March 27, 2025 • 29 mins
Bringing Loyalty to Life with an Authentic, Brand-First Approach
Since its founding in 1963, Portillo’s has built a loyal following with its crave-worthy Chicago-style street food, from iconic Italian beef sandwiches to its famous chocolate cake. Customers don’t just dine at Portillo’s—they celebrate there, creating memories that span generations. Now, with the launch of its first-ever loyalty program, Portillo’s Perks, the brand is taking customer engagement to the next level with an approach that is as unique as the brand itself.
In a recent interview on Leaders in Customer Loyalty: Brand Stories, Keith Correia, Chief Information Officer, and Vallory McCormack, Director of Marketing, shared insights on Portillo’s loyalty strategy, the role of digital innovation, and how they’re reinforcing customer connections beyond the four walls of their restaurants.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Good afternoon everyone and welcome to another
episode of Leaders in CustomerLoyalty Brand Stories.
I'm Ethan Perry, contentDirector at Loyalty360, and I'm
thrilled to have you with ustoday as we dive into the
ever-evolving world of customerchannel and brand loyalty.
On this podcast, we sit downwith industry leaders to explore
the strategies, challenges andinnovations shaping loyalty
(00:25):
programs and customer engagement.
Today, we have an excitingconversation lined up for you on
this episode with two keyleaders from Portillo's, a
beloved brand known for itsChicago-style street food and
deep-rooted customer loyalty.
Joining us are Keith Correa,chief Information Officer, and
Valerie McCormick, director ofMarketing at Portillo's.
(00:46):
Portillo's has built apassionate fan base over the
years and they've recentlylaunched their first-ever
loyalty program.
This initiative blends digitalinnovation with add-to-wallet
technology and a trulybrand-authentic approach to
rewarding their most loyalguests the top dogs approach to
rewarding their most loyalguests the top dogs.
(01:06):
We're going to hear from Keithand Valerie about how they
designed this program, what setsit apart and how it's evolving.
Customer engagement atPortillo's.
Keith Valerie thank you both forjoining us today.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Thanks for having us.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
So, for those who may not be familiar, can you give
us a short introduction toPortillo's, how the company was
started and a little bit of thebackstory?
Speaker 2 (01:24):
a short introduction to Portillo's, how the company
was started and a little bit ofthe backstory.
Yeah, absolutely so.
Portillo's is named after thefounder, dick Portillo.
Dick started the company in1963.
So this is one of those greatAmerican bootstrap stories of
taking $1,100 and investing thatinto a hot dog stand in Villa
(01:47):
Park, illinois, and that wascalled the Dog House.
So that was the origins a hotdog stand of the brand.
And fast forward many yearslater, we're 90 restaurants
large now across 10 states, andit's really about our food
deliciousness.
So certainly Chicagoans, butbroadly so many more people, are
realizing how incredible ourfood is.
(02:09):
So we're known for Chicagostreet food delicious hot dogs,
italian beef sandwiches, we havegreat burgers, salads and then
of course, our very famouschocolate cake.
And I think what reallydifferentiates us is that we are
incredibly high quality on thefood side, but we really try to
(02:31):
move with quick service,restaurant kind of speed and
service.
So we combine both of those ina great way.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
Excellent, and I will say I am personally a big fan
of your Italian Italian beef.
And now you've got me thinkingabout it and it's too long of a
drive from Cincinnati to go upthere, so I'm gonna be thinking
about it all night.
But tell us a little bit moreabout from both of you what
about your role with Portillo'sand how you got to where you are
(03:00):
and maybe some other positionsyou've had that kind of led you
on your journey to where you aretoday.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
Sure, so well.
First of all, Ethan, I knowyou're in Cincinnati, but we do
have a shipping business, so wewill ship you some Italian beef
after that.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
That would really make my day for real.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
So I started at Portillo's in 2017.
I was one of the firstmarketing team members at
Portillo's, so a lot of peopleare surprised to hear that
Portillo's did not have anymarketing function prior to 2016
.
Word of mouth, word of mouthmarketing.
(03:48):
So, yeah, it's been very coolto see how the company has grown
over the past few years since Istarted and also how the
marketing function has beenbuilt out from just being a team
of four to now a team of 20plus people, spanning digital
and brand marketing fieldmarketing, our guest services
team, as well as our off-premisedining team all falls under
marketing.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Heath, did you want to add in a little bit about
your backstory?
Speaker 2 (04:17):
Yeah, sure, nathan, it's actually different than
most people who aretechnologists.
I actually have an operationsbackground, so about three
quarters of my career was infield operations and ops
services.
So I have a background inproject management, equipment
innovation, operationsinnovation and, later on in my
(04:38):
career, just because operationsoften got so embedded in the
technology stack, making surethat what we were doing as a
business really fit therestaurant business If we made
technology changes, I wound uppivoting over to technology and
ultimately became CIO at twodifferent brands, and it makes
(05:00):
me think differently.
I think what's been great aboutthat is I know that we're in
the restaurant business and it'svery important to consider the
restaurant itself first anytimewe do anything, and I think that
drives a lot of our adaptionand innovation and technology is
really thinking about what'shappening to the restaurant team
and, in turn, how is thatempowering the restaurant team
(05:21):
to interact with our guests?
Speaker 1 (05:24):
That kind of leads me to my next question for you,
Keith.
What keeps you up at night?
What is the biggest challengeor opportunity you face within
that position?
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Yeah, that's such a great question that I completely
our team completely mucks upthe operation because we chase a
shiny penny for technologyimplementation, and that's just
not a smart thing to do.
So I really worry aboutoperational simplicity when
we're innovating in thetechnology space.
(05:53):
So if we're going to doanything with the technology
stack, it's got to be somethingthat is additive to that team
and does not detract from theirability to serve the guests,
especially because we doincredibly high volumes.
I'm very proud of the number ofguests that we can serve, and
so the architecture of ourtechnology and doing a great,
(06:14):
great job of being able to doreally huge throughput is
incredibly important, and thatalso extends into what we do
digitally that we don't want tocomplicate the guest experience
because we want it to be easyfor them to get in and out of
our business or order offpremise, and so I spend a lot of
time worrying about how to dothat correctly.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
Excellent.
So we've talked to quite a fewfolks in the quick service
restaurant industry lately andthe restaurant industry in
general and we've heard you knowthat there's a lot of things
happening in that industry and alot of change.
How do you perceive yourcustomers changing and how is
Portillo's responding to thechallenges of a change in
(06:59):
customer base?
Speaker 3 (07:02):
Well, guests are expecting more personalization
in their dining experiences, andthat's across all ordering
channels.
So they're expecting the sameease of ordering, whether they
come in through our drive-thru,they come inside and order with
the cashier, they order from thekiosk or online ordering.
They're expecting apersonalized and seamless
experience, and one way thatwe're responding to this is
(07:24):
through our shift to our digitalwallet, through our new
Portillo's Perks loyalty program.
So now guests have their ownpersonalized digital perks card
that they can scan and check infor visits, they can redeem
their rewards, and it really hascreated a seamless experience
across all channels when usingand engaging with the perks
(07:46):
program.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
That's awesome and you know we invited you to come
on today because we were excitedto hear that Portillo's
launched their first everloyalty program.
We always love it when aheritage brand joins the loyalty
fold.
So can you tell us about thedetails of the new program and
what made you decide to goforward with a formal loyalty
program?
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Happy to do that.
So we really wanted to dosomething that was, in fact,
innovative, and we've spent alot of time our teams, our
marketing and IT teams reallytrying to think about what is
that in fact?
What's a great loyalty programthat fits our brand?
That would really drive theneedle.
And so we decided to pursue anapp-less program, basically to
(08:32):
take a program through vendorrelationships that's embedded in
the phone wallet, and it reallyfelt like if we could do that
well, we could somewhat leapfrogsome of the concerns that are
associated with a conventionalapp.
Apps can be great, but you alsohave to open them and you have
to sign on to them, and it cantake time and it adds friction.
(08:53):
So what we did is actuallybuilt an offer-based program
that gives people a walletsitting in their phone.
That's the ability to putreally great compelling offers
in that phone that they caneasily access.
And people have their phones onthem all the time and they're
really ready to embrace thiskind of approach.
And so what we're excited aboutwith our program is that it's
(09:16):
going to be visit-based.
As they come to visit us, we'regoing to give them very
personalized offers that arecompelling for them, that
recognize them for those visitsand give them an opportunity to
get the products that they love.
So we're going to makedata-driven decisions and really
try to make it meaningful topeople so that after they
(09:37):
visited us, they actually are ontheir way home or they are at
home and they see this greatoffer and say, wow, I'm so glad
I went to Portillo's and nowthey're thinking about me and
they know me and they're givingme an opportunity to come back
and maybe try different menuitems or get other personalized
offers.
And so we're really proud ofthe membership base we had.
(09:59):
I mentioned that we have about100 restaurants and we are
looking to activate over amillion and a half subscribers
through this wallet and if youthink about that number of
subscribers relative tolocations that we have, it's a
pretty impressive number ofpeople that are really going to
be in our forum for being ableto communicate with them and
(10:20):
having a great experience withour platform.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
That's a lot of users .
That's exciting.
So can you tell me you knowwhat does customer loyalty mean
to you and to Portillo's?
Speaker 3 (10:34):
So customer loyalty we have always had very loyal
guests inside our restaurants.
We've created lifelong memoriesfor our guests and we've made
that part of our purposestatement.
We've done that through insideour restaurants.
People celebrate with us.
They come into our restaurantsafter celebrating a big game.
(10:55):
We've had people propose atPortillo's and have their
weddings at Portillo's.
So we did a really good jobprior to launching the program
of creating those lifelongmemories and customer loyalty
with our guests inside ourrestaurants.
Now, through Portillo's Perks,we're creating experiences
beyond the four walls.
It's really exciting.
(11:15):
We were able to get reallycreative with it.
For example, part of ourprogram we have a top dog tier.
Those are our most loyal guests.
We surprise them with freemerch when they reach a top dog
tier.
So those are our most loyalguests and we surprise them with
free merch when they reach thetop dog tier.
And merch allows us to createpositive word of mouth,
marketing and brand advocacybeyond just discounting food to
(11:36):
our loyal fans.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
Awesome.
And so how does the loyaltyprogram and the process fit into
the vision that you have forloyalty?
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Yeah.
So that's a great question,ethan.
And loyalty to us first comesfrom the interaction that our
guests have and the experiencethey have with our team.
So think of this program asleaning forward with an
incredible experience, whichmeans that it reduces friction.
If you're going to use ourwallet, it needs to be easy and
(12:07):
simple.
On the backside of a reallygreat having, a great experience
, having engagement with ourteam members, it doesn't matter
how you choose to interact withus.
If you're in our drive-through,if you're using our new kiosk.
On the backside of that is apersonalized effort to
communicate with them after thefact and say thanks for coming
(12:28):
and here's an offer please comeback.
And that offer is building onthe back of a loyalty
transaction, meaning that wegave them a great experience and
this reinforces.
You know what?
I want?
To go back.
I had a great experience.
That's a little bit differentthan some loyalty programs where
it's more of a friend-endapproach of trying to lure
somebody to come back with maybea frequency play hey, come back
(12:51):
this many times and we'll giveyou X.
We really want to have itreinforce.
A great visit, a greatexperience, and that's really
the structure of our program.
That's a little bit different,awesome.
And so how would you saycustomer loyalty is prioritized
(13:12):
within the organization.
Yeah, so it really comes on theback of what I said, which is we
make sure that the teams knowthe first thing we need to do to
build loyalty is to drive agreat experience.
Let's give people great foodthat's delicious, that's hot
when it's supposed to be hot,that's cold when it's supposed
to be cold, and let's givepeople speed and make sure that
they enjoy what they're doing.
And then make sure our teamunderstands fully what is the
(13:35):
loyalty program.
How do I encourage people tosign up for perks?
How does a guest use perks?
If somebody has not signed upyet, that I can give them a
great experience and incentivizethem to sign up.
Hey, this is a great program,you should sign up.
So it's really embedded ineverybody.
Understanding the guest isfirst, the experience that we
deliver is first, and then let'sgive people the added
(13:57):
opportunity to be part of thisprogram and recognize them when
they visit us.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
Excellent.
So many brands that are runningcustomer loyalty programs are
telling us that their customersare increasingly searching for
value.
How does your program addressthat?
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Yeah, it addresses it very overtly initially when
they sign up.
So when a guest signs up forthe Perks wallet, they'll
actually get an offer for a freelarge fry and they can use that
as they see fit.
So right out of the gate wewant to make sure that people
have a really great product.
We're really proud of our friesand we're happy to give that to
(14:37):
the guests to come in as areward for participating in the
program.
As Val mentioned before, wewant to do some unusual things.
So for our really engaged guests, people who are visiting us
frequently, we want to do reallycool stuff, like give them
brand swag, maybe unique swagthat you just wouldn't have
anywhere.
That's almost coveted.
Somebody walks out of alocation with the swag or we
(15:01):
send it to them and they telltheir friends about it and that
connects them to the brand andthat's a form of value to us,
which is okay.
That's great.
You gave me the free fry andthen you gave me things that are
personally relevant to me andwe're building that component of
the value of perception and wewill, at times, surprise people
with things that might beextremely generous or delightful
(15:23):
.
When somebody has visited acertain number of times Wow,
what a great offer.
Maybe we give them aninducement for their whole
family to come in and enjoy ameal on us, and that is really
exciting for them and it's funfor us because we know we're
giving them a great experienceand that, to us, that's all part
of a value proposition.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
That sounds great.
So what methods are you usingto engage, slash, reward those
folks in your program and how doyou see that continuing to
evolve, going forward?
Speaker 2 (15:55):
Yeah, so badging is an important part of the program
.
Giving people cool badges thatrecognize their visit behavior
is fun.
People will socialize that.
We hope that people will snapimages of that and put it on
social media and talk about howthey achieved a badge.
That's gamification.
So there'll be gamificationcomponents in the app, where
(16:17):
going back to the app is funbecause people want to see how
many visits do I have, what didI earn, what could they talk
about with friends and others aspart of their experience with
us.
So we'll keep doing things likethat.
That top dog status is prettycool.
We'll have these elite badgeexperiences that make people
feel special.
Those are the types of thingswe want to do to really drive
(16:39):
engagement.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
That sounds great and people love to share those
badges on social media and hypeit up.
So one of the things that we'vetouched on briefly and it's
something that we consistentlyhear about from other members of
Loyalty360 is personalization.
How does Portillo's plan tofurther personalize the
experience for the guest andnavigate any of the challenges
(17:04):
around personalization?
Speaker 3 (17:07):
Yeah.
So a way that we're furtherpersonalizing is with one-to-one
marketing, especially in newmarkets where people may not be
as familiar with Portillo's.
So think about someone whocreates a perks account.
They maybe haven't triedPortillo's before and they come
in and they try our chickensandwich.
We are known for our Italianbeef and our hot dogs and we
(17:30):
want them to come back inquickly to make that second
visit.
We might incentivize them andsay hey, come in and try our
homemade Italian beef sandwich.
It's what we're known for.
We want you to enter throughPortillo's with one of our top
two favorite menu items.
So that's one way that we'repersonalizing specific to new
markets.
And then another tactic we'reusing is we're gaining insights
(17:53):
from our most loyal fans, thosetop dogs.
We're personally reaching outto our top dogs.
We've had the program live fortwo weeks now and we have people
in our top who have um havetheir top dog card.
So our card flips from thegeneric perks card to a top dog
card where it has a crown withfries sticking out of the crown.
(18:13):
It's really cool.
Um, we already have fans in uhwho have achieved top dog status
.
So our loyalty manager isreaching out to those top dogs
this week, calling them and justsaying hey, what do you love
about being a top dog, what didyou like about the program?
Did you run into any issueswhile signing up for the program
and really getting theirinsights?
Because they are our mostvaluable guests.
(18:37):
So that's another fun tacticthat we're using.
We're excited to connect withthose fans this week and then
obviously we'll send themsomething special as well for
being one of the first top dogs.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
That's so cool.
I'm sure that they're going tolove it.
So undertaking starting fromscratch for a loyalty program is
a big investment in time andenergy from you guys.
So what specific gaps orchallenges in changing customer
preference were you aiming toaddress by, you know, starting
from the ground up and buildinga new loyalty program?
Speaker 3 (19:09):
Yeah, we really wanted to create a more direct
relationship with our fans, justbeyond transactions, as we were
prior to launching Perks, andsomething that was really
important to us was how do wemake it fun and how do we make
it uniquely Portillo's?
We said let's ditch the pointslike Keith mentioned, let's make
it visit-based and let's makeit really easy for people to
understand.
(19:29):
You have your perks card, youscan with it, you get your
rewards and you achieve moresurprises as you visit more.
So when we really simplified it, that's what we wanted to do
and we took a lot of guestinsights from our current fans
to help build that program sothat we knew exactly what people
were looking for.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
Awesome.
So how does employee engagementand employee advocacy fit into
the customer loyalty discussion?
Are there ways that youremployees are trained or engaged
with differently, as Portillo'sis evolving, this new perks
program?
Speaker 2 (20:08):
It's actually a very deliberate part of what we do
and it starts with looking forextremely friendly and
passionate people that we hirethat are going to be in front of
our guests.
So we really try to develop astrong baseline of people who
are excited to be at thelocation and that sets people up
naturally for being interestedand wanting to support things
(20:30):
like loyalty.
Then it really is an engagementprocess.
So we actually measureengagement in our business.
We talk about how our teammembers feel like they're part
of the Portillo's family, feellike they're part of the
Portillo's family and thatreally sets people up to get
excited about what I mentionedbefore, which is I'm going to
drive a great experience andthen I'm excited to sign people
(20:51):
up for the loyalty program.
So it really is the basis ofeverything we do is the kind of
people we hire, the way we setthem up for success, and that it
extends logically into thesekinds of programs because people
are able to internalize themand then they want to
communicate them and that reallydrives the whole experience,
drives a great transaction withthe guests and then makes it fun
(21:13):
later on when we're actuallysending offers and messages to
the guests.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
Awesome.
So at last year's Loyalty Expoand during our advisory board
meetings, we discussed thechallenge of engaging younger
audiences.
Brands right now are oftenfinding that while some surveys
show younger customers areinterested in X or Y, they
actually end up doing A or B.
Have you experienced any ofthese challenges?
(21:40):
If so, like?
How are you addressing it?
And, you know, have you seenany good results in trying to
engage the younger customer basewith your program?
Speaker 3 (22:03):
younger consumers and their tech preferences.
We know that more and moreyounger people are using their
wallet for other activities thatmight not necessarily be
associated with a loyaltyprogram today, and they don't
like to download tons of appsand have clutter on their phone.
So the way we validated thiswas by bringing in a lot of our
Gen Z guests that orderfrequently from Portillo's.
We brought them into ourinnovation kitchen and we just
(22:24):
talked to them about the loyaltyprograms they use, what they
like about those programs, whatkeeps them engaged with those
programs, and we found that theno app approach really resonated
with them.
They love using their walletAchievement badges.
They love the gamification ofachieving badges and then
(22:46):
surprising them with offers wassomething that was an interest
to them as well.
So all of that set us up forsuccess and being able to
capture a younger audience withthis program.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
Awesome.
So another topic that we'vebeen hearing about a lot is
emotional loyalty.
What does emotional loyaltymean to you?
Speaker 2 (23:07):
and your brand.
It's really important to usthat, particularly in markets
where we're growing what we callour outer markets, where we're
developing the Portillo's brandin Texas and Arizona, we want to
drive people's desire to cometo Portillo's because they love
the food and the experience andthey really want to come there,
(23:30):
and there can be differentreasons why a guest wants to go
to different restaurants.
Sometimes it's more of aconvenience element or there's
other factors that are apriority to the guests.
For us, it's really, reallyimportant that the person
actually has an emotionalconnection, really an ardent
love of the food.
I love Portillo's.
You can't really buy that, soto speak.
(23:51):
So you know, driving that brandconnection is important.
Sitting behind that, we can dothings with our loyalty program
that reinforce that.
At the end of the day, though,it's really about they want to
come to us, they want to bringtheir friends and family, they
socialize the business.
We're really proud of peoplewanting to go to their place of
work or going to social eventsand talking about having gone to
(24:15):
Portillo's that day.
That word of mouth isincredibly important and
ultimately that's going to driveour business.
So that emotional loyalty Iknow we were talking about a
loyalty program.
I think it's great to emphasizethat that's really the loyalty
that we're building is is having, uh, really being somewhat of a
fan of the brand and thenwanting to talk about it Awesome
(24:36):
.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
Um, so what are two or three things that you're most
proud of regarding yourcustomer loyalty efforts?
Speaker 3 (24:44):
I'll go first.
Um, I'm most proud of regardingyour customer loyalty efforts.
I'll go first.
I'm most proud of creating aloyalty program that just
authentically reflects our brandpersonality.
It's truly and uniquelydifferent than any other QSR
loyalty program.
Right now and when we went withthe wallet approach, we're
really using the wallet to itsfull capability.
That no one else is doing.
(25:05):
The wallet today is part ofother brands' bigger loyalty
program, but for us, the walletis our loyalty program and we're
able to have a lot of the samefunctionality as other programs
that are app-based on our perkscard and on the back of the
perks card.
So achievement badges progresstowards those badges offers and
(25:31):
I'm just really proud that theteam is leading the way with
this program.
Speaker 2 (25:40):
I would just add that , working with teammates, val,
other members of the team, thespeed with which we did this
it's actually a catchphrase thatI use often, which is this idea
of urgency with quality.
We try to move as fast as wecan to do something really great
, and this team mobilized veryquickly to get this launched
(26:01):
because it's important to ourbusiness and thankfully, I think
we were able to do it in a waywhere it was assimilated into
the operation.
Going back to some earliercomments, I mean I'm really
proud of the way we'veincorporated into the business
so that our team members at therestaurant can really focus on
delivering great service to theguests, and this is part of the
guest experience that works verysmoothly.
(26:23):
So many things to be proud ofin terms of really doing this
fast and well.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
That's great to hear.
Well, that brings us to ourfavorite part of the interview,
our quickfire questions.
We try and keep this to a oneword or short phrase answer, and
since we have two of you, Iguess we're going to kind of
ping pong back and forth between.
So, keith, what word or shortphrase do you use to inspire
(26:51):
others?
Speaker 2 (26:52):
Yeah, just actually snuck it in there.
So I'll say it again, is theurgency with quality.
So we're a fast paced business,we do a lot of volume, we do
things fast.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
And Val.
What is your least favoriteword that others use?
Speaker 3 (27:11):
So mine's a phrase, it's plus up.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
Keith, what's your favorite food?
Speaker 2 (27:20):
Yeah, of course I'm going to tell you it's portillo
and it is, but you know,followed closely by sushi.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
Nice Val.
What excites you at work?
Speaker 3 (27:31):
What excites me is bringing awareness of portillos
to people who have not heard ofus yet.
Speaker 1 (27:38):
Cool, and what do you find tiresome at home or at
work?
Speaker 3 (27:43):
At work it is any meeting over one hour, and I'm
sure we can all relate.
And at home it is my.
I have two boys.
I have a 10 month old and afour year old, so they keep me
very busy.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
Nice, Keith.
What book do you like torecommend to your colleagues?
Speaker 2 (28:03):
I just started a book recently by Mel Robbins.
It's called Let them it's thisidea of letting people be who
they are and not letting otherpeople's actions frustrate you,
and just controlling your ownactions.
It's a really great read.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
Cool, and what profession other than your
current one would you like toattempt?
Speaker 2 (28:28):
Yeah, probably rock star, but that's not going to
happen, Okay it's never too late.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
That's true, Val.
What do you enjoy doing that?
You don't get to do that often.
Speaker 3 (28:40):
Play basketball.
Speaker 1 (28:43):
And Keith, who inspired you to become the
person you are today.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
Yeah, definitely my father.
I'm first generation.
My father was an immigrant fromPortugal and it was a story of
coming to this country with $40in the family's pocket and
became very successful, so he'sa great inspiration to me.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
Cool and Val.
Last one, how do you want to beremembered by your friends and
family?
Speaker 3 (29:09):
I want to be remembered as funny, empathetic
and loyal.
Speaker 1 (29:14):
Great Well, keith and Valerie, thank you so much for
taking time to speak with ustoday.
It was a pleasure speaking withyou and getting an update on
the world of loyalty atPortillo's.
We're really excited to see howyour program grows and evolves
in the future, and thank you toeveryone for listening and
please be sure to check backnext Thursday for our next
(29:35):
episode of Leaders in CustomerLoyalty.
We'll see you then.
Thank you.
Good afternoon everyone and welcome to another
episode of Leaders in CustomerLoyalty Brand Stories.
I'm Ethan Perry, contentDirector at Loyalty360, and I'm
thrilled to have you with ustoday as we dive into the
ever-evolving world of customerchannel and brand loyalty.
On this podcast, we sit downwith industry leaders to explore
the strategies, challenges andinnovations shaping loyalty
(00:25):
programs and customer engagement.
Today, we have an excitingconversation lined up for you on
this episode with two keyleaders from Portillo's, a
beloved brand known for itsChicago-style street food and
deep-rooted customer loyalty.
Joining us are Keith Correa,chief Information Officer, and
Valerie McCormick, director ofMarketing at Portillo's.
(00:46):
Portillo's has built apassionate fan base over the
years and they've recentlylaunched their first-ever
loyalty program.
This initiative blends digitalinnovation with add-to-wallet
technology and a trulybrand-authentic approach to
rewarding their most loyalguests the top dogs approach to
rewarding their most loyalguests the top dogs.
(01:06):
We're going to hear from Keithand Valerie about how they
designed this program, what setsit apart and how it's evolving.
Customer engagement atPortillo's.
Keith Valerie thank you both forjoining us today.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Thanks for having us.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
So, for those who may not be familiar, can you give
us a short introduction toPortillo's, how the company was
started and a little bit of thebackstory?
Speaker 2 (01:24):
a short introduction to Portillo's, how the company
was started and a little bit ofthe backstory.
Yeah, absolutely so.
Portillo's is named after thefounder, dick Portillo.
Dick started the company in1963.
So this is one of those greatAmerican bootstrap stories of
taking $1,100 and investing thatinto a hot dog stand in Villa
(01:47):
Park, illinois, and that wascalled the Dog House.
So that was the origins a hotdog stand of the brand.
And fast forward many yearslater, we're 90 restaurants
large now across 10 states, andit's really about our food
deliciousness.
So certainly Chicagoans, butbroadly so many more people, are
realizing how incredible ourfood is.
(02:09):
So we're known for Chicagostreet food delicious hot dogs,
italian beef sandwiches, we havegreat burgers, salads and then
of course, our very famouschocolate cake.
And I think what reallydifferentiates us is that we are
incredibly high quality on thefood side, but we really try to
(02:31):
move with quick service,restaurant kind of speed and
service.
So we combine both of those ina great way.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
Excellent, and I will say I am personally a big fan
of your Italian Italian beef.
And now you've got me thinkingabout it and it's too long of a
drive from Cincinnati to go upthere, so I'm gonna be thinking
about it all night.
But tell us a little bit moreabout from both of you what
about your role with Portillo'sand how you got to where you are
(03:00):
and maybe some other positionsyou've had that kind of led you
on your journey to where you aretoday.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
Sure, so well.
First of all, Ethan, I knowyou're in Cincinnati, but we do
have a shipping business, so wewill ship you some Italian beef
after that.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
That would really make my day for real.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
So I started at Portillo's in 2017.
I was one of the firstmarketing team members at
Portillo's, so a lot of peopleare surprised to hear that
Portillo's did not have anymarketing function prior to 2016
.
Word of mouth, word of mouthmarketing.
(03:48):
So, yeah, it's been very coolto see how the company has grown
over the past few years since Istarted and also how the
marketing function has beenbuilt out from just being a team
of four to now a team of 20plus people, spanning digital
and brand marketing fieldmarketing, our guest services
team, as well as our off-premisedining team all falls under
marketing.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Heath, did you want to add in a little bit about
your backstory?
Speaker 2 (04:17):
Yeah, sure, nathan, it's actually different than
most people who aretechnologists.
I actually have an operationsbackground, so about three
quarters of my career was infield operations and ops
services.
So I have a background inproject management, equipment
innovation, operationsinnovation and, later on in my
(04:38):
career, just because operationsoften got so embedded in the
technology stack, making surethat what we were doing as a
business really fit therestaurant business If we made
technology changes, I wound uppivoting over to technology and
ultimately became CIO at twodifferent brands, and it makes
(05:00):
me think differently.
I think what's been great aboutthat is I know that we're in
the restaurant business and it'svery important to consider the
restaurant itself first anytimewe do anything, and I think that
drives a lot of our adaptionand innovation and technology is
really thinking about what'shappening to the restaurant team
and, in turn, how is thatempowering the restaurant team
(05:21):
to interact with our guests?
Speaker 1 (05:24):
That kind of leads me to my next question for you,
Keith.
What keeps you up at night?
What is the biggest challengeor opportunity you face within
that position?
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Yeah, that's such a great question that I completely
our team completely mucks upthe operation because we chase a
shiny penny for technologyimplementation, and that's just
not a smart thing to do.
So I really worry aboutoperational simplicity when
we're innovating in thetechnology space.
(05:53):
So if we're going to doanything with the technology
stack, it's got to be somethingthat is additive to that team
and does not detract from theirability to serve the guests,
especially because we doincredibly high volumes.
I'm very proud of the number ofguests that we can serve, and
so the architecture of ourtechnology and doing a great,
(06:14):
great job of being able to doreally huge throughput is
incredibly important, and thatalso extends into what we do
digitally that we don't want tocomplicate the guest experience
because we want it to be easyfor them to get in and out of
our business or order offpremise, and so I spend a lot of
time worrying about how to dothat correctly.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
Excellent.
So we've talked to quite a fewfolks in the quick service
restaurant industry lately andthe restaurant industry in
general and we've heard you knowthat there's a lot of things
happening in that industry and alot of change.
How do you perceive yourcustomers changing and how is
Portillo's responding to thechallenges of a change in
(06:59):
customer base?
Speaker 3 (07:02):
Well, guests are expecting more personalization
in their dining experiences, andthat's across all ordering
channels.
So they're expecting the sameease of ordering, whether they
come in through our drive-thru,they come inside and order with
the cashier, they order from thekiosk or online ordering.
They're expecting apersonalized and seamless
experience, and one way thatwe're responding to this is
(07:24):
through our shift to our digitalwallet, through our new
Portillo's Perks loyalty program.
So now guests have their ownpersonalized digital perks card
that they can scan and check infor visits, they can redeem
their rewards, and it really hascreated a seamless experience
across all channels when usingand engaging with the perks
(07:46):
program.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
That's awesome and you know we invited you to come
on today because we were excitedto hear that Portillo's
launched their first everloyalty program.
We always love it when aheritage brand joins the loyalty
fold.
So can you tell us about thedetails of the new program and
what made you decide to goforward with a formal loyalty
program?
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Happy to do that.
So we really wanted to dosomething that was, in fact,
innovative, and we've spent alot of time our teams, our
marketing and IT teams reallytrying to think about what is
that in fact?
What's a great loyalty programthat fits our brand?
That would really drive theneedle.
And so we decided to pursue anapp-less program, basically to
(08:32):
take a program through vendorrelationships that's embedded in
the phone wallet, and it reallyfelt like if we could do that
well, we could somewhat leapfrogsome of the concerns that are
associated with a conventionalapp.
Apps can be great, but you alsohave to open them and you have
to sign on to them, and it cantake time and it adds friction.
(08:53):
So what we did is actuallybuilt an offer-based program
that gives people a walletsitting in their phone.
That's the ability to putreally great compelling offers
in that phone that they caneasily access.
And people have their phones onthem all the time and they're
really ready to embrace thiskind of approach.
And so what we're excited aboutwith our program is that it's
(09:16):
going to be visit-based.
As they come to visit us, we'regoing to give them very
personalized offers that arecompelling for them, that
recognize them for those visitsand give them an opportunity to
get the products that they love.
So we're going to makedata-driven decisions and really
try to make it meaningful topeople so that after they
(09:37):
visited us, they actually are ontheir way home or they are at
home and they see this greatoffer and say, wow, I'm so glad
I went to Portillo's and nowthey're thinking about me and
they know me and they're givingme an opportunity to come back
and maybe try different menuitems or get other personalized
offers.
And so we're really proud ofthe membership base we had.
(09:59):
I mentioned that we have about100 restaurants and we are
looking to activate over amillion and a half subscribers
through this wallet and if youthink about that number of
subscribers relative tolocations that we have, it's a
pretty impressive number ofpeople that are really going to
be in our forum for being ableto communicate with them and
(10:20):
having a great experience withour platform.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
That's a lot of users .
That's exciting.
So can you tell me you knowwhat does customer loyalty mean
to you and to Portillo's?
Speaker 3 (10:34):
So customer loyalty we have always had very loyal
guests inside our restaurants.
We've created lifelong memoriesfor our guests and we've made
that part of our purposestatement.
We've done that through insideour restaurants.
People celebrate with us.
They come into our restaurantsafter celebrating a big game.
(10:55):
We've had people propose atPortillo's and have their
weddings at Portillo's.
So we did a really good jobprior to launching the program
of creating those lifelongmemories and customer loyalty
with our guests inside ourrestaurants.
Now, through Portillo's Perks,we're creating experiences
beyond the four walls.
It's really exciting.
(11:15):
We were able to get reallycreative with it.
For example, part of ourprogram we have a top dog tier.
Those are our most loyal guests.
We surprise them with freemerch when they reach a top dog
tier.
So those are our most loyalguests and we surprise them with
free merch when they reach thetop dog tier.
And merch allows us to createpositive word of mouth,
marketing and brand advocacybeyond just discounting food to
(11:36):
our loyal fans.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
Awesome.
And so how does the loyaltyprogram and the process fit into
the vision that you have forloyalty?
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Yeah.
So that's a great question,ethan.
And loyalty to us first comesfrom the interaction that our
guests have and the experiencethey have with our team.
So think of this program asleaning forward with an
incredible experience, whichmeans that it reduces friction.
If you're going to use ourwallet, it needs to be easy and
(12:07):
simple.
On the backside of a reallygreat having, a great experience
, having engagement with ourteam members, it doesn't matter
how you choose to interact withus.
If you're in our drive-through,if you're using our new kiosk.
On the backside of that is apersonalized effort to
communicate with them after thefact and say thanks for coming
(12:28):
and here's an offer please comeback.
And that offer is building onthe back of a loyalty
transaction, meaning that wegave them a great experience and
this reinforces.
You know what?
I want?
To go back.
I had a great experience.
That's a little bit differentthan some loyalty programs where
it's more of a friend-endapproach of trying to lure
somebody to come back with maybea frequency play hey, come back
(12:51):
this many times and we'll giveyou X.
We really want to have itreinforce.
A great visit, a greatexperience, and that's really
the structure of our program.
That's a little bit different,awesome.
And so how would you saycustomer loyalty is prioritized
(13:12):
within the organization.
Yeah, so it really comes on theback of what I said, which is we
make sure that the teams knowthe first thing we need to do to
build loyalty is to drive agreat experience.
Let's give people great foodthat's delicious, that's hot
when it's supposed to be hot,that's cold when it's supposed
to be cold, and let's givepeople speed and make sure that
they enjoy what they're doing.
And then make sure our teamunderstands fully what is the
(13:35):
loyalty program.
How do I encourage people tosign up for perks?
How does a guest use perks?
If somebody has not signed upyet, that I can give them a
great experience and incentivizethem to sign up.
Hey, this is a great program,you should sign up.
So it's really embedded ineverybody.
Understanding the guest isfirst, the experience that we
deliver is first, and then let'sgive people the added
(13:57):
opportunity to be part of thisprogram and recognize them when
they visit us.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
Excellent.
So many brands that are runningcustomer loyalty programs are
telling us that their customersare increasingly searching for
value.
How does your program addressthat?
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Yeah, it addresses it very overtly initially when
they sign up.
So when a guest signs up forthe Perks wallet, they'll
actually get an offer for a freelarge fry and they can use that
as they see fit.
So right out of the gate wewant to make sure that people
have a really great product.
We're really proud of our friesand we're happy to give that to
(14:37):
the guests to come in as areward for participating in the
program.
As Val mentioned before, wewant to do some unusual things.
So for our really engaged guests, people who are visiting us
frequently, we want to do reallycool stuff, like give them
brand swag, maybe unique swagthat you just wouldn't have
anywhere.
That's almost coveted.
Somebody walks out of alocation with the swag or we
(15:01):
send it to them and they telltheir friends about it and that
connects them to the brand andthat's a form of value to us,
which is okay.
That's great.
You gave me the free fry andthen you gave me things that are
personally relevant to me andwe're building that component of
the value of perception and wewill, at times, surprise people
with things that might beextremely generous or delightful
(15:23):
.
When somebody has visited acertain number of times Wow,
what a great offer.
Maybe we give them aninducement for their whole
family to come in and enjoy ameal on us, and that is really
exciting for them and it's funfor us because we know we're
giving them a great experienceand that, to us, that's all part
of a value proposition.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
That sounds great.
So what methods are you usingto engage, slash, reward those
folks in your program and how doyou see that continuing to
evolve, going forward?
Speaker 2 (15:55):
Yeah, so badging is an important part of the program
.
Giving people cool badges thatrecognize their visit behavior
is fun.
People will socialize that.
We hope that people will snapimages of that and put it on
social media and talk about howthey achieved a badge.
That's gamification.
So there'll be gamificationcomponents in the app, where
(16:17):
going back to the app is funbecause people want to see how
many visits do I have, what didI earn, what could they talk
about with friends and others aspart of their experience with
us.
So we'll keep doing things likethat.
That top dog status is prettycool.
We'll have these elite badgeexperiences that make people
feel special.
Those are the types of thingswe want to do to really drive
(16:39):
engagement.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
That sounds great and people love to share those
badges on social media and hypeit up.
So one of the things that we'vetouched on briefly and it's
something that we consistentlyhear about from other members of
Loyalty360 is personalization.
How does Portillo's plan tofurther personalize the
experience for the guest andnavigate any of the challenges
(17:04):
around personalization?
Speaker 3 (17:07):
Yeah.
So a way that we're furtherpersonalizing is with one-to-one
marketing, especially in newmarkets where people may not be
as familiar with Portillo's.
So think about someone whocreates a perks account.
They maybe haven't triedPortillo's before and they come
in and they try our chickensandwich.
We are known for our Italianbeef and our hot dogs and we
(17:30):
want them to come back inquickly to make that second
visit.
We might incentivize them andsay hey, come in and try our
homemade Italian beef sandwich.
It's what we're known for.
We want you to enter throughPortillo's with one of our top
two favorite menu items.
So that's one way that we'repersonalizing specific to new
markets.
And then another tactic we'reusing is we're gaining insights
(17:53):
from our most loyal fans, thosetop dogs.
We're personally reaching outto our top dogs.
We've had the program live fortwo weeks now and we have people
in our top who have um havetheir top dog card.
So our card flips from thegeneric perks card to a top dog
card where it has a crown withfries sticking out of the crown.
(18:13):
It's really cool.
Um, we already have fans in uhwho have achieved top dog status
.
So our loyalty manager isreaching out to those top dogs
this week, calling them and justsaying hey, what do you love
about being a top dog, what didyou like about the program?
Did you run into any issueswhile signing up for the program
and really getting theirinsights?
Because they are our mostvaluable guests.
(18:37):
So that's another fun tacticthat we're using.
We're excited to connect withthose fans this week and then
obviously we'll send themsomething special as well for
being one of the first top dogs.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
That's so cool.
I'm sure that they're going tolove it.
So undertaking starting fromscratch for a loyalty program is
a big investment in time andenergy from you guys.
So what specific gaps orchallenges in changing customer
preference were you aiming toaddress by, you know, starting
from the ground up and buildinga new loyalty program?
Speaker 3 (19:09):
Yeah, we really wanted to create a more direct
relationship with our fans, justbeyond transactions, as we were
prior to launching Perks, andsomething that was really
important to us was how do wemake it fun and how do we make
it uniquely Portillo's?
We said let's ditch the pointslike Keith mentioned, let's make
it visit-based and let's makeit really easy for people to
understand.
(19:29):
You have your perks card, youscan with it, you get your
rewards and you achieve moresurprises as you visit more.
So when we really simplified it, that's what we wanted to do
and we took a lot of guestinsights from our current fans
to help build that program sothat we knew exactly what people
were looking for.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
Awesome.
So how does employee engagementand employee advocacy fit into
the customer loyalty discussion?
Are there ways that youremployees are trained or engaged
with differently, as Portillo'sis evolving, this new perks
program?
Speaker 2 (20:08):
It's actually a very deliberate part of what we do
and it starts with looking forextremely friendly and
passionate people that we hirethat are going to be in front of
our guests.
So we really try to develop astrong baseline of people who
are excited to be at thelocation and that sets people up
naturally for being interestedand wanting to support things
(20:30):
like loyalty.
Then it really is an engagementprocess.
So we actually measureengagement in our business.
We talk about how our teammembers feel like they're part
of the Portillo's family, feellike they're part of the
Portillo's family and thatreally sets people up to get
excited about what I mentionedbefore, which is I'm going to
drive a great experience andthen I'm excited to sign people
(20:51):
up for the loyalty program.
So it really is the basis ofeverything we do is the kind of
people we hire, the way we setthem up for success, and that it
extends logically into thesekinds of programs because people
are able to internalize themand then they want to
communicate them and that reallydrives the whole experience,
drives a great transaction withthe guests and then makes it fun
(21:13):
later on when we're actuallysending offers and messages to
the guests.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
Awesome.
So at last year's Loyalty Expoand during our advisory board
meetings, we discussed thechallenge of engaging younger
audiences.
Brands right now are oftenfinding that while some surveys
show younger customers areinterested in X or Y, they
actually end up doing A or B.
Have you experienced any ofthese challenges?
(21:40):
If so, like?
How are you addressing it?
And, you know, have you seenany good results in trying to
engage the younger customer basewith your program?
Speaker 3 (22:03):
younger consumers and their tech preferences.
We know that more and moreyounger people are using their
wallet for other activities thatmight not necessarily be
associated with a loyaltyprogram today, and they don't
like to download tons of appsand have clutter on their phone.
So the way we validated thiswas by bringing in a lot of our
Gen Z guests that orderfrequently from Portillo's.
We brought them into ourinnovation kitchen and we just
(22:24):
talked to them about the loyaltyprograms they use, what they
like about those programs, whatkeeps them engaged with those
programs, and we found that theno app approach really resonated
with them.
They love using their walletAchievement badges.
They love the gamification ofachieving badges and then
(22:46):
surprising them with offers wassomething that was an interest
to them as well.
So all of that set us up forsuccess and being able to
capture a younger audience withthis program.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
Awesome.
So another topic that we'vebeen hearing about a lot is
emotional loyalty.
What does emotional loyaltymean to you?
Speaker 2 (23:07):
and your brand.
It's really important to usthat, particularly in markets
where we're growing what we callour outer markets, where we're
developing the Portillo's brandin Texas and Arizona, we want to
drive people's desire to cometo Portillo's because they love
the food and the experience andthey really want to come there,
(23:30):
and there can be differentreasons why a guest wants to go
to different restaurants.
Sometimes it's more of aconvenience element or there's
other factors that are apriority to the guests.
For us, it's really, reallyimportant that the person
actually has an emotionalconnection, really an ardent
love of the food.
I love Portillo's.
You can't really buy that, soto speak.
(23:51):
So you know, driving that brandconnection is important.
Sitting behind that, we can dothings with our loyalty program
that reinforce that.
At the end of the day, though,it's really about they want to
come to us, they want to bringtheir friends and family, they
socialize the business.
We're really proud of peoplewanting to go to their place of
work or going to social eventsand talking about having gone to
(24:15):
Portillo's that day.
That word of mouth isincredibly important and
ultimately that's going to driveour business.
So that emotional loyalty Iknow we were talking about a
loyalty program.
I think it's great to emphasizethat that's really the loyalty
that we're building is is having, uh, really being somewhat of a
fan of the brand and thenwanting to talk about it Awesome
(24:36):
.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
Um, so what are two or three things that you're most
proud of regarding yourcustomer loyalty efforts?
Speaker 3 (24:44):
I'll go first.
Um, I'm most proud of regardingyour customer loyalty efforts.
I'll go first.
I'm most proud of creating aloyalty program that just
authentically reflects our brandpersonality.
It's truly and uniquelydifferent than any other QSR
loyalty program.
Right now and when we went withthe wallet approach, we're
really using the wallet to itsfull capability.
That no one else is doing.
(25:05):
The wallet today is part ofother brands' bigger loyalty
program, but for us, the walletis our loyalty program and we're
able to have a lot of the samefunctionality as other programs
that are app-based on our perkscard and on the back of the
perks card.
So achievement badges progresstowards those badges offers and
(25:31):
I'm just really proud that theteam is leading the way with
this program.
Speaker 2 (25:40):
I would just add that , working with teammates, val,
other members of the team, thespeed with which we did this
it's actually a catchphrase thatI use often, which is this idea
of urgency with quality.
We try to move as fast as wecan to do something really great
, and this team mobilized veryquickly to get this launched
(26:01):
because it's important to ourbusiness and thankfully, I think
we were able to do it in a waywhere it was assimilated into
the operation.
Going back to some earliercomments, I mean I'm really
proud of the way we'veincorporated into the business
so that our team members at therestaurant can really focus on
delivering great service to theguests, and this is part of the
guest experience that works verysmoothly.
(26:23):
So many things to be proud ofin terms of really doing this
fast and well.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
That's great to hear.
Well, that brings us to ourfavorite part of the interview,
our quickfire questions.
We try and keep this to a oneword or short phrase answer, and
since we have two of you, Iguess we're going to kind of
ping pong back and forth between.
So, keith, what word or shortphrase do you use to inspire
(26:51):
others?
Speaker 2 (26:52):
Yeah, just actually snuck it in there.
So I'll say it again, is theurgency with quality.
So we're a fast paced business,we do a lot of volume, we do
things fast.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
And Val.
What is your least favoriteword that others use?
Speaker 3 (27:11):
So mine's a phrase, it's plus up.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
Keith, what's your favorite food?
Speaker 2 (27:20):
Yeah, of course I'm going to tell you it's portillo
and it is, but you know,followed closely by sushi.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
Nice Val.
What excites you at work?
Speaker 3 (27:31):
What excites me is bringing awareness of portillos
to people who have not heard ofus yet.
Speaker 1 (27:38):
Cool, and what do you find tiresome at home or at
work?
Speaker 3 (27:43):
At work it is any meeting over one hour, and I'm
sure we can all relate.
And at home it is my.
I have two boys.
I have a 10 month old and afour year old, so they keep me
very busy.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
Nice, Keith.
What book do you like torecommend to your colleagues?
Speaker 2 (28:03):
I just started a book recently by Mel Robbins.
It's called Let them it's thisidea of letting people be who
they are and not letting otherpeople's actions frustrate you,
and just controlling your ownactions.
It's a really great read.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
Cool, and what profession other than your
current one would you like toattempt?
Speaker 2 (28:28):
Yeah, probably rock star, but that's not going to
happen, Okay it's never too late.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
That's true, Val.
What do you enjoy doing that?
You don't get to do that often.
Speaker 3 (28:40):
Play basketball.
Speaker 1 (28:43):
And Keith, who inspired you to become the
person you are today.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
Yeah, definitely my father.
I'm first generation.
My father was an immigrant fromPortugal and it was a story of
coming to this country with $40in the family's pocket and
became very successful, so he'sa great inspiration to me.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
Cool and Val.
Last one, how do you want to beremembered by your friends and
family?
Speaker 3 (29:09):
I want to be remembered as funny, empathetic
and loyal.
Speaker 1 (29:14):
Great Well, keith and Valerie, thank you so much for
taking time to speak with ustoday.
It was a pleasure speaking withyou and getting an update on
the world of loyalty atPortillo's.
We're really excited to see howyour program grows and evolves
in the future, and thank you toeveryone for listening and
please be sure to check backnext Thursday for our next
(29:35):
episode of Leaders in CustomerLoyalty.
We'll see you then.
Thank you.
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