. 00:22:44:08 - 00:23:14:19 Speaker 1 It makes sense. I make so much sense. I remember when Winging On first started, it was Matt and Sarah and his family opening this wing joint, right? And they did so well because people liked them and their family, and they wanted them to do well. And it was sort of like this, this, you know, flywheel effect. Right? Where all of a sudden, you know, the students from the high schools would come in, you know, then it would be like, okay, well, let's put like flags of each school on the wall. 00:23:14:19 - 00:23:36:20 Speaker 1 Then they did that. And then more kids started coming up, and then athletes started signing their schools flag. And then that caught on. And everybody before you knew it, everybody was coming down, you know, for breaks or after school or whatever. And that was basically the start, the genesis of the popularity. It wasn't necessarily the wing source recipe, it was just the community. 00:23:36:21 - 00:23:44:00 Speaker 2 So I love that. That's a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful example of exactly how it should be done. 00:23:44:01 - 00:24:09:06 Speaker 1 Exactly. Cool. I wanted to switch gears a little bit, if you don't mind. I think, you know, if I'm a first time franchisee, I may hear these terms like national ad fund thrown around. And I was hoping that you could maybe myth bust a little bit or just give people a real look at like, hey, you know, if you're going to be franchising, it doesn't matter if it's with crave or it doesn't matter what it like. 00:24:09:07 - 00:24:19:15 Speaker 1 Here's what you need to know about national ad funds, and particularly if you know you're an emerging brand. Like what does that necessarily mean? 00:24:19:17 - 00:24:52:14 Speaker 2 Definitely. So any franchise system is going to have percentages of your sales dedicated back to royalties in some cases, many cases, a percentage of those actually go towards the national ad fund or the marketing fund, as you just mentioned. And those funds are used in a variety of ways, depending on the brand and what's, of course, shared and disclosed in your franchise disclosure document. 00:24:52:16 - 00:25:35:06 Speaker 2 Typically those things could include any number of things, whether that's creative resources, technology that could be people like myself. It could be things like printing your menus or other pop maybe advertising like digital marketing. It's really a very wide array. And of course, as the number of stores increases and as those sales increase, of course, because it's on a percentage basis, there's more in the budget to spend having managed these kinds of funds for many, many years, I take a real conservative approach to spend. 00:25:35:06 - 00:26:01:09 Speaker 2 I like to make sure that there is a only a small portion that is fixed, meaning things that we know we have to do to check those boxes and make sure that ultimately you can run your business as effectively as possible, because we own the brand and we're helping make sure that all of those things are running very smoothly and that we can get you tools like that to go. 00:26:01:10 - 00:26:28:00 Speaker 2 Menu I mentioned earlier whenever you might need it. The opportunity is really in those working funds. We want to drive at crave worthy as many dollars as possible to working media, and what that means in English is as much money as we can drive towards driving traffic, as much money as we can put into that working dollar, we're going to do it. 00:26:28:00 - 00:26:57:08 Speaker 2 We want to be sure that we're doing as much as we can to drive your business on a day to day basis, making sure that every dollar is spent as effectively as possible, and that we're driving it to be optimized so that that dollar works harder over time in some cases. And some brands, that means more traditional advertising like meta ads or Google ads or digital television. 00:26:57:09 - 00:27:08:10 Speaker 2 Sometimes that can mean outdoor. It's really varies. And in some brands, those that are emerging and maybe just starting out on on the. 00:27:08:12 - 00:27:45:08 Speaker 2 Let me start over. And for some brands that are emerging and still growing in those early stages, it's very important that that local store marketing is where we drive the most impact. A lot of funds will also have a requirement on the local spend that is done, so be sure to read your PhD to better understand what percent of your sales are going to the national advent, which is managed at the franchisor level, versus how much is being required for you to spend locally. 00:27:45:09 - 00:28:19:03 Speaker 2 Again, any great franchisor is going to help you with tools, ideas, systems and resources to be able to manage that local fund. But you want to make sure that you are spending all of it, if not more. The reason that those percentages are in there is because it's a very thoughtful review of average unit volume, and making sure that there's enough money set aside to actually drive your business. 00:28:19:09 - 00:28:56:14 Speaker 2 You can't just do nothing that just doesn't work. And so that's why we have those requirements in place. So the franchisor has what we need to best support you. And then that requirement on the local spend as that little nudge to make sure that you're doing what you need to do locally to drive your business. And the best part, Justin, is that that's at your discretion if you want to spend that sponsoring the Little League teams and working with the local elementary schools, that's local marketing. 00:28:56:14 - 00:29:17:11 Speaker 2 If you want to buy advertising, that's local marketing. And the funds that you've driven in to the national ad fund allow you to be supported by the franchisor to do all of those things, whether it's the creative that you might need to deliver those things all the way to purchasing that advertising. 00:29:17:17 - 00:29:39:01 Speaker 3 I'm Greg Maddux and having a month unit operator for 26 years. I know how great it feels owning the right franchise brand, but choosing the right franchise or feels even better. I crave really brands. Our hospitality driven culture sets us apart because we're invested in your success at every single stage of your journey. We're operators alongside you, paving the way forward to give you a head start on greatness. 00:29:39:02 - 00:29:43:15 Speaker 3 Start your franchise journey at crave worthy brands. 00:29:43:17 - 00:30:17:00 Speaker 1 So I'm guessing like at some point, you know, as a franchisee, I'm like, okay, give me a playbook or give me something that I could use to kind of help me understand, like what my options are. I'm maybe brand new with this, or don't consider myself a local marketing expert yet. So what are like the top 2 or 3, if you will, tactics or methods to kind of helping a new franchisee in a new market make an impact? 00:30:17:01 - 00:30:43:21 Speaker 2 Definitely. Depending on the brand in that audience, in that particular customer target, there's a few different lanes you can play, but I'll go more broadly. You want to really look for what I call community influencers. Those are the folks that are going to have the most impact with the widest reach. Let's start with one that's fairly obvious and one that a lot of folks of course leverage. 00:30:43:23 - 00:31:34:14 Speaker 2 That is local heroes. That not only is the policemen and women, the firefighters, the doctors and the nurses, but it's also the teachers at the school, which I'm actually going to break into its own category. But if we think about broadly heroes and and delivering a great experience welcoming into our home those servicemen and women, we have a great opportunity to not only support a really phenomenal cause, if you will, or a set of folks that are continuing to serve our community, but we become then associated with folks in that way so that people know that we support our community, these folks that are serving our community. 00:31:34:15 - 00:32:21:08 Speaker 2 In turn, we will serve them. The second group, as I mentioned, was those teachers schools. I cannot recommend enough getting involved with the schools. If you're involved with the teachers, you are then having access to the students, and through that you are having access to the parents. This goes from elementary school all the way through colleges. You have a major opportunity right in your trade area, to drive a tremendous amount of traffic, simply by either creating programing for schools, think about things like awards for great grades or perfect attendance. 00:32:21:10 - 00:32:53:14 Speaker 2 Why not give away kids meals or other treats? So that way again, those folks want to come in. And the best part about schools is that kids can't usually drive themselves. So you're gaining that opportunity for more traffic. So I highly, highly recommend schools. The last group, and another one that is pretty much in every community is youth sports or sports in general. 00:32:53:16 - 00:33:22:23 Speaker 2 While it may not be realistic that you're going to be able to sponsor all on your own. A major sports team or an arena, you still have an opportunity to affect your neighborhood in your community by getting access to those ball fields, ballparks, indoor gyms, areas where again, you are reaching the community, where they are to drive the traffic to where you are. 00:33:23:04 - 00:34:01:01 Speaker 2 You have to go out and find them. It's it's the non-digital way of reaching people. Right. So before there was Facebook, before there was Google, people had to go out and find the people they were looking for. There are still those traditional tactics like the mailers and door hangers, things of that nature. But at the end of the day, what we talked about earlier, that connection with your community, building a relationship, making sure they know who you are, not just who the brand is. 00:34:01:06 - 00:34:21:05 Speaker 1 Awesome. I think the the connection with the schools and the teachers hits home for me. My wife is a second grade teacher and all three of my kids are school aged kids. So, you know, like the library will have things like contests, you know, reading programs. And what do they what do they win? They win gift cards to restaurants. 00:34:21:06 - 00:34:31:05 Speaker 1 Like, my daughter was jumping up and down yesterday because she got the the Wendy's free frosty coupon. Good for the whole year so we can get Frosties all year. 00:34:31:10 - 00:34:32:11 Speaker 2 Wow. 00:34:32:13 - 00:34:42:00 Speaker 1 You know, so it's like all those little things that doesn't take a lot to do. We just have to network, find out, get involved, ask questions, and you'll find the ways to do it. 00:34:42:01 - 00:35:10:11 Speaker 2 And that frosty probably costs them maybe a quarter maybe under a quarter. It's so inexpensive. And think about the long term value that they've provided to that guest and to their family. Is it possible that occasionally you're just going to take her to get her frosty and leave? Absolutely. That's absolutely a possibility. But more often than that, you're going to get one to the other. 00:35:10:11 - 00:35:26:14 Speaker 2 Kids are going to want some. Maybe you need a snack after school. There's so many ways to make sure that you're building your business. That's the opportunity in the upsell. And again, in running a really strong operation. 00:35:26:16 - 00:36:00:19 Speaker 1 Awesome. So speaking of school age kids, and like the next generation, you spent a considerable time at Raising Cane's. And I think that is just so badass. I'm so happy that you had that experience. And I'd love to learn more about how that time went for you. But can you talk a little bit about the most innovative, coolest or something that was kind of out of the box way of doing things that maybe you picked up at Raising Cane's, that kind of stuck with you and makes you think about things a little bit of a different way. 00:36:00:21 - 00:36:30:11 Speaker 2 Definitely. I was at Cain's during Covid. I like to just keep that on the down low, in case that that leads to some sort of crazy juju. One of the things that we had to do was get really creative, mostly because at the time, Raising Cane's did not have online ordering. Let that sink in. It was 2020 and they did not have that system in place yet. 00:36:30:17 - 00:36:58:18 Speaker 2 It was something I was building, but we didn't have it yet, so we had a major opportunity to engage with our guests in a way that others hadn't, and in a way that actually ended up giving us lines on the drive through anywhere from an hour to three hours long, people were waiting three hours for chicken tenders. We had a really great opportunity with our restaurant marketing team where we redeployed them. 00:36:58:19 - 00:37:23:08 Speaker 2 Of course, in a time when you weren't allowed to go to businesses or go to the hospitals, or go to those schools and those community partners and actually engage with them face to face like we used to. Just like the playbook for local store marketing says, we had to get really creative with our people, and we redeployed them to essentially be our online community engagement. 00:37:23:08 - 00:37:55:09 Speaker 2 And what that means is we put everyone to work, both reacting proactively as well as reacting to everything that was going on online, whether that was Facebook or Instagram, TikTok, Google, Yelp, TripAdvisor, DoorDash, Uber Eats or Grubhub. Anywhere that guests were talking to us, about us, about anything that was relevant to our business, we were engaged in the conversation. 00:37:55:14 - 00:38:26:02 Speaker 2 It almost became maybe a little less snarky than like the Wendy's and the Arby's social teams of the world, but it was about being involved in a conversation that we weren't necessarily a part of before. And what that opened was a whole door of opportunity for us in the social space that really helped us grow, but it allowed us to have more of a conversation in a space that actually wasn't initially intended for conversation. 00:38:26:04 - 00:38:55:11 Speaker 2 It became it became a place where we could, for example, debunk rumors or myths about what was going on inside our restaurants to help them understand, even in real time, what was happening up in the restaurant and why the drive through was so long. Giving people a heads up about what to expect, thanking them for their business, knowing that we had the best quality chicken fingers in town. 00:38:55:11 - 00:39:23:17 Speaker 2 Although I would go up against that with with our brands here at Craven, but making sure that ultimately that those customers in a very uncertain time remembered that who we say we are today is who we've always been, and that we wanted to be a part of the conversation during a time where people weren't engaging in those conversations as readily as regularly. 00:39:23:19 - 00:39:51:04 Speaker 1 Awesome. So being like, leaning into that at a pivotal moment, not just for the brand, but for the entire world like that must have really like amplified followers, attention, engagement, like like no other. And that's great. Like, it's just like a good example of how it's like, you know, just owning it and being present in it and just taking the action that you need to take can make. 00:39:51:06 - 00:39:57:14 Speaker 1 It's kind of a bold way to go, which is the right thing to do if you really want to make an impact on the long term. 00:39:57:16 - 00:40:27:22 Speaker 2 It was. And remember, too, that Raising Cane's is not a franchise system. So there were some things that we could do that that wouldn't be things that we would deploy at a brand level per se, at Crave Worthy. But I'll give you an example. You know, first of all, I want to clarify. We were using team members to help us spread that conversation, spread the chicken tender gospel as themselves, not as the brand. 00:40:27:22 - 00:40:58:08 Speaker 2 So you they were showing up as Justin, who lived in this community to. He was just there to talk about and evangelize, letting them know, hey, I work for wing it on right, letting them know who you are so that again, you're building that relationship. And it wasn't just on the brand social pages or wherever the brand, like I said, was being tagged or mentioned from a community perspective. 00:40:58:08 - 00:41:37:12 Speaker 2 We were getting into private Facebook groups and we were joining the very local neighborhood driven communities on Reddit. We were really driving local store marketing on a digital level. When the traditional local store marketing wasn't an option, it was definitely something I had never done before. It was something that everyone was willing to try, and it really did everything that you said and more, and is still something I'm very proud of to say, is something that I know that they still work on and help deliver today. 00:41:37:13 - 00:41:59:12 Speaker 1 Fascinating. It's fascinating because it's bold. It's like, no, you know, we're going to do this on a most authentic level possible, which means we're stripping away any preconceived brand, you know, Polish. And we're going to go at this the way that we want to do it. And I think that that's very rare. And I'm excited that that happened. 00:41:59:12 - 00:42:26:06 Speaker 1 And I'd love to learn more about it. One thing about Raising Cane's is there's one that opened up near my house recently and like, police and blockades and you name it, that that was happening like a grand opening of a raisin, keen to something like I've never seen in my life. Like, I, I don't know if that's a blessing or a curse. 00:42:26:07 - 00:42:49:19 Speaker 1 I mean, you know, it could be both, but what I think. Let's talk a little about grand openings, if you will, like. Grand opening is kind of set the tone right. Like what should a new franchisee be looking to do to kickstart their business in their market? Right. I mean, you got one extreme, you got a Raising Cane's where you got a police escort. 00:42:49:19 - 00:43:04:05 Speaker 1 So you got the other aspect of it where it's like, you know, just one person from the town council comes to cut a ribbon and nobody's there. So what do you give some advice to newcomers that, you know, help ensure that they're doing things the right way? 00:43:04:07 - 00:43:40:23 Speaker 2 So before you even open, before you even start turning on ovens, building the relationships in your community are the is the best use of your time. You want to make sure people know that you're coming, what you're going to be offering, and that you're excited to work with them once you are. This builds the foundation for that audience of the folks that are actually going to come to your grand opening, those little things like having signage up while you're under construction so that people know that you are coming soon. 00:43:41:00 - 00:44:06:16 Speaker 2 Building that anticipation is what gets people so excited, even if they don't yet know who you are and what you sell. And the benefit of being a part of a franchise system is, again, that infrastructure that exists on your behalf, whether that's adding your location to the website as coming soon, giving folks a destination where they can learn more about who you are and what you sell. 00:44:06:17 - 00:44:30:11 Speaker 2 And again, driving that excitement even before you turn those ovens or that grill on. Once you open, you're going to want to be open for a little bit before you actually have your big party. That is one of the most important things. You've got to make sure again, that you're delivering the best possible guest experience when they get there. 00:44:30:11 - 00:45:01:04 Speaker 2 If you do that on the first day, your team may not have enough reps yet. So we highly, highly encourage for you to have what we call a soft opening where you're open. You may sure that the lights are on, that you're serving guests, that you're getting those reps in for your team so that when you have the big splash and you have the big party that they're ready to execute on all cylinders, then of course you have a big grand opening. 00:45:01:04 - 00:45:29:01 Speaker 2 You're going to want to do it on a day that a lot of people can join you, that you've excited your community, that you've brought them along on your journey. The examples that you gave don't happen without that community engagement. Working with the schools before you get started working with the servicemen and women and the other heroes in your community to make sure they're aware to bring them along. 00:45:29:02 - 00:45:58:01 Speaker 2 Maybe you've made a relationship with the fire station down the street and they want to join you. They're going to bring their fire trucks. So that way all the kids want to come and see the fire truck. Oh, and by the way, you can host them inside for something to eat. There are so many benefits to starting that relationship strong, making sure that you are building a strong foundation that will help guide you into the future. 00:45:58:01 - 00:46:26:02 Speaker 2 Because a grand opening is one day you will see a spike, but then it's about that curvature down. You want to stabilize as quickly as possible to your average run rate, and you do that by building that strong foundation from before you open to once you're open. And one of the things I also want to mention is there is, I think, some mixed opinions depending on the brands. 00:46:26:02 - 00:46:33:07 Speaker 2 And I've experienced this throughout my career about advertising spend before you're open. 00:46:33:09 - 00:46:35:11 Speaker 1 Okay, okay. 00:46:35:13 - 00:46:45:22 Speaker 2 This one's actually really simple. What's the return on investment when your sales are zero? 00:46:46:00 - 00:46:47:23 Speaker 1 Zero negative. 00:46:48:00 - 00:47:12:15 Speaker 2 Exactly, exactly. So I strongly encourage not to fall into the trap of spending before your register is actually collecting any money. All the advertising that you should be doing is person to person, door to door, making sure that people know who you are and what you sell. 00:47:12:17 - 00:47:39:11 Speaker 1 Awesome. You know, there's two things that struck me during our conversation today. One is I got into marketing for the right reasons, and you reminded me of that because of it's a service role, and that makes me feel really good to be there to help people along the way. I know you call yourself the defender of dreams for entrepreneurs, and I think that's exceptional. 00:47:39:13 - 00:47:57:08 Speaker 1 The other thing is that, you know, hospitality is mainly a human business. And if you understand how humans think and feel and behave like you have a leg up, and the beauty is it's not living in the digital world, people, it's right in front of us, in our communities. 00:47:57:10 - 00:47:58:08 Speaker 2 That's right. 00:47:58:10 - 00:48:20:19 Speaker 1 With that, I wanted to see if you had any last advice for new franchisees who are getting into this. And, you know, what mindset should they have knowing, like they really don't want to fail. They want to be very successful. And I know that for a fact. So many times it's just a mindset thing to get them there. 00:48:20:21 - 00:48:45:00 Speaker 2 Absolutely. I would say do your homework, make sure that you fully understand the investment that you're making and that at the end of the day, the culture is the best fit for you. You've got to make sure that you fit into the system and the people and the beliefs, the values of what that franchisor is going to deliver. 00:48:45:00 - 00:49:11:02 Speaker 2 Because people change, things change over time. It's just a reality of the business. And so make sure that you have what you need to be successful, that you understand that the people that you're working with have your back and what that looks like, what that feels like. Talk to other franchisees. Make sure that you fully understand the business opportunity that you're getting into. 00:49:11:04 - 00:49:35:09 Speaker 2 Franchising is tough, but even tougher is the restaurant business. So make sure that this is exactly what you want, that you are fully dedicated in making sure to providing the best possible experience for your guests. For being a phenomenal community partner, serving and supporting those around you. And you won't fail. 00:49:35:11 - 00:49:43:14 Speaker 1 Awesome. Do you have anything else that you wanted to talk about or drop some knowledge on the audience? 00:49:43:16 - 00:50:11:20 Speaker 2 One thing that I would say is a point of difference at Crave Worthy is that marketing is actually one of our advantages. Competitively. We treat across all of our 20 plus brands marketing as a service model, as an agency service model. To some extent, we want to be sure that we're providing the best possible service with all the right support at all times. 00:50:11:21 - 00:50:36:03 Speaker 2 A lot of times, marketing organizations within a franchise or have a lot of different folks responsible for very specific things, only for, of course, that brand. But as a part of Crave Worthy, you get the benefit of all of our experience and all of our resources, just like you do with supply chain or technology. We talked about that scale. 00:50:36:07 - 00:50:46:19 Speaker 2 You have that exact same benefit from a marketing function. So that would be a point of difference that I would mention about the crave worthy marketing system. 00:50:46:20 - 00:51:11:09 Speaker 1 Exceptional to know. Thank you for dropping that knowledge. And thank you for being a tremendous guest today on Chicago Sam's franchise GPS. I can personally say, I think the world of you, and I think you're an amazing asset and such a catalyst for great things to come at. Not just great things to come, but impact today and great things to come down the road. 00:51:11:09 - 00:51:16:19 Speaker 1 So I truly am grateful to be part of it with you. Thank you. 00:51:16:21 - 00:51:20:03 Speaker 2 Beto, thank you so much, I appreciate you.