February 24, 2025 • 17 mins
Mitch Baker, VP of Marketing at Robeks, shares his expertise on evolving marketing strategies in the hospitality industry. With a background spanning Hollywood entertainment, Disney, and more, he dives into the role of guest data, technology, and omnichannel marketing in shaping brand success. Mitch also discusses the vital relationship between marketing and operations, the power of consistency, and what truly drives a five-star guest experience.
Zack and Mitch discuss:
- How Robeks leverages guest data for targeted marketing.
- The impact of technology on hospitality marketing.
- The importance of aligning marketing with operations.
- Best practices for omnichannel brand messaging.
- Why guest experience hinges on service and accuracy.
Tune in to hear how Mitch’s insights on marketing, operations, and guest experience can help your restaurant thrive!
Thanks, Mitch!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to another edition of Give and Ovation, the
restaurant guest experiencepodcast, where I talk to
industry experts to get theirstrategies and tactics you can
use to create a five-star guestexperience.
This podcast is sponsored byOvation, an operations and guest
recovery platform formulti-unit restaurants that
gives all the answers withoutannoying guests.
(00:20):
With all the questions.
Learn more at OvationUpcom.
And today I'm excited because wedon't only have someone who is
just sharp guy done a lot ofcool things, but someone who is,
at this point I consider himjust to be a friend.
I mean, he's like super coolguy, vp of marketing at Robex.
He's got a great career inhospitality.
(00:42):
This is actually his secondround at Robex, but he's been in
the marketing industry foryears.
He knows a ton of stuff.
And, for those who can see, I'mactually wearing my watermelon
shirt today because I wentthrough my closet and I was like
for Mitch, I want to wearsomething that has that healthy
Robex vibe to it.
And I looked at my closet.
(01:03):
My closet is so unhealthy,mitch, I have hamburgers, pizza,
hot dogs and one shirt withhealthy food on it.
So anyway, apologies that thisis all I got, but welcome to the
podcast.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
It's okay.
It's okay, thank you.
Thank you, so good to see you.
I know we usually see eachother in person at the different
conferences, but good to seeyou again virtually.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
So now, Mitch, you've had such a great career in
hospitality marketing and justkind of like from a high level,
what's your philosophy when itcomes to marketing Like?
What are some of the guidingprinciples that you've taken
with you from HollywoodEntertainment, Blockbuster,
American Cancer Society, WaltDisney World to Robex?
Speaker 2 (01:41):
I think overall you just have to be constantly
evolving.
You have to understand who yourcustomer is, who your consumer
is, and then be able to adaptyour marketing message to that
audience.
That can be challenging.
Sometimes you've got so manydifferent types of audience
members and breakdowns ofdifferent audiences, and how do
(02:01):
you look at that?
Speaker 1 (02:01):
When you're looking at your audience, how do you
determine?
Here's what they care about.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Well, I think, first and foremost, it's research
right, it's utilizing the toolsthat you have at your disposal
as your company, right?
Understanding guest performance, understanding the guest data,
looking at what they're orderingin our case, what they're not
ordering, what they're adding,how frequently they're coming in
, and a lot of those things comeinto play.
(02:27):
We use a platform called BICCIto understand some of the
customer insights and trends andthen, through our mobile app,
we've got hundreds and hundredsof thousands of users that we
have their information.
We could see what they'reordering, how they're ordering,
what they like, what they don'tlike.
In fact, we're working on a newpromotion to launch really at
the end of March, focusing onour boosts and enrichments,
which are hugely popular.
(02:48):
That's adding immunity oradding whey protein, or adding
energy to a smoothie or even toa bowl.
But one of the things we'relooking at is trying to
understand what peoplespecifically are ordering and
putting a boost in is primarilyour classics category that
aren't pre-packaged with boosts,or is it our performance
category where they're lookingto add to it?
(03:08):
So, again, the bottom line isit really comes down to the data
that you have at hand tounderstand as much analytical
information from the guests aspossible.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
And I think that using a platform like Vicky is
so powerful because they do sucha great job of aggregating data
and helping you understand yourguest more.
What role does technology playfor you in marketing?
Speaker 2 (03:30):
It plays a huge part.
I mean, we're really strongpartners with our technology
team because they're the onessort of behind the curtains
helping us get the informationthat we need.
On my team, our senior digitalmarketing manager has access to
our tools, whether it even bethrough third-party delivery
platform, which we have a littlebit of insight into what
customers are ordering Ourmobile app.
(03:51):
You know, we have consumer datathat we get from feedback, from
surveys, things like that, thatwe're able to sort of all put
together and extrapolate.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
You know what a direction should be or could be,
yeah, and I think that, as welook at it, you've done a great
job at leveraging technology,but not removing the hospitality
from it.
So, coming from a marketer'sperspective, how do you market
something when, in restaurants,we are such an operations
focused industry and it's notlike you can ship the product to
(04:23):
someone and it's going to bethe same exact thing every time,
because everything that happensinside of a Robax is going to
go through the hands of anemployee, and so there's such a
huge operational aspect.
How do you work with operationsas opposed to getting mad if
something doesn't go right?
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Like you said, it's working with that team.
Again, I've got a greatrelationship with our head of
operations and his team as well,and listen, as anybody that's
listening and or watching that'sin the franchise system.
They know that it's verydifficult to enforce compliance,
one of the things that,unfortunately, when we're
(05:00):
sitting and putting together aprogram or an LCO or a promotion
, we're putting together whichelements are going to be in the
store to promote it.
We put together really detailedinstructions for the team
members, for the franchisees toreview with their teams and
their managers, and still you goto a store and it's completely
the opposite.
We spent hours putting thistogether because there's a
(05:21):
reason, as an example, windowdecal should go from the outside
right Because you've gottinting, you've got you know any
variety of things.
So it is a challenge.
It really is.
And unfortunately, as I'mplanning with my team what we're
going to do next, I'm alwaysthinking like, oh my gosh, like
we're going to put out thesedecals, but I know they're going
to keep the other ones.
It's a constant battle, reallyit is, but that's where you know
(05:45):
you've got to have a strongoperations team that is in the
field and saying, okay, here'syour promotion.
Here are the elements andhere's where they should be,
because we're giving you aplanogram.
This is what you need tocorrect it.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
And I think that that works so well, that idea of
working closely with marketingand operations.
And I know that one of ourpartners, Doghouse, they
actually have a group, it'scalled Markerations and they
meet three times a week becauseyou can't run a marketing
program without the operationson board and you got to know
what you're marketing andoperations needs to know what to
(06:17):
put out there and how toimplement it, and so I think,
that there's just too manybrands right now where there is
an unhealthy tension, from whatI can see, between marketing
operations in the restaurantindustry, more so than marketing
other industries I've beeninvolved in.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
You're probably right .
I mean, I've actually talked toCJ about this same thing he's
brought up that term before andwe discussed how the two are
integrated and you're right.
Without a doubt, marketingoperations are the two that've
got to be hand in hand.
I really feel that we are.
I think we're well aligned.
I think they come to the rescuewhen we need it and we come to
the rescue when they need it.
I think, at the end of the day,we're on the same page,
(06:56):
certainly to ensure ourfranchisees are successful and
are doing the things that aregoing to help drive their
business.
But, like you said, we could putprograms out there, but if
they're not implemented the waythat we're recommending, I mean
you got to rely on youroperations team to follow up.
And again, it's not because wewant, as an example, a cling
this way on this window.
(07:16):
There's a reason, as I said,for it.
And if you look at marketingthe business from sort of an
omni-channel approach, you'vegot outside stuff driving people
in, whether it's an e-blast orsocial media or rewards
messaging website, you name it,search and when they go in the
store, we want that messaging tocontinue and to make sense.
So, ultimately, when they go inthe store.
We want that messaging tocontinue and it makes sense.
(07:37):
So, ultimately, when they go upto the kiosk to place the order
or they go to the team memberat the cashier's station to
place the order, sort of you got, oh yeah, you guys are
promoting superfoods.
I want that one yeah, yeahexactly because now we're able
to follow through on thatpromise, to our franchisees, of
course, but to our customers.
Hey, here's what we'repromoting.
(07:57):
You're going to love it.
You're seeing it here.
You're seeing it here.
You're seeing it here.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
I love that idea of just that omni-channel messaging
and carrying that same messagefrom hey, I saw an ad, I saw a
Instagram post, I got a pushnotification.
I go in the store and I see thesign.
It's like, yes, this all makessense, it looks professional and
it feels unified, I think,which is really critical,
because, at the end of the day,all of this, what we're talking
(08:23):
about here, mitch, is the guestexperience, right?
And so what do you think themost important aspect of guest
experience is nowadays?
I mean.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
We know service in the eyes of many consumers is
really important Serviceaccuracy, that you're fulfilling
your promise of your brand.
The great thing about our brand, our mission statement, is we
make delicious food that makespeople happy.
It's the easiest no-brainer,low-hanging fruit whatever you
want to call it a statement tobe able to execute on for our
(08:51):
franchisees and for us as well.
All we're doing is like okay,great, here's this great looking
product, it's colorful, ittastes good.
I mean, who doesn't feel goodand happy when they drink a
smoothie?
You may have a little bit ofodd taste if you you know
straight kale and spinach andjust add a little wheatgrass
shot in there or something likethat.
But for the most part, you know, and for us flavor is number
(09:13):
one.
It's the number one thing thatwe launched our business on
years ago 1996.
And we maintain that to thisday.
Even if it's something in ourfunctional category, first and
foremost it's got to taste greatand there's some great
competitors in the category.
They all do a good job.
But it's just amazing to me howtheir product is great, it's
(09:34):
functional, but just some of thetastes are like, oh my God.
And the great thing for us is,you know, once our customers
taste that product, that's whatsort of pulls them in.
I mean, it's really, again,it's.
I think it's executing on yourbrand promise.
You know, if you are going totell somebody, you're going to
have a great experience allaround.
I think you should back that upevery step of the way with the
(09:54):
consumer experience in the store, the cashier, how you're using
the app In your case, how doessomeone get a survey that they
could engage with quickly andeasily?
Everything across the board,our socials.
How can they engage with us onsocial?
Is there a consistency there aswell?
Speaker 1 (10:16):
really interesting is we did a bunch of data, we did
a bunch of research to figureout what are the most likely
reasons for restaurants to getnegative reviews, and they were
the two things that you justmentioned service and accuracy.
And I found it reallyinteresting it wasn't about the
food, because if a restaurant isstill in business, the reviews
aren't going to be allcomplaining about the food.
It's the service and theaccuracy, because if you aren't
(10:37):
treated well, you want to feelvindicated and so you will be
out for blood.
And these consumers they go toGoogle, they go to Yelp to
really get their pound of fleshIf the order is inaccurate.
I drove 10 minutes.
I picked up my order, I drove10 minutes home, I opened it up
to give it to my family and Iordered five things and four of
them are there.
I'm so frustrated, right, andthose two things, I think, are
(11:01):
so critical because it creates avery viscerally emotional
experience.
I could handle hey, I wanted toorder here and the food wasn't
that good, so we'll go someplaceelse next time.
But if you make me feel likeI'm not important, that is going
to get a negative review moreoften than any other mistake
that you could make in therestaurant industry.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Yeah, you're right, we see it If you look at it.
We review our input, ourcustomer data, customer feedback
regularly.
But if you just look at evenacross the board reviews for
brands in general, justgeneralized, that's the majority
of complaints, especially forrestaurants.
And now introduced a couple ofyears ago, obviously because of
COVID it sort of took off butthird-party delivery that we
(11:44):
really have no control over, ourus in the restaurant space have
no control over right the ordergets placed I mean many of us
using a preferred provider todeliver that product into the
homes.
And then of course there's theindividual.
If somebody orders from UberEats, it's going to come from
Uber Eats, but there's minimalcontrol on that.
We make sure that when it goesto the driver, when it's ready
(12:07):
to go, it's packaged, it'saccurate, it's verified,
everything else.
But if there's something thathappens you end up with an
outraged customer.
Sure, you can give them arefund, but it just puts a bad
taste in their mouth and so withthat, what are some tactics
that you've used to improve theguest experience?
Again, a lot of this, I think,falls onto the operations side.
(12:27):
It's just verifying.
Funny one of the complaintsthat we would get from our
mobile app is that people wouldplace an order and they would
hit the wrong location, oh yeah,what happens is an order is
ready somewhere else or itdoesn't get delivered, so really
focusing on that.
So what we did is we recentlyupdated our app and we have an
extra step there to verify hey,you're ordering from this store
(12:50):
on La Cienega Boulevard in LosAngeles versus another store.
That's one of the ways again,but operations really is the one
that that falls on, becauseagain, we're sending people in,
we're promoting products.
It's got to be executed by ouroperations partners, with all
the things they're training toour franchisees and to their
team members.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
Yeah, I love that.
I think it's so important and Ithink the message about this
unification of messaging to theguest and making sure that you
have a unified face, like youknow, if my wife and I disagree
on how to parent our kid througha situation like maybe I
shouldn't talk about this on thepodcast, but my kid was getting
(13:30):
like he was getting pushedaround by this other kid and so
he popped him in the nose andgave him a bloody nose, right,
and so my wife's reaction waslike hey, wait, like stand up
for yourself.
My reaction was let's use ourwords, right.
So her and I had to get on thesame page on how do we handle
that.
But same thing with operationsand marketing you have to
(13:51):
provide that unified face and Ithink that messaging throughout
I think is so critical and Ilove that you really touched on
that, because that's somethingthat often gets overlooked and
it's not sent out as a campaign.
It's sent out as like a one-offand it's so much more powerful
when it is a campaign.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
Yeah, there's a balance between our operations
folks not being police officersand being coaches, as an example
, we have a monthly allfranchisee webinar.
We have a biannual conferenceand we drive these things home
and we take feedback fromfranchisees, of course as well,
but again, just trying toes, ofcourse as well, but again just
(14:34):
trying to, yes, be uniform, beconsistent, but trying to
explain to a franchisee here'swhy we're doing something and
here's the importance of it,besides the fact that you're
obligated, through yourfranchise room, to follow this.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
But I mean just this is going to help you, and I
think that that's really thewhat's in it for me, right?
Speaker 2 (14:46):
And when you've got a brand that's been around for as
long as we have 25 years.
We've tried a lot of differentthings over the years.
What we did years ago, when Iwas at Robex in the mid to late
2000s, is different than we'redoing now as far as tactics and
training our franchisees to getout and market their stores.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
So, mitch, you know a lot of people in the industry
who's someone that we should befollowing, who's someone that
deserves an ovation.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
This is going to sound somewhat silly but as a
consumer I look at, everybodysays Starbucks right, which they
do a great.
Starbucks, apple, nike, theyall do a great job, although
Nike sort of lost a little bitof its flair lately.
But one thing I continually seeis McDonald's.
They're always reinventingthemselves, whether the look and
the feel, either the marketingmessaging they use, whether it
(15:31):
be broadcast media or even inthe store.
They're always evolving to notonly what the customer wants but
, I think, to attract adifferent customer, a broader
customer.
And I see just in theirmessaging it seems to be very,
very clean.
They don't take a lot ofchances, because how many
variations can you do on an EggMcMuffin or the McRib?
(15:52):
But that's one of the brandsthat stands out in just being
diverse and being unique andkeeping a real high level of
quality.
You know, of course, applebecause it's simplistic.
They definitely, you know, havefor years, you know, focused,
focused on the brand and it'sall about the brand.
At the end of the day, youcould have a phone over here, a
phone over there, a computer.
Pretty much it's going to workthe same way.
(16:15):
So it's just about the wholeessence of being part of the
brand, making you feel likeyou're part of that movement, so
to say.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
Yeah, Love that Mitch .
Well, how do people find andfollow you and Robex Gosh on
social media.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Obviously, robex Fresh Juices and Smoothies.
Robexcom is the website.
I'm on LinkedIn, mitch Bakerfor those franchise folks that
are viewing and listening I'llbe at the International
Franchise Association annualconference starting on Sunday.
I'm actually part of theMarketing and Innovation
Committee, which is headed up byjust some great folks here.
(16:51):
Sherry Fishman, who is alongtime veteran in the
franchise industry, is our chair, so we're doing some great
things to help franchisees andfranchisors be able to market
their stores and use bestpractices.
So anyway, long story short,I'll be there and, as I
mentioned, of course, linkedin.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
Awesome.
Well, Mitch, for giving us aMitch Baker's dozen worth of
insights.
Today's ovation goes to you.
Thank you so much for joiningus on Give an Ovation.
Thanks, Zach.
Thanks for joining us today.
If you like this episode, leaveus a review on Apple Podcasts
or your favorite place to listen.
We're all about feedback here.
Again, this episode wassponsored by Ovation, a
(17:31):
two-question, SMS-basedactionable guest feedback
platform built for multi-unitrestaurants.
If you'd like to learn how wecan help you measure and create
a better guest experience, visitus at OvationUpcom.
Welcome to another edition of Give and Ovation, the
restaurant guest experiencepodcast, where I talk to
industry experts to get theirstrategies and tactics you can
use to create a five-star guestexperience.
This podcast is sponsored byOvation, an operations and guest
recovery platform formulti-unit restaurants that
gives all the answers withoutannoying guests.
(00:20):
With all the questions.
Learn more at OvationUpcom.
And today I'm excited because wedon't only have someone who is
just sharp guy done a lot ofcool things, but someone who is,
at this point I consider himjust to be a friend.
I mean, he's like super coolguy, vp of marketing at Robex.
He's got a great career inhospitality.
(00:42):
This is actually his secondround at Robex, but he's been in
the marketing industry foryears.
He knows a ton of stuff.
And, for those who can see, I'mactually wearing my watermelon
shirt today because I wentthrough my closet and I was like
for Mitch, I want to wearsomething that has that healthy
Robex vibe to it.
And I looked at my closet.
(01:03):
My closet is so unhealthy,mitch, I have hamburgers, pizza,
hot dogs and one shirt withhealthy food on it.
So anyway, apologies that thisis all I got, but welcome to the
podcast.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
It's okay.
It's okay, thank you.
Thank you, so good to see you.
I know we usually see eachother in person at the different
conferences, but good to seeyou again virtually.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
So now, Mitch, you've had such a great career in
hospitality marketing and justkind of like from a high level,
what's your philosophy when itcomes to marketing Like?
What are some of the guidingprinciples that you've taken
with you from HollywoodEntertainment, Blockbuster,
American Cancer Society, WaltDisney World to Robex?
Speaker 2 (01:41):
I think overall you just have to be constantly
evolving.
You have to understand who yourcustomer is, who your consumer
is, and then be able to adaptyour marketing message to that
audience.
That can be challenging.
Sometimes you've got so manydifferent types of audience
members and breakdowns ofdifferent audiences, and how do
(02:01):
you look at that?
Speaker 1 (02:01):
When you're looking at your audience, how do you
determine?
Here's what they care about.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Well, I think, first and foremost, it's research
right, it's utilizing the toolsthat you have at your disposal
as your company, right?
Understanding guest performance, understanding the guest data,
looking at what they're orderingin our case, what they're not
ordering, what they're adding,how frequently they're coming in
, and a lot of those things comeinto play.
(02:27):
We use a platform called BICCIto understand some of the
customer insights and trends andthen, through our mobile app,
we've got hundreds and hundredsof thousands of users that we
have their information.
We could see what they'reordering, how they're ordering,
what they like, what they don'tlike.
In fact, we're working on a newpromotion to launch really at
the end of March, focusing onour boosts and enrichments,
which are hugely popular.
(02:48):
That's adding immunity oradding whey protein, or adding
energy to a smoothie or even toa bowl.
But one of the things we'relooking at is trying to
understand what peoplespecifically are ordering and
putting a boost in is primarilyour classics category that
aren't pre-packaged with boosts,or is it our performance
category where they're lookingto add to it?
(03:08):
So, again, the bottom line isit really comes down to the data
that you have at hand tounderstand as much analytical
information from the guests aspossible.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
And I think that using a platform like Vicky is
so powerful because they do sucha great job of aggregating data
and helping you understand yourguest more.
What role does technology playfor you in marketing?
Speaker 2 (03:30):
It plays a huge part.
I mean, we're really strongpartners with our technology
team because they're the onessort of behind the curtains
helping us get the informationthat we need.
On my team, our senior digitalmarketing manager has access to
our tools, whether it even bethrough third-party delivery
platform, which we have a littlebit of insight into what
customers are ordering Ourmobile app.
(03:51):
You know, we have consumer datathat we get from feedback, from
surveys, things like that, thatwe're able to sort of all put
together and extrapolate.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
You know what a direction should be or could be,
yeah, and I think that, as welook at it, you've done a great
job at leveraging technology,but not removing the hospitality
from it.
So, coming from a marketer'sperspective, how do you market
something when, in restaurants,we are such an operations
focused industry and it's notlike you can ship the product to
(04:23):
someone and it's going to bethe same exact thing every time,
because everything that happensinside of a Robax is going to
go through the hands of anemployee, and so there's such a
huge operational aspect.
How do you work with operationsas opposed to getting mad if
something doesn't go right?
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Like you said, it's working with that team.
Again, I've got a greatrelationship with our head of
operations and his team as well,and listen, as anybody that's
listening and or watching that'sin the franchise system.
They know that it's verydifficult to enforce compliance,
one of the things that,unfortunately, when we're
(05:00):
sitting and putting together aprogram or an LCO or a promotion
, we're putting together whichelements are going to be in the
store to promote it.
We put together really detailedinstructions for the team
members, for the franchisees toreview with their teams and
their managers, and still you goto a store and it's completely
the opposite.
We spent hours putting thistogether because there's a
(05:21):
reason, as an example, windowdecal should go from the outside
right Because you've gottinting, you've got you know any
variety of things.
So it is a challenge.
It really is.
And unfortunately, as I'mplanning with my team what we're
going to do next, I'm alwaysthinking like, oh my gosh, like
we're going to put out thesedecals, but I know they're going
to keep the other ones.
It's a constant battle, reallyit is, but that's where you know
(05:45):
you've got to have a strongoperations team that is in the
field and saying, okay, here'syour promotion.
Here are the elements andhere's where they should be,
because we're giving you aplanogram.
This is what you need tocorrect it.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
And I think that that works so well, that idea of
working closely with marketingand operations.
And I know that one of ourpartners, Doghouse, they
actually have a group, it'scalled Markerations and they
meet three times a week becauseyou can't run a marketing
program without the operationson board and you got to know
what you're marketing andoperations needs to know what to
(06:17):
put out there and how toimplement it, and so I think,
that there's just too manybrands right now where there is
an unhealthy tension, from whatI can see, between marketing
operations in the restaurantindustry, more so than marketing
other industries I've beeninvolved in.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
You're probably right .
I mean, I've actually talked toCJ about this same thing he's
brought up that term before andwe discussed how the two are
integrated and you're right.
Without a doubt, marketingoperations are the two that've
got to be hand in hand.
I really feel that we are.
I think we're well aligned.
I think they come to the rescuewhen we need it and we come to
the rescue when they need it.
I think, at the end of the day,we're on the same page,
(06:56):
certainly to ensure ourfranchisees are successful and
are doing the things that aregoing to help drive their
business.
But, like you said, we could putprograms out there, but if
they're not implemented the waythat we're recommending, I mean
you got to rely on youroperations team to follow up.
And again, it's not because wewant, as an example, a cling
this way on this window.
(07:16):
There's a reason, as I said,for it.
And if you look at marketingthe business from sort of an
omni-channel approach, you'vegot outside stuff driving people
in, whether it's an e-blast orsocial media or rewards
messaging website, you name it,search and when they go in the
store, we want that messaging tocontinue and to make sense.
So, ultimately, when they go inthe store.
We want that messaging tocontinue and it makes sense.
(07:37):
So, ultimately, when they go upto the kiosk to place the order
or they go to the team memberat the cashier's station to
place the order, sort of you got, oh yeah, you guys are
promoting superfoods.
I want that one yeah, yeahexactly because now we're able
to follow through on thatpromise, to our franchisees, of
course, but to our customers.
Hey, here's what we'repromoting.
(07:57):
You're going to love it.
You're seeing it here.
You're seeing it here.
You're seeing it here.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
I love that idea of just that omni-channel messaging
and carrying that same messagefrom hey, I saw an ad, I saw a
Instagram post, I got a pushnotification.
I go in the store and I see thesign.
It's like, yes, this all makessense, it looks professional and
it feels unified, I think,which is really critical,
because, at the end of the day,all of this, what we're talking
(08:23):
about here, mitch, is the guestexperience, right?
And so what do you think themost important aspect of guest
experience is nowadays?
I mean.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
We know service in the eyes of many consumers is
really important Serviceaccuracy, that you're fulfilling
your promise of your brand.
The great thing about our brand, our mission statement, is we
make delicious food that makespeople happy.
It's the easiest no-brainer,low-hanging fruit whatever you
want to call it a statement tobe able to execute on for our
(08:51):
franchisees and for us as well.
All we're doing is like okay,great, here's this great looking
product, it's colorful, ittastes good.
I mean, who doesn't feel goodand happy when they drink a
smoothie?
You may have a little bit ofodd taste if you you know
straight kale and spinach andjust add a little wheatgrass
shot in there or something likethat.
But for the most part, you know, and for us flavor is number
(09:13):
one.
It's the number one thing thatwe launched our business on
years ago 1996.
And we maintain that to thisday.
Even if it's something in ourfunctional category, first and
foremost it's got to taste greatand there's some great
competitors in the category.
They all do a good job.
But it's just amazing to me howtheir product is great, it's
(09:34):
functional, but just some of thetastes are like, oh my God.
And the great thing for us is,you know, once our customers
taste that product, that's whatsort of pulls them in.
I mean, it's really, again,it's.
I think it's executing on yourbrand promise.
You know, if you are going totell somebody, you're going to
have a great experience allaround.
I think you should back that upevery step of the way with the
(09:54):
consumer experience in the store, the cashier, how you're using
the app In your case, how doessomeone get a survey that they
could engage with quickly andeasily?
Everything across the board,our socials.
How can they engage with us onsocial?
Is there a consistency there aswell?
Speaker 1 (10:16):
really interesting is we did a bunch of data, we did
a bunch of research to figureout what are the most likely
reasons for restaurants to getnegative reviews, and they were
the two things that you justmentioned service and accuracy.
And I found it reallyinteresting it wasn't about the
food, because if a restaurant isstill in business, the reviews
aren't going to be allcomplaining about the food.
It's the service and theaccuracy, because if you aren't
(10:37):
treated well, you want to feelvindicated and so you will be
out for blood.
And these consumers they go toGoogle, they go to Yelp to
really get their pound of fleshIf the order is inaccurate.
I drove 10 minutes.
I picked up my order, I drove10 minutes home, I opened it up
to give it to my family and Iordered five things and four of
them are there.
I'm so frustrated, right, andthose two things, I think, are
(11:01):
so critical because it creates avery viscerally emotional
experience.
I could handle hey, I wanted toorder here and the food wasn't
that good, so we'll go someplaceelse next time.
But if you make me feel likeI'm not important, that is going
to get a negative review moreoften than any other mistake
that you could make in therestaurant industry.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Yeah, you're right, we see it If you look at it.
We review our input, ourcustomer data, customer feedback
regularly.
But if you just look at evenacross the board reviews for
brands in general, justgeneralized, that's the majority
of complaints, especially forrestaurants.
And now introduced a couple ofyears ago, obviously because of
COVID it sort of took off butthird-party delivery that we
(11:44):
really have no control over, ourus in the restaurant space have
no control over right the ordergets placed I mean many of us
using a preferred provider todeliver that product into the
homes.
And then of course there's theindividual.
If somebody orders from UberEats, it's going to come from
Uber Eats, but there's minimalcontrol on that.
We make sure that when it goesto the driver, when it's ready
(12:07):
to go, it's packaged, it'saccurate, it's verified,
everything else.
But if there's something thathappens you end up with an
outraged customer.
Sure, you can give them arefund, but it just puts a bad
taste in their mouth and so withthat, what are some tactics
that you've used to improve theguest experience?
Again, a lot of this, I think,falls onto the operations side.
(12:27):
It's just verifying.
Funny one of the complaintsthat we would get from our
mobile app is that people wouldplace an order and they would
hit the wrong location, oh yeah,what happens is an order is
ready somewhere else or itdoesn't get delivered, so really
focusing on that.
So what we did is we recentlyupdated our app and we have an
extra step there to verify hey,you're ordering from this store
(12:50):
on La Cienega Boulevard in LosAngeles versus another store.
That's one of the ways again,but operations really is the one
that that falls on, becauseagain, we're sending people in,
we're promoting products.
It's got to be executed by ouroperations partners, with all
the things they're training toour franchisees and to their
team members.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
Yeah, I love that.
I think it's so important and Ithink the message about this
unification of messaging to theguest and making sure that you
have a unified face, like youknow, if my wife and I disagree
on how to parent our kid througha situation like maybe I
shouldn't talk about this on thepodcast, but my kid was getting
(13:30):
like he was getting pushedaround by this other kid and so
he popped him in the nose andgave him a bloody nose, right,
and so my wife's reaction waslike hey, wait, like stand up
for yourself.
My reaction was let's use ourwords, right.
So her and I had to get on thesame page on how do we handle
that.
But same thing with operationsand marketing you have to
(13:51):
provide that unified face and Ithink that messaging throughout
I think is so critical and Ilove that you really touched on
that, because that's somethingthat often gets overlooked and
it's not sent out as a campaign.
It's sent out as like a one-offand it's so much more powerful
when it is a campaign.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
Yeah, there's a balance between our operations
folks not being police officersand being coaches, as an example
, we have a monthly allfranchisee webinar.
We have a biannual conferenceand we drive these things home
and we take feedback fromfranchisees, of course as well,
but again, just trying toes, ofcourse as well, but again just
(14:34):
trying to, yes, be uniform, beconsistent, but trying to
explain to a franchisee here'swhy we're doing something and
here's the importance of it,besides the fact that you're
obligated, through yourfranchise room, to follow this.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
But I mean just this is going to help you, and I
think that that's really thewhat's in it for me, right?
Speaker 2 (14:46):
And when you've got a brand that's been around for as
long as we have 25 years.
We've tried a lot of differentthings over the years.
What we did years ago, when Iwas at Robex in the mid to late
2000s, is different than we'redoing now as far as tactics and
training our franchisees to getout and market their stores.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
So, mitch, you know a lot of people in the industry
who's someone that we should befollowing, who's someone that
deserves an ovation.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
This is going to sound somewhat silly but as a
consumer I look at, everybodysays Starbucks right, which they
do a great.
Starbucks, apple, nike, theyall do a great job, although
Nike sort of lost a little bitof its flair lately.
But one thing I continually seeis McDonald's.
They're always reinventingthemselves, whether the look and
the feel, either the marketingmessaging they use, whether it
(15:31):
be broadcast media or even inthe store.
They're always evolving to notonly what the customer wants but
, I think, to attract adifferent customer, a broader
customer.
And I see just in theirmessaging it seems to be very,
very clean.
They don't take a lot ofchances, because how many
variations can you do on an EggMcMuffin or the McRib?
(15:52):
But that's one of the brandsthat stands out in just being
diverse and being unique andkeeping a real high level of
quality.
You know, of course, applebecause it's simplistic.
They definitely, you know, havefor years, you know, focused,
focused on the brand and it'sall about the brand.
At the end of the day, youcould have a phone over here, a
phone over there, a computer.
Pretty much it's going to workthe same way.
(16:15):
So it's just about the wholeessence of being part of the
brand, making you feel likeyou're part of that movement, so
to say.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
Yeah, Love that Mitch .
Well, how do people find andfollow you and Robex Gosh on
social media.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Obviously, robex Fresh Juices and Smoothies.
Robexcom is the website.
I'm on LinkedIn, mitch Bakerfor those franchise folks that
are viewing and listening I'llbe at the International
Franchise Association annualconference starting on Sunday.
I'm actually part of theMarketing and Innovation
Committee, which is headed up byjust some great folks here.
(16:51):
Sherry Fishman, who is alongtime veteran in the
franchise industry, is our chair, so we're doing some great
things to help franchisees andfranchisors be able to market
their stores and use bestpractices.
So anyway, long story short,I'll be there and, as I
mentioned, of course, linkedin.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
Awesome.
Well, Mitch, for giving us aMitch Baker's dozen worth of
insights.
Today's ovation goes to you.
Thank you so much for joiningus on Give an Ovation.
Thanks, Zach.
Thanks for joining us today.
If you like this episode, leaveus a review on Apple Podcasts
or your favorite place to listen.
We're all about feedback here.
Again, this episode wassponsored by Ovation, a
(17:31):
two-question, SMS-basedactionable guest feedback
platform built for multi-unitrestaurants.
If you'd like to learn how wecan help you measure and create
a better guest experience, visitus at OvationUpcom.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!