February 3, 2025 • 17 mins
In this episode of Give an Ovation, we welcome Joe Sample, President of Crave Management Group, the multi-unit, multi-brand operator behind top-performing Taco Bell locations and Bobby’s Burgers by Bobby Flay. With over 22 years of experience, Joe shares his proven strategies for creating high-performing teams and delivering exceptional guest experiences.
Zack and Joe discuss:
- The key question every GM should ask to drive operational excellence
- Why having one standard is critical for consistency
- How autonomy and trust improve both team and guest experiences
- Hiring tactics to identify top-performing restaurant leaders
- Simple changes that elevate the guest experience, like redefining roles
Tune in to hear how Joe’s leadership style and operational insights have helped Crave Management Group thrive in a competitive industry!
Thanks, Joe!
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 with all the
(00:21):
questions.
Learn more at OvationUpcom.
And today we have an operatorof operators.
He is a gold star operator, joeSample.
He's the president of CraveManagement Group, a hair that I
aspire for.
Did you start Crave ManagementGroup?
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Yes, it's a new branding.
Actually, when we added thesecond company restaurant
company we rebranded into CraveManagement Group.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Yep Got it, but I mean this is like yours for 22
and a half years Multi-unit,multi-brand.
And not only that, but you'vegot Taco Bell's and Bobby's
Burgers, and we met because Iwas in Bobby's Burgers.
They've been working with usfor a while and they finally
opened one here in Utah andthank you, joe, for opening that
.
And so I was there having lunchand I saw this guy walking
(01:08):
around.
I was like he looks like hecares a lot about the guest
experience and I was like heyrandom question Do you own this
place?
He's like, yeah, and I was likeall right, you can tell by the
walk that you care, but you getpeople to care too, because
digging around a little bit Ifound out that there's ballpark
(01:29):
call it a little over 8,000 TacoBells, and six of your Taco
Bells are in the top 100.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Yes, so it changes every year, but, yes, over a
number of years.
There actually for it was threeyears straight we had two Taco
Bells not necessarily the sameones operating in the top 100
out of over 7,500 stores, andnow they're 8,000.
And that was a holisticmeasurement.
It's not like a salesmeasurement or just a guest
(01:57):
satisfaction measurement.
It was a holistic measurementof operations, and so that was
something we've been very proudof and excited about and want to
just keep adding more to that.
So what's the?
Speaker 1 (02:08):
secret Joe how do you consistently have stores in the
top 100?
I mean, that's an incrediblefeat.
How do you do that?
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Yeah, thanks.
Well, the simple answer isthere's a lot of things that you
do in order to get there, andit's a lot of work.
The exciting thing, I think,for people to know, is that the
leadership styles of the variousmanagers were very different,
and yet they all ultimatelyattained that level of
(02:37):
performance.
So just one of the sort of keymindsets we have as we approach
operations is this what we callthe big question, and that is
what did I do today?
This is for a general managerwhat did I do today to enable my
team to run A-plus operationsin my absence?
And so, as they process thatand as they enable their team to
(03:00):
run at a really high level,that doesn't require them to be
there.
So some people achieve reallygreat performances in
restaurants, but it's becausethey are literally there all the
time.
They never leave the place.
I see it all the time.
That is not the type ofenvironment that we're trying to
create and, by extension, asthe GM started thinking like
(03:21):
this, that means that otherpeople have more
responsibilities, they havethings to own, they come in with
greater purpose around whatthey're going to do and
accomplish that day, and if youcan get your entire store sort
of feel like that and operatelike that.
You can operate in the top,it's a lot of fun to watch and
it just looks really smooth andeasy.
But it certainly wasn't to getthere.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
I love how the most profound things are often so
simple.
But that concept of how is therestaurant when you're not there
and how do you get your team tothink about that?
Because everyone could go inthere and put in their A game.
There's a franchisee that weworked with of a very, very
large brand and he had 30locations and one of his
(04:03):
locations was always giving himproblems down in revenue, bad in
online reviews, but every timehe went there, Joe, what do you
think happened?
It was smooth, right.
It was like something about himjust being there and he could
never figure out what was goingon.
So that's when he started usingOvation and he found out in one
(04:26):
week that that location wasbeing really messy with how they
made their pizza.
But when he was there they tooka lot of extra care, and so he
was able to go in there, retrainthem on how do you make pizza
and then keep a pulse on that,and he knew what to look for now
, and so it went from 28complaints a week down to three
complaints a week, which is onpar with his other locations.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
And you know that's actually something you hear
about and you see so often inthe space is this dual standard?
Because the operators, theyallow for certain cuts to happen
or they disagree with somethingthat the brand may say.
This is how this should be done, and then when somebody else
comes in and now the team has todo it a different way.
(05:10):
Now, of course, this examplewas just the team themselves
were choosing to do it one way,and then when leadership of that
brand or that owner came in oroperator came in, then they
would do it the right way.
It's just really frustrating.
That's another one of thosethings that makes it really
difficult to manage at a veryhigh level, because you don't
want to have to manage that.
You don't want to have tomanage to two standards.
It's already hard enough to doone standard really well, and so
(05:33):
that's something we've alwaystaken a lot of pride in.
We take that Taco Bell playbook, we're going to take this
Bobby's playbook and we're goingto execute it to the best of
our ability and there will notbe two standards.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
I love that because that one standard approach of
this is how things are done,period, regardless of what else
is going on, and then havingthose checks and balances to
make sure that that's happeningand having that trust in the
team.
That's just really powerful andit's.
Are there any?
I know this is not a questionthat we had prepared, but, like,
(06:03):
are there any questions thatyou ask when you're looking for
a GM that kind of help you sussout?
Are they going to be someonewho's going to buy into this
mentality?
Speaker 2 (06:11):
Yeah, yes, so the most important thing that we try
to understand with GMs isactually how they just were at
their last job, and so that'sthrough pretty rigorous
reference checks.
But I don't know that there'sone particular question.
So we build a scorecard.
The book is called who by JeffSmart I'm pretty sure he's a
Utah guy and the originalplaybook there was called top
(06:36):
grading.
Anyway, that's a system and aprocess that we use.
We think it's been extremelyeffective.
The scorecard lays out thevarious attributes that we're
looking for from the generalmanagers that we're trying to
hire, and those are going to bein the.
To what extent are they apeople developer?
To what extent are they apeople retainer?
Are they an A-plus typeoperator?
Do they a people retainer?
(06:56):
Are they an A plus typeoperator?
Do they get system and process?
Do they have this is a new onetechnology sort of acumen and
capacity?
Technology is everywhere nowand it's been very frustrating
for some GMs who just completelylack that skillset to really
get up to speed with everythingthat's going on.
We look at a lot of differentthings in that scorecard, so I
(07:19):
wouldn't say there's just oneparticular question.
But it's a pretty rigorousprocess and we follow it again,
just like these other systemsand process to a T.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Yeah, and I look at this, who, jeff Smart, randy
Street?
I mean there's 2,500 reviews,the 4.5 on Amazon, so definitely
going in my to-read list, verycool.
This is all boiling downbecause, regardless of if we're
hiring GMs or we're sticking tostandards or we're doing the
decor, the cleanliness, it's allabout the guest experience,
(07:48):
right?
So what do you think is themost important aspect of guest
experience?
Joe?
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Well, they're coming in for a product or, in my world
, they're coming in for food.
So the most important thing thatI can do is deliver great food
that they have ordered anddeliver it the way they've
ordered it.
Now, if we're talking about thecustomer interaction with our
team, I mean, if you want todeliver an exceptional
experience, you are selling.
(08:14):
That counter person is selling,and selling is the transfer of
energy.
That person on the frontcounter delivers energy and
different energy, not thisrobotic same thing every time,
because you can't make it aunique experience for the guest
if it is the same thing everytime.
And then the other thing thatwe learned was that and this was
(08:35):
the service profit chain model,which is a long way of talking
about it, but a long time agothey discovered that the team
member experience will neverexceed the guest experience and
the guest experience will neverexceed the team member
experience.
So if the team member doesn'thave the autonomy and authority
to bring their full self, theirfull creative and fun self, to
(08:57):
the experience, then you'llnever be at the highest level of
the guest satisfaction.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
And I am jiving with you.
I'm looking behind me.
There's a book.
Hold on, this is worth it.
Okay, all right, let's take alook.
So Scott Sampson wrote thisbook called Essentials of
Service Design and InnovationOkay, called Essentials of
Service Design and Innovation,and this is.
I was out of credits, so Iaudited his course because of
exactly what you're talkingabout, which is like, even go
(09:23):
back to the suppliers.
If you don't have a goodrelationship with your suppliers
, with your franchisors, thenthat's going to affect the guest
experience, because if you needsomething and it's last minute,
who knows if they're going tohelp you out?
If you're in a bind, you needsomething and it's last minute,
who knows if they're going tohelp you out?
If you're in a bind, you needsomething.
So it's about this entireservice value chain going from
(09:43):
how far up the chain can you goand create the great experiences
all along there?
Because I 100% agree with youis so much of this is about the
people, and you really careabout people and you care about
your team members.
You provide benefits for yourteam members.
I was doing some research onthis and, like you, do a lot of
(10:04):
things to make sure that yourteam members feel cared about
and they feel like this is aplace that they can grow.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
Yeah, thank you.
Thank you.
No, it's super important.
So, for example, our vision issummit together.
So you have just mentioned andbrought up why and how, all
those different ways in whichdifferent groups and different
parties will summit together ifwe do an amazing job with what
we're charged with here aboutthis is trust and that base
(10:33):
layer.
We look at that fivedysfunctions of a team.
We use it in an intrapersonalway, but that base layer is
trust, and one of the best waysthat we can provide trust to
everybody on our team is throughautonomy.
So if we can build out greatsystems and process so they can
come in, they don't have to asksomebody what they need to do.
(10:55):
They already know what they'regoing to do and then they just
start executing and we give themthe freedom to go in and just
do their thing without having toask or without having to be
told.
It creates a much moreenjoyable environment.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
That's such a great tactic as well.
In thinking about this andnormally when we talk about
tactics, we're thinking aboutlike, thinking about this, and
normally when we talk abouttactics, we're thinking about
like, hey, put in a speedcounter, speed timers, you can
see how quickly your orders aregoing out, or things like that
but what other tactics do youhave that have improved the
guest experience?
Because I do think, by the way,that focusing on your employees
(11:30):
and all of this is amazing.
They're amazing tactics toimprove the guest experience.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
Yeah, I mean, I think , for example, one of the things
we did was when we were intraining for Bobby's they had
called the role of lobbyattendant.
You know, it was very busy andthey wanted somebody out there
to check in on the meal, checkin on the tables and whatnot.
I'm like lobby attendant and sosomething as simple as we just
(11:56):
changed the way that role lookedand felt, so we changed it to
brand ambassador and so we'rekind of selective with all right
, who gets to go out there andthen we get to go have fun with
it.
It's not just more aboutfunctional, it's experiential.
It's not cleaning tables andtaking care of trashes and
making sure the next.
It's experiential.
It's not cleaning tables andtaking care of trashes and
(12:16):
making sure the next table canbe ready.
It's about talking to people andseeing if they ordered sweet
potato fries, did they decide topair that with what Bobby Flay
recommends, which is the honey,mustard, horseradish sauce, and
that's just kind of like thisdifferent experience.
And then if they say, oh no,that sounds interesting, I would
like to do that, then just gograb it for them.
And now you can not only talkabout the food quality, you can
(12:38):
give people a little bit of adifferent flavor, try some new
things.
We really want trial and menuexploration so it's just really
fun to go out there and do that.
But just the title change aloneshifts how a person thinks
about that role out in the lobbyand so that was a simple one,
but that's one.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
I think that's so powerful, and even having that
role of a brand ambassador thatgoes around and does good table
touches, but it's more about theservice of it, it's more about
how can we go, just like thatlittle bit more, because those
little things make a hugedifference to the guest
experience, and I think that'sso powerful.
Now, who is someone?
Obviously you've been in thisindustry for a long time.
(13:20):
Who's someone that we should befollowing?
What's a brand that you'rechecking out?
Speaker 2 (13:24):
nowadays we're based in Salt Lake now.
So the prominent brand in SaltLake you see them all over the
place and it seems to be quite atrend is this Dirty Sodas, and
in that space and in salt lakeit's got to be swig.
So I would say swig.
It's really interesting.
They have sort of like apremium brand halo in their
space.
(13:44):
They offer the convenience thatpeople are wanting and I know
they have some huge expansionplans going on right now.
I believe it was the millergroup.
Yeah, they bought them.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
Yeah, in savory yeah, and so that's a really
interesting partnership and I'mgoing on right now.
I believe it was the MillerGroup.
Yeah, larry H, miller Group andSavory.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
Yeah, and Savory yeah , and so that's a really
interesting partnership and I'mgoing to be curious to see how
that does.
A lot of people are saying, oh,I don't know, maybe it's just a
Salt Lake thing.
I don't think that's the case.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
No, I mean as they've expanded into other locations.
I mean like Oklahoma iscrushing it right and that's
outside of the Rockies.
It's doing really well andpeople are interested in it and
it's one of those things where,in the show notes, we'll put the
podcast episode that I did withNicole Tanner, who's the
founder amazing woman so focusedon the mission and on doing
(14:30):
good and putting out happiness.
On doing good and putting outhappiness.
Probably the second place rightnow in Utah is a group called
Thirst, run by Ethan Cisneros.
Let's put his podcast in theshow notes as well.
He is out there every singleday, I mean seven days a week,
just posting to social, sharingthe story of how he's growing
(14:50):
thirst.
So anyway, I think there's somereally cool stuff happening in
the soda realm.
And who would have thoughtright?
Speaker 2 (14:57):
I mean the scary thing for every single one of
those is all of the QSRs haveconvenience, have a soda base
and it's like the leap for theentire space to have.
That option is not far, and soI think it'll be really
(15:17):
interesting to see.
And of course this has been thecase.
People have been like, oh, wedidn't need another sub shop,
and yet here we are with Subwayand Quiznos and Jersey Mike's
and Jimmy John's For an $8billion acquisition right, yeah,
so I'm of the belief that andsomebody would probably say the
same thing to me about burgersit's like, really, in Salt Lake,
(15:39):
do we need another burger place?
Well, yes, you do, because youneed a better burger place.
But there is plenty of marketshare to be had.
So I'll be really curious tosee how that goes.
And some of it is thatconvenience piece.
You know, the QSRs are alreadythere, but Swig, I mean, they're
(16:00):
able to plunk down or thirstpretty small boxes and make it
work at great economics, I'msure.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
Well, where can people go, Joe, to learn more
about you, your brand, if theywant to follow you?
Maybe get some hair tips fromyou, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
Just on LinkedIn for me.
And then the brand you canfollow Bobby's Burgers by Bobby
Flay on LinkedIn.
They're pretty active in thatspace.
Our website iscravemanagementgroupcom.
We're in the process ofrevamping it as we've added this
other brand and we're trying toshowcase the power of operating
in multiple states and multiplebrands.
So, yeah, I would say those arethe best.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
Awesome.
Well, joe, for making sure thatmy life is filled with both
burgers and nacho cheese.
Today's ovation goes to you.
Thank you for joining us onGive an Ovation, my pleasure.
Thanks, zach.
Thanks for joining us today.
If you liked this episode,leave us a review on Apple
Podcasts or your favorite placeto listen.
We're all about feedback here.
Again, this episode wassponsored by Ovation, a
(16:56):
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 with all the
(00:21):
questions.
Learn more at OvationUpcom.
And today we have an operatorof operators.
He is a gold star operator, joeSample.
He's the president of CraveManagement Group, a hair that I
aspire for.
Did you start Crave ManagementGroup?
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Yes, it's a new branding.
Actually, when we added thesecond company restaurant
company we rebranded into CraveManagement Group.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Yep Got it, but I mean this is like yours for 22
and a half years Multi-unit,multi-brand.
And not only that, but you'vegot Taco Bell's and Bobby's
Burgers, and we met because Iwas in Bobby's Burgers.
They've been working with usfor a while and they finally
opened one here in Utah andthank you, joe, for opening that
.
And so I was there having lunchand I saw this guy walking
(01:08):
around.
I was like he looks like hecares a lot about the guest
experience and I was like heyrandom question Do you own this
place?
He's like, yeah, and I was likeall right, you can tell by the
walk that you care, but you getpeople to care too, because
digging around a little bit Ifound out that there's ballpark
(01:29):
call it a little over 8,000 TacoBells, and six of your Taco
Bells are in the top 100.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Yes, so it changes every year, but, yes, over a
number of years.
There actually for it was threeyears straight we had two Taco
Bells not necessarily the sameones operating in the top 100
out of over 7,500 stores, andnow they're 8,000.
And that was a holisticmeasurement.
It's not like a salesmeasurement or just a guest
(01:57):
satisfaction measurement.
It was a holistic measurementof operations, and so that was
something we've been very proudof and excited about and want to
just keep adding more to that.
So what's the?
Speaker 1 (02:08):
secret Joe how do you consistently have stores in the
top 100?
I mean, that's an incrediblefeat.
How do you do that?
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Yeah, thanks.
Well, the simple answer isthere's a lot of things that you
do in order to get there, andit's a lot of work.
The exciting thing, I think,for people to know, is that the
leadership styles of the variousmanagers were very different,
and yet they all ultimatelyattained that level of
(02:37):
performance.
So just one of the sort of keymindsets we have as we approach
operations is this what we callthe big question, and that is
what did I do today?
This is for a general managerwhat did I do today to enable my
team to run A-plus operationsin my absence?
And so, as they process thatand as they enable their team to
(03:00):
run at a really high level,that doesn't require them to be
there.
So some people achieve reallygreat performances in
restaurants, but it's becausethey are literally there all the
time.
They never leave the place.
I see it all the time.
That is not the type ofenvironment that we're trying to
create and, by extension, asthe GM started thinking like
(03:21):
this, that means that otherpeople have more
responsibilities, they havethings to own, they come in with
greater purpose around whatthey're going to do and
accomplish that day, and if youcan get your entire store sort
of feel like that and operatelike that.
You can operate in the top,it's a lot of fun to watch and
it just looks really smooth andeasy.
But it certainly wasn't to getthere.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
I love how the most profound things are often so
simple.
But that concept of how is therestaurant when you're not there
and how do you get your team tothink about that?
Because everyone could go inthere and put in their A game.
There's a franchisee that weworked with of a very, very
large brand and he had 30locations and one of his
(04:03):
locations was always giving himproblems down in revenue, bad in
online reviews, but every timehe went there, Joe, what do you
think happened?
It was smooth, right.
It was like something about himjust being there and he could
never figure out what was goingon.
So that's when he started usingOvation and he found out in one
(04:26):
week that that location wasbeing really messy with how they
made their pizza.
But when he was there they tooka lot of extra care, and so he
was able to go in there, retrainthem on how do you make pizza
and then keep a pulse on that,and he knew what to look for now
, and so it went from 28complaints a week down to three
complaints a week, which is onpar with his other locations.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
And you know that's actually something you hear
about and you see so often inthe space is this dual standard?
Because the operators, theyallow for certain cuts to happen
or they disagree with somethingthat the brand may say.
This is how this should be done, and then when somebody else
comes in and now the team has todo it a different way.
(05:10):
Now, of course, this examplewas just the team themselves
were choosing to do it one way,and then when leadership of that
brand or that owner came in oroperator came in, then they
would do it the right way.
It's just really frustrating.
That's another one of thosethings that makes it really
difficult to manage at a veryhigh level, because you don't
want to have to manage that.
You don't want to have tomanage to two standards.
It's already hard enough to doone standard really well, and so
(05:33):
that's something we've alwaystaken a lot of pride in.
We take that Taco Bell playbook, we're going to take this
Bobby's playbook and we're goingto execute it to the best of
our ability and there will notbe two standards.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
I love that because that one standard approach of
this is how things are done,period, regardless of what else
is going on, and then havingthose checks and balances to
make sure that that's happeningand having that trust in the
team.
That's just really powerful andit's.
Are there any?
I know this is not a questionthat we had prepared, but, like,
(06:03):
are there any questions thatyou ask when you're looking for
a GM that kind of help you sussout?
Are they going to be someonewho's going to buy into this
mentality?
Speaker 2 (06:11):
Yeah, yes, so the most important thing that we try
to understand with GMs isactually how they just were at
their last job, and so that'sthrough pretty rigorous
reference checks.
But I don't know that there'sone particular question.
So we build a scorecard.
The book is called who by JeffSmart I'm pretty sure he's a
Utah guy and the originalplaybook there was called top
(06:36):
grading.
Anyway, that's a system and aprocess that we use.
We think it's been extremelyeffective.
The scorecard lays out thevarious attributes that we're
looking for from the generalmanagers that we're trying to
hire, and those are going to bein the.
To what extent are they apeople developer?
To what extent are they apeople retainer?
Are they an A-plus typeoperator?
Do they a people retainer?
(06:56):
Are they an A plus typeoperator?
Do they get system and process?
Do they have this is a new onetechnology sort of acumen and
capacity?
Technology is everywhere nowand it's been very frustrating
for some GMs who just completelylack that skillset to really
get up to speed with everythingthat's going on.
We look at a lot of differentthings in that scorecard, so I
(07:19):
wouldn't say there's just oneparticular question.
But it's a pretty rigorousprocess and we follow it again,
just like these other systemsand process to a T.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Yeah, and I look at this, who, jeff Smart, randy
Street?
I mean there's 2,500 reviews,the 4.5 on Amazon, so definitely
going in my to-read list, verycool.
This is all boiling downbecause, regardless of if we're
hiring GMs or we're sticking tostandards or we're doing the
decor, the cleanliness, it's allabout the guest experience,
(07:48):
right?
So what do you think is themost important aspect of guest
experience?
Joe?
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Well, they're coming in for a product or, in my world
, they're coming in for food.
So the most important thing thatI can do is deliver great food
that they have ordered anddeliver it the way they've
ordered it.
Now, if we're talking about thecustomer interaction with our
team, I mean, if you want todeliver an exceptional
experience, you are selling.
(08:14):
That counter person is selling,and selling is the transfer of
energy.
That person on the frontcounter delivers energy and
different energy, not thisrobotic same thing every time,
because you can't make it aunique experience for the guest
if it is the same thing everytime.
And then the other thing thatwe learned was that and this was
(08:35):
the service profit chain model,which is a long way of talking
about it, but a long time agothey discovered that the team
member experience will neverexceed the guest experience and
the guest experience will neverexceed the team member
experience.
So if the team member doesn'thave the autonomy and authority
to bring their full self, theirfull creative and fun self, to
(08:57):
the experience, then you'llnever be at the highest level of
the guest satisfaction.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
And I am jiving with you.
I'm looking behind me.
There's a book.
Hold on, this is worth it.
Okay, all right, let's take alook.
So Scott Sampson wrote thisbook called Essentials of
Service Design and InnovationOkay, called Essentials of
Service Design and Innovation,and this is.
I was out of credits, so Iaudited his course because of
exactly what you're talkingabout, which is like, even go
(09:23):
back to the suppliers.
If you don't have a goodrelationship with your suppliers
, with your franchisors, thenthat's going to affect the guest
experience, because if you needsomething and it's last minute,
who knows if they're going tohelp you out?
If you're in a bind, you needsomething and it's last minute,
who knows if they're going tohelp you out?
If you're in a bind, you needsomething.
So it's about this entireservice value chain going from
(09:43):
how far up the chain can you goand create the great experiences
all along there?
Because I 100% agree with youis so much of this is about the
people, and you really careabout people and you care about
your team members.
You provide benefits for yourteam members.
I was doing some research onthis and, like you, do a lot of
(10:04):
things to make sure that yourteam members feel cared about
and they feel like this is aplace that they can grow.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
Yeah, thank you.
Thank you.
No, it's super important.
So, for example, our vision issummit together.
So you have just mentioned andbrought up why and how, all
those different ways in whichdifferent groups and different
parties will summit together ifwe do an amazing job with what
we're charged with here aboutthis is trust and that base
(10:33):
layer.
We look at that fivedysfunctions of a team.
We use it in an intrapersonalway, but that base layer is
trust, and one of the best waysthat we can provide trust to
everybody on our team is throughautonomy.
So if we can build out greatsystems and process so they can
come in, they don't have to asksomebody what they need to do.
(10:55):
They already know what they'regoing to do and then they just
start executing and we give themthe freedom to go in and just
do their thing without having toask or without having to be
told.
It creates a much moreenjoyable environment.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
That's such a great tactic as well.
In thinking about this andnormally when we talk about
tactics, we're thinking aboutlike, thinking about this, and
normally when we talk abouttactics, we're thinking about
like, hey, put in a speedcounter, speed timers, you can
see how quickly your orders aregoing out, or things like that
but what other tactics do youhave that have improved the
guest experience?
Because I do think, by the way,that focusing on your employees
(11:30):
and all of this is amazing.
They're amazing tactics toimprove the guest experience.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
Yeah, I mean, I think , for example, one of the things
we did was when we were intraining for Bobby's they had
called the role of lobbyattendant.
You know, it was very busy andthey wanted somebody out there
to check in on the meal, checkin on the tables and whatnot.
I'm like lobby attendant and sosomething as simple as we just
(11:56):
changed the way that role lookedand felt, so we changed it to
brand ambassador and so we'rekind of selective with all right
, who gets to go out there andthen we get to go have fun with
it.
It's not just more aboutfunctional, it's experiential.
It's not cleaning tables andtaking care of trashes and
making sure the next.
It's experiential.
It's not cleaning tables andtaking care of trashes and
(12:16):
making sure the next table canbe ready.
It's about talking to people andseeing if they ordered sweet
potato fries, did they decide topair that with what Bobby Flay
recommends, which is the honey,mustard, horseradish sauce, and
that's just kind of like thisdifferent experience.
And then if they say, oh no,that sounds interesting, I would
like to do that, then just gograb it for them.
And now you can not only talkabout the food quality, you can
(12:38):
give people a little bit of adifferent flavor, try some new
things.
We really want trial and menuexploration so it's just really
fun to go out there and do that.
But just the title change aloneshifts how a person thinks
about that role out in the lobbyand so that was a simple one,
but that's one.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
I think that's so powerful, and even having that
role of a brand ambassador thatgoes around and does good table
touches, but it's more about theservice of it, it's more about
how can we go, just like thatlittle bit more, because those
little things make a hugedifference to the guest
experience, and I think that'sso powerful.
Now, who is someone?
Obviously you've been in thisindustry for a long time.
(13:20):
Who's someone that we should befollowing?
What's a brand that you'rechecking out?
Speaker 2 (13:24):
nowadays we're based in Salt Lake now.
So the prominent brand in SaltLake you see them all over the
place and it seems to be quite atrend is this Dirty Sodas, and
in that space and in salt lakeit's got to be swig.
So I would say swig.
It's really interesting.
They have sort of like apremium brand halo in their
space.
(13:44):
They offer the convenience thatpeople are wanting and I know
they have some huge expansionplans going on right now.
I believe it was the millergroup.
Yeah, they bought them.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
Yeah, in savory yeah, and so that's a really
interesting partnership and I'mgoing on right now.
I believe it was the MillerGroup.
Yeah, larry H, miller Group andSavory.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
Yeah, and Savory yeah , and so that's a really
interesting partnership and I'mgoing to be curious to see how
that does.
A lot of people are saying, oh,I don't know, maybe it's just a
Salt Lake thing.
I don't think that's the case.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
No, I mean as they've expanded into other locations.
I mean like Oklahoma iscrushing it right and that's
outside of the Rockies.
It's doing really well andpeople are interested in it and
it's one of those things where,in the show notes, we'll put the
podcast episode that I did withNicole Tanner, who's the
founder amazing woman so focusedon the mission and on doing
(14:30):
good and putting out happiness.
On doing good and putting outhappiness.
Probably the second place rightnow in Utah is a group called
Thirst, run by Ethan Cisneros.
Let's put his podcast in theshow notes as well.
He is out there every singleday, I mean seven days a week,
just posting to social, sharingthe story of how he's growing
(14:50):
thirst.
So anyway, I think there's somereally cool stuff happening in
the soda realm.
And who would have thoughtright?
Speaker 2 (14:57):
I mean the scary thing for every single one of
those is all of the QSRs haveconvenience, have a soda base
and it's like the leap for theentire space to have.
That option is not far, and soI think it'll be really
(15:17):
interesting to see.
And of course this has been thecase.
People have been like, oh, wedidn't need another sub shop,
and yet here we are with Subwayand Quiznos and Jersey Mike's
and Jimmy John's For an $8billion acquisition right, yeah,
so I'm of the belief that andsomebody would probably say the
same thing to me about burgersit's like, really, in Salt Lake,
(15:39):
do we need another burger place?
Well, yes, you do, because youneed a better burger place.
But there is plenty of marketshare to be had.
So I'll be really curious tosee how that goes.
And some of it is thatconvenience piece.
You know, the QSRs are alreadythere, but Swig, I mean, they're
(16:00):
able to plunk down or thirstpretty small boxes and make it
work at great economics, I'msure.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
Well, where can people go, Joe, to learn more
about you, your brand, if theywant to follow you?
Maybe get some hair tips fromyou, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
Just on LinkedIn for me.
And then the brand you canfollow Bobby's Burgers by Bobby
Flay on LinkedIn.
They're pretty active in thatspace.
Our website iscravemanagementgroupcom.
We're in the process ofrevamping it as we've added this
other brand and we're trying toshowcase the power of operating
in multiple states and multiplebrands.
So, yeah, I would say those arethe best.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
Awesome.
Well, joe, for making sure thatmy life is filled with both
burgers and nacho cheese.
Today's ovation goes to you.
Thank you for joining us onGive an Ovation, my pleasure.
Thanks, zach.
Thanks for joining us today.
If you liked this episode,leave us a review on Apple
Podcasts or your favorite placeto listen.
We're all about feedback here.
Again, this episode wassponsored by Ovation, a
(16:56):
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.
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