April 21, 2025 • 39 mins
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What happens when a successful restaurant operator with stellar operations faces the uncomfortable challenge of driving sales growth? Jesse Hanson, Area Manager for Crust Pizza Company in Texas, bravely steps into the coaching spotlight to tackle this common industry hurdle head-on.
Jesse oversees three locations with impeccable operational standards—perfect corporate audits, excellent food safety records, and strong Google reviews. Yet despite this operational excellence, he struggles to consistently achieve his target of 3–5% sales growth. The coaching session reveals a fascinating tension between his comfort zone (operations) and his growth zone (marketing and sales initiatives).
As restaurant leaders seek to grow sustainably, operational tools that support consistency, reduce risk, and free up time are more critical than ever. That’s where Restaurant Technologies comes in. Their automated solutions—from oil management to hood cleaning—help independent restaurants streamline the back of house, so leaders like Jesse can shift their focus toward top-line growth and team development.
The conversation takes an illuminating turn when Jesse shares a recent success story—a Monday promotion that added approximately $1,000 in weekly sales at two locations. This simple tactical change demonstrates how targeted value offerings can dramatically increase guest traffic without compromising quality positioning. As Jesse puts it, "Top line cures all," acknowledging how increased sales make everything easier from staffing to guest experience.
What makes this episode particularly valuable is Jesse's candid self-reflection about consistency being his primary obstacle. "I just need to be more consistent with those sales-building activities," he admits, highlighting how even the best marketing ideas require persistent execution. We explore his planned apartment complex tasting events as a way to introduce new customers to Crust's quality ingredients and brand story through direct engagement.
The session also delves into leadership evolution as Jesse prepares for significant company expansion over the next five years. His journey from people-pleasing to more direct, accountable communication reflects the growth many restaurant leaders must navigate as their responsibilities increase.
Ready to examine your own comfort zones and discover what might be holding your restaurant back from achieving its growth potential? Listen now and walk away with actionable insights to transform your approach to sales building.
Resources:
National Restaurant Association Show
P.S. Ready to take your restaurant to the next level? Here are 3 ways I can support you:
- One-on-One Coaching - Work directly with me to tackle your biggest leadership challenges and scale your operations with confidence. Learn more at christinmarvin.com
- Multi-Unit Mastery Book - Get the complete Independent Restaurant Framework that's helped countless owners build thriving multi-location brands. Grab your copy at https://www.IRFbook.com
- Group Coaching & Leadership Workshops - Join other passionate restaurant leaders in transformative group sessions designed to elevate your entire team. Details at christinmarvin.com
Podcast Production: https://www.lconnorvoice.com/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Hey everybody, welcome back to the show.
This week I am doing a coachingsession with Jesse Hansen.
Jesse is an area manager downin Texas for Crest Pizza Company
and I am so honored that hedecided to jump in for the first
time into coaching with me onthe show, in front of everybody,
(00:28):
and talk about one of hisbiggest challenges right now,
which is a common challenge inthe industry of how to grow
sales.
His target is three to 5% andwe talk a lot about
understanding what's beenworking for him in his business
and what he feels reallyconfident about understanding
what's been working for him inhis business and what he feels
really confident about, and thenalso where he needs to get a
(00:51):
little bit uncomfortable andlean into some different areas
of the business that are goingto be successful for him moving
forward and some of the thingsthat are getting in his way of
potentially helping him getreally uncomfortable.
And we talk about what's on thehorizon for him for the next
five years, which is really,really exciting, and we talk
about what's on the horizon forhim for the next five years,
which is really, really exciting.
Again, as you're listening tothese coaching episodes, the
hope is that you're listening tothe questions that are being
(01:12):
asked and some of the responses,obviously, that Jesse is
providing, but that you're alsolistening for your own moments
of insight and shifts inperspective and things that you
can immediately take and applyto your life or to specific
areas of your business so thatyou can develop yourself
professionally as a leader.
I hope you enjoy.
(01:33):
Welcome to the RestaurantLeadership Podcast, the show
where restaurant leaders learntools, tactics and habits from
the world's greatest operators.
I'm your host, kristen Marvin,with Solutions by Kristen.
I've spent the last two decadesin the restaurant industry and
now partner with restaurantowners to develop their leaders
(01:53):
and scale their businessesthrough powerful one-on-one
coaching, group coaching andleadership workshops.
This show is complete withepisodes around coaching,
leadership development andinterviews with powerful
industry leaders.
You can now engage with me onthe show and share topics you'd
(02:15):
like to hear about, leadership,lessons you want to learn and
any feedback you have.
Simply click the link at thetop of the show notes and I will
give you a shout out on afuture episode.
Thanks so much for listeningand I look forward to connecting
.
Running an independentrestaurant is no joke.
(02:36):
You're doing it all Managingyour team, maintaining quality,
keeping things safe, and theback of the house can sometimes
feel like organized chaos.
That's where RestaurantTechnology steps in.
They've created a system calledTotal Oil Management that helps
take one big job off your platemanaging cooking oil.
(02:57):
No more lugging jugs of oil ordealing with dangerous spills.
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automatically, removes used oilsafely no mess, no stress helps
your team stay safe and yourfood consistent and even turns
your used oil into biofuel,which is pretty cool.
(03:20):
Thousands of independentsacross the country are already
using it to cut costs, save timeand make their kitchens run
smoother.
If you're curious about thisand want to learn more about how
it could work in your space,visit gorti-inccom.
Dot com.
(03:40):
Slash restaurant leadershippodcast.
Again, that's go dot r t I dashI n c dot com.
Slash restaurant leadershippodcast.
Jesse, how can I make this anextraordinary conversation for
you today?
Speaker 2 (04:02):
I need life changing advice, so it'll blow my mind In
terms of what we need help with.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
I think we got operations down pretty well.
I'd say our biggest, ourbiggest struggle has always been
increasing sales.
That's been the big struggle.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
Okay, say more.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
I'm sorry.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Say more about that.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
Let's see, I feel like we've tried a lot, a lot of
things in the book.
We've done mailers, we've doneoutreach to schools, we set up
spirit nights.
Uh, we've done different typesof promotions.
We've done, uh, more recentlywe've done more text message
marketing stuff with promotionsand that seems to be kind of
successful.
Um, but I feel like trying toget more, more attention to the
(04:53):
restaurant is is where we'vestruggled a little bit with
that's what you're saying.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
So talk me through a little bit about your your your
career history here and the timethat you spent as a GM and the
time that you spent as an areamanager what, what are some
things that you've seen that'sworked really well for you in
the past when it comes todriving sales.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
The best things.
That, I think, is justobviously, and everybody knows
this.
It's just to create the bestexperience possible has been the
number one thing, and trainingbeing in the GM role I always
push is like trying to learnthis customer's name.
Everybody knows this.
It's just to create the bestexperience possible has been the
number one thing, and trainingbeing in the GM role I always
push is like trying to learnthis customer's name, so that
are walking through the door soyou can be like hey, frank,
you're back for whatever theirfrequently ordered item is.
That had a big impact on therestaurant.
(05:38):
Even now, as an area manager,I'll step into those locations,
or the location I was a GM atand they still, hey, jesse,
how's it going?
And I haven't been a GM foralmost five years and they still
know who I am.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
So obviously, made a big impact to those customers in
that way.
Love it.
What else have you done?
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Um in terms of helping sales or yeah well, I
think trying to be the best thatwe can be obviously is going to
help the sales because wecreate the best experience.
So it's creating as manyprocesses as we can to guarantee
they have a good experience.
So initially I was the one thatdid a lot of the training and
(06:16):
then, as we grew and had othermanagement that come on, they
helped with the training process.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
I would say that yeah , what's special about that
training process?
Speaker 2 (06:28):
I would say just getting into the nitty gritty of
things Like this is exactlywhat we want to say when a
customer walks through the door.
This is the process.
We're going to repeat back theorder.
We're going to offer garlicknots or cheese bread.
You know we're going to makethree visits to the table.
We're going to drop off thatinitial, the food items.
We're going to follow up, makesure everything came out great.
And then that last visit, we'regoing to make sure they don't
(06:49):
need any boxes or we can clearoff, you know, plates off the
table.
Like it's actionable, you know.
I can walk up to any of ouremployees and be like hey, are
we doing these three things?
And if they're not, then I knowthat we can improve to provide
that experience.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
Yeah, how many locations are you overseeing
right now?
Speaker 2 (07:06):
A whole whopping three, okay, three locations.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Yeah, and what does increasing sales look like to
you with those three locations?
Speaker 2 (07:18):
As far as what?
Speaker 1 (07:20):
How would you define success in terms of increasing
sales in your region?
Speaker 2 (07:26):
I mean, ideally, we're always growing, right?
I'd say 2024 was a hard yearfor sales.
We were growing, but there wasdefinitely some months there
that were not the best.
So I'd say, if we can continuethe year by doing, I would say,
three to three to 5% growthevery single month over last
(07:48):
year, I would consider that awin.
Um, but ideally more, ideallymore, because 2024 was
definitely a harder of a yearfor sales.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
And what would three to 5% growth do for the company?
Speaker 2 (08:04):
growth do for the company.
I mean we'd be, we'd make moremoney, That'd be great.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
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Speaker 2 (09:25):
I just make everything easier.
I mean three to 5% increase insales consistently.
We can keep that trend up andget closer to those numbers.
We have more staff on.
It just gets easier for thelower volume sales our stores
that we have, cause we have torun tighter, tighter crews at
those lower volumes.
(09:46):
What does that mean for you?
It just means that there'spotentially going to be more
times I'll have to step inbecause we have to run a tighter
crews, which thankfully doesn'thappen a lot.
We do have pretty good, prettygood teams for the most part,
but yeah, I'd say that's what itmeans.
It's just I have to payattention to a little bit more
than the ones that have moreemployees.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
How would increasing sales by 3% to 5% impact your
quality of life?
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Honestly, I feel like my quality of life is pretty
good.
I don't think it woulddramatically improve my life.
It would be more for them thanit would be for me, because it
means that they get hired more,which means that they are going
to be less stressed if somebodycalls out.
So it's probably more of animpact for them than it would be
for me.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
What's the impact for them beyond just being able to
hire more teammates?
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Well, I mean it's just easier.
I mean it's easier to managelabors.
You know it's just easier.
I mean it's easier to managelabors.
You know it's less stressful.
Um, obviously, with therestaurant being busier, the
tips are going to go up.
Employees are going to makemore money.
Um, it just gets sales helps.
Everything just gets easier.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
It really does Top line cures all.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
Yeah, for the most part.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
Yeah, what is standing in your way right now
of reaching that goal ofincreasing your sales by 3% to
5%?
Speaker 2 (11:10):
Ignorance.
I think, yeah, I feel likethere's something that I don't
know, I don't know to try Idon't know what, I don't know
and probably that, and justbeing a little bit more
consistent with those salesbuilding activities, like going
out and talking to thebusinesses and making more
frequent uh follow-ups oncontacts that we already have, I
(11:32):
think those are things thatdefinitely could improve.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
What do you know?
Speaker 2 (11:39):
What do I know about what?
Speaker 1 (11:40):
About you said.
You said ignorance.
So let's talk about.
Let's talk about the oppositeof ignorance.
What do you know about?
Speaker 2 (11:47):
about how to increase sales um, I mean, obviously
operations is the number onething to look at first before
you try to go bring more peopleto the restaurant, and I think,
operationally, our stores dophenomenal I think they do
really really well super clean,um, so I think that that box is
definitely checked.
But aside from that, when I'veasked other people, they have
(12:11):
told me a lot of it has to dowith the schools reaching out,
trying to set up the spiritnights, going out to the local
businesses and promotingcatering, dropping off flyers,
coupons to those businesses tocome check us out, what else.
I'm trying to remember all thethings that we've done.
(12:35):
We've done the mailers.
We've done live music.
We still do live music atConroe, but we tried it at Katie
.
That didn't do too well.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
We've tried we tried a lot of things.
Yeah, I remember them all, butwe tried a lot of things.
Which, of those things thatyou've tried, you remember being
very successful?
Speaker 2 (13:03):
none of them have really done what I thought they
would do.
I.
The thing with the mailers isthat people came in with them,
um, but it was.
It seems like it was more oflike a, a way to get the offer
that we're offering, whetherthat be a free item or a
discounted price.
Then we don't really see themturning into consistent
customers.
It's more of like just gettingthat free food.
(13:26):
It's kind of like we have kidseat free on Tuesday and we see a
lot of those Tuesday customersonly on Tuesday, not the rest of
the week.
That's kind of what it seemslike.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
So, internally, you feel like you've got a really
strong handle on operations.
Sounds like you're super proudabout what the team's doing.
Is it consistent across allthree of your locations?
Speaker 2 (13:47):
Yeah, I'd say it's fairly consistent.
I mean we've got perfect ornear-perfect corporate audits on
all three stores, got reallygood Google reviews.
Stores are clean, they getgreat food safety.
I personally check those allthe time.
So I'd say, operationally,stores are in pretty good
standing.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
How's the team?
Speaker 2 (14:08):
What do you mean?
Speaker 1 (14:10):
How's the quality of your team in each location?
Speaker 2 (14:17):
I say the quality of my management team or just the
entire store.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
The entire store.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
The entire store.
I think each store is unique.
They're not all obviously goingto be the same.
I think that certain storeshave certain strengths over the
other.
Do you want me to go intodetail?
Speaker 1 (14:34):
Yeah, let's explore it.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
So I feel like Arcadia location, specifically
the kitchen manager of thatstore she's got a really really
good grasp of what she needs todo to get that store to maintain
those standards because shestepped into a role, into that
role, but the previous kitchenmanager wasn't the strongest.
So I feel like she has like areally she's really strong in
that area.
She's good at like delegatingit out, whereas some of our
(14:58):
other locations that kitchenmanager may not be as willing to
delegate things out.
He gets more pushback thoughthe source.
Still the stuff gets done.
It's just, it's just different.
Um, but yeah, I feel likethey're they're all slightly
different.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
How does delegation contribute to an increase in
sales?
Hmm, yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
I guess making sure if, if I can delegate that stuff
out, my GMs can delegate youknow certain things out, they
have more time to focus on thosesales building activities.
Speaker 1 (15:37):
And what does that delegation do to the hourly
employee?
How does that impact them?
Speaker 2 (15:45):
Um, I mean I.
I guess what I mean bydelegating is, like you know,
with with the, it's just makingsure that we're providing that
good experience.
So making sure that likethey're like, for example, the
the GM is like, their job is tomake sure they go, walk around
and interact with thosecustomers and make sure for sure
(16:05):
that they're getting a goodexperience.
But if that GM is the only onethat's walking around checking
on it and the front of house isnot, then like, obviously the
front of house is lacking.
You know the GM still needs todo that, but I guess what I'm
saying is that it can't all relyon the GM being there for the
experience to be good.
Does that make sense?
Speaker 1 (16:24):
Yeah, 100%.
When the GM is walking aroundand checking in with guests, are
there opportunities there todrive more sales?
Speaker 2 (16:33):
Oh yeah, absolutely, I mean for one.
Invite them back.
That's something that we couldbe better at.
I mean, we'll thank them asthey walk out the door, but I
know that we had some freeappetizer cards made and the
intention was for the generalmanager to walk around check up
on the experience.
Invite it back by giving methat card.
Hey, come back, see us.
(16:53):
You know, that could be a wayto get them back into the
restaurant sooner.
Or just looking for, you know,maybe they're wearing some sort
of uniform.
Ask them about you know, theirjob potential, catering stuff
like that, yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
Is there opportunity for the rest of the front of the
house to do that?
Do you think?
Speaker 2 (17:14):
Possibly.
If it's slower, there ispotential.
If it's evening sales, I'd sayno, okay, it's just it's too
tight of a group.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
Is there opportunity to enhance the guest experience
once the order or when, when theguest enters the building like?
Is there an opportunity forfront of house to elevate that
experience even more than whatthey're doing right now?
Speaker 2 (17:41):
um, I mean, I'm sure, I'm sure there is like not
every single customer is goingto exactly exactly the same
experience, though I think forthe most part they all get a
pretty good experience.
I can't think of anything thatwe could really add to that
experience to make it that muchmore.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
How's the menu?
Knowledge of the team.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
They know the menu.
They know the menu very well.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
How's upselling?
Speaker 2 (18:11):
upselling.
I mean, we have a prompt thatit pops up that it requires them
to put an appetizer on there.
Um, there's, and there's a wayto hit no starter.
So you continue the work.
They don't want an appetizer,but it's a frequent reminder.
We listen for it.
Um, in the morning it's alittle bit harder to upsell just
because we have great lunchspecial that includes a drink
and includes everything you'dwant.
(18:33):
So maybe dipping sauce youcould upsell.
But upselling should be prettygood.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
How are you measuring that?
Speaker 2 (18:41):
So what we used to do it where we could see how many
garlic, knots and cheese bedswere sold compared to how many
orders were taken and we'd usethat as an upsell percentage.
Now we've kind of transitionedto we're just looking at average
check as a whole and seeing ifwe're moving that in the right
direction.
But we've used both.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
And how is your average check performing
compared to last year?
Speaker 2 (19:09):
Well, honestly, the past month it's gone down
because we started a newpromotion on mondays that is a
lower average check promo.
So I think overall the monthit's gone down a little bit.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
Um, but before that it's probably about the same as
it was and has that, even thoughit's lowered, your average
check has it increased sales.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1 (19:33):
Because guest traffic is higher.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
Guest traffic is definitely higher on those days.
So we probably increased or wedefinitely increased about
$1,000 on the Monday sales atour Conroe and Arcadia locations
.
They've increased.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
We only run at those two locations.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
The other location we don't, because they do great.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
What are you um?
What are you if you don't mindsharing what is a typical sales
number look like on a Monday?
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Mondays are rough days.
Um, it can vary.
I would say at worst it can belike 17, 1800.
Okay, um, or, or more normalcould be like 22, 23 fluct, be
like $1,700, $1,800.
Okay, or more normal, it couldbe like $2,200, $2,300.
It fluctuates in between there,but we're seeing it more
consistently with this promo.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
So you've added $1,000 roughly with this promo
yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
If you look at it, yeah, it's about $1,000.
It's on average.
For the past five, six weeksit's been about $3,000.
That's huge.
Yeah, that's huge.
It seems to go three weeks in arow.
It'd be like good, and thenit'll dip and then it goes back.
It's like people are like allright, we've had enough cheap
pizza or discounted pizza.
I should say yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
So you're offering more value and it's driving
business on that day, yeah, okay, on that day yeah.
Where else in the businesscould you see?
Speaker 2 (20:54):
that working.
I'm afraid to offer thatbecause we don't want to be a
cheap pizza kind of placebecause we have such good
quality ingredients and cheesethat's from blocks we we make
our dough every day.
I'm very hesitant to do thattoo much and become the cheat
piece place.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
Yeah, 100% yeah.
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(21:37):
audio book today.
Is there a way you could buildon what you're already doing
with those promos?
Such as such as what Is there away you can help spread the
(21:58):
word more externally about thatpromo?
Is there, do you have room togrow that on Mondays beyond
where you're at right now?
Speaker 2 (22:08):
Oh yeah, I mean we could grow if I mean you could
keep going up to like sales andwe could just add more staff on
potentially.
But every Monday we send out atext for our loyalty program.
So every Monday there's a linkon there.
You can order right online,pick it up.
It's also on our table tents atthe restaurant, our little
acrylic signs, and we have it ina few other spots in stores so
it's visible, people can see it.
They're like, oh cool.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
We got a monday promo , so I feel like there's
definitely a good attention onit.
If you can, will you continueto run this?
Speaker 2 (22:36):
promo throughout the course of the year.
Um, so the original plan was todo, I think, one month, because
we're doing two differentpromos.
We're doing one promo katie,one promo conroe.
We wanted to see which one kindof did better, and then
we're're going to kind of goingto pick or maybe swap and test
it out.
But I think we're just going toleave it alone, at least
through next month, possiblyfurther.
Yeah, okay.
(22:57):
So, probably at some point.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
Okay, so kind of experimenting, waiting to see
what happens, what works, andthen and then you can build on
that.
I mean a thousand dollars aweek added in sales over the
course of the year if youcontinue.
The promo is pretty significant.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
Yeah Right, $52,000.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
Yeah, would that help you reach the 3% to 5%?
Speaker 2 (23:21):
I mean probably not.
Our sales volume is a littlehigher than that.
Okay, okay, but we need more ofthose.
Speaker 1 (23:30):
Do you have decision-making over stuff like
that?
Speaker 2 (23:34):
As far as like what promos we?
Speaker 1 (23:35):
could run Promos and stuff, uh-huh, I mean yeah, yeah
.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
Ultimately, if I wanted to do it and the owner
thought it was a good idea, he'dsay go for it, he's pretty free
on that stuff.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
Okay, so the promo is working.
You feel like operationallythings are tight.
You mentioned a few thingsexternally that you could go do,
but you haven't seen a ton ofsuccess in those in the past.
(24:03):
Why?
Speaker 2 (24:07):
do you think they haven't been successful?
It's probably just consistencyon those things 's probably the
the root cause of it.
I just need to be moreconsistent.
Those things, um, because we'veseen the success in the
restaurant, because that'sthat's what we say it comes down
to is just consistency andsystems and processes is the
reason we're successfuloperationally.
Like we don't do anything fancy, we just try to always do the
basics, like always right, and Iknow that.
(24:31):
I think it's hard for me too,because it's my comfort zone.
You know, that's where I feelthe best.
Marketing is definitely notwhere I feel the most
comfortable.
And, uh, it's also just puttingit down.
That's what I'm doing today.
I'm gonna go out talk to peopleinstead of go be in the
restaurant.
What happens when you getuncomfortable?
I'm doing today.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
I'm going to go out and talk to people instead of go
be in the restaurant.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
What happens when you get uncomfortable.
I think it depends on what itis Cause.
Sometimes when I'muncomfortable, it's exciting
Cause I know that it's like oh,it's something new.
Like, for example, many yearsago, many, many years ago I did
door to door sales and I knew itwas going to be uncomfortable.
I don't like door-to-door sales, but it was exciting because it
was something new and it didn'tend up working out, but it was
(25:17):
exciting because it was justsomething new.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
So you know, when you get uncomfortable growth,
happens yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
Yeah, yeah, you can't , you can't, you can't change
unless you're uncomfortable.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, you can't,you can't, you can't change
unless you're uncomfortable.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
Yeah, how would your leadership transform if you
leaned a little bit more intomarketing?
Speaker 2 (25:37):
Probably, it probably improved because I could give
somebody I could train somebodybelow me to, if I was ever be
replaced, or if I was to helpthe GMs take on more of that
role as we continue to grow.
I could give them somethingthat I am confident in, like I
am right now with the otherstuff.
So it would help them beconfident if I'm in confident.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
What happens when more of your team builds their
confidence and they take moreownership of the job?
What happens?
What's the impact on thebusiness?
And they take more ownership ofthe job, what happens?
What's the?
Speaker 2 (26:12):
impact on the business.
I feel like if more people tooktake ownership I mean to be to
be fair, I think they do do agood job at taking ownership of
the restaurant, but I think ifthey took more people took more
ownership of the restaurant,they would look for every
opportunity, whenever somethingis maybe not quite right, to get
fixed, stuff like that.
That way it's less of mepointing that stuff out which,
(26:34):
like I said, to be fair, theytake very good care of those
restaurants.
Speaker 1 (26:38):
Yeah, very profitable .
And how does that ownershipimpact the bottom line?
Speaker 2 (26:45):
I mean, I guess when people are more cautious,
they're more aware abouteverything in the restaurant,
they use it more sparingly, theytake better care of the
equipment, everything it allrelates.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
Yeah, how does it impact the guest?
Speaker 2 (26:59):
experience by people taking more ownership.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:03):
Because I know for sure whenever customers walk in
there they're going to gettreated and appreciated as
customers, not just as a job.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
Yeah, and how does that impact sales and repeat
business?
Speaker 2 (27:13):
Because people are going to tell everybody about
Crust, how great we are, yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
How does that help your marketing efforts?
Speaker 2 (27:21):
I don't have to do less of it.
I'm doing it for them.
Word of mouth is so cold.
Speaker 1 (27:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:27):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
So if I was going to challenge you to get a little
bit uncomfortable when it comesto marketing, what's one thing
that you would like to exploreand lean into a little bit?
Speaker 2 (27:40):
well, something we've already kind of been working on
I just I've been putting it offis doing these kind of like
tasting events at apartmentcomplexes.
So essentially what that wouldprobably consist of I think I've
got most of the details workedout is it'd be like a clamshell,
so it'd have like a pizza,maybe it has two different
flavors.
It'd have a little thing ofpasta, a little thing of salad,
(28:01):
which has like a little bit ofeverything that we'd offer.
It'd be about a two-hour window.
We'd get some balloons, we'dget a little acrylic sign that
says, hey, sign up for ourrewards program so you can enjoy
this free tasting event,something we've never done
before.
That's a little bit out of mycomfort zone because I don't
have a process for it yet.
It makes me uncomfortable.
But I know that it could be agood potential to introduce a
(28:23):
lot of people to the Crest brand.
So that's kind of the goal toget that in place, and I've
already got a yes from aapartment complex.
They're just waiting on me.
Speaker 1 (28:31):
Okay, what's been the reason for you putting it off?
Speaker 2 (28:38):
Past couple of weeks we just had some management
turnover, just gettinginterviews, all that stuff,
trying to make sure we get theright people in store.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
Okay, how would having a process in place help
you execute this?
Speaker 2 (28:51):
It's just less thought, it's just easier.
You just sign it up.
This is how we're doing it.
We're executing it.
That's it, just like opening.
You do this, you do this, youdo this.
You don't even think about it.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
Yeah, what's the process you need to put into
place?
Speaker 2 (29:06):
To make this happen, I need to do it first do it
yourself yeah, I just need to doit.
Then I know I'm like don't dothis, do this, this worked, you
know, and then slowly improve itover time, like we've done
everything else.
Speaker 1 (29:18):
Okay what's the risk there?
Speaker 2 (29:21):
um, there isn't much risk, I'd say.
It's just.
I think I just want to create agood experience, even though
it's outside the restaurant, andI don't.
I don't want to not give itenough attention.
I don't want to, I don't wantto.
I don't know if I can say thaton here or not, I don't half-ass
it, basically.
Speaker 1 (29:41):
Yeah, you're welcome to cuss.
I checked that explicit box.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
Okay, just making sure.
But yeah, I don't want tohalf-ass it, I want to make sure
that I, because I do that, Ilike to think through things, so
I can make sure that the only Ican minimize the amount of
effects it has on other peopleif I can't with anything that we
try to do or we need to release, so I can think through the
problems first, just to make itsmoother.
Speaker 1 (30:05):
It sounds like you're very protective of your team.
Speaker 2 (30:12):
I don't know if I would say protective is the
right word.
I just care.
I care about people.
That's one thing the owner hasreally taught me is that people
are everything in this business.
So like if we don't take careof the people that work for us,
we don't give them the time ofday that they need.
I mean, we're selling pizza,but we're in the people of
businesses.
That's what he's always saidand he's a hundred percent right
(30:32):
Every single time.
So definitely, definitely,appreciate and give people, our
employees, attention.
Speaker 1 (30:38):
Yeah, love it.
How do you want to create agood experience for this tasting
event?
What does, what does that goodexperience look like?
How would you describe it?
Speaker 2 (30:47):
Um, I think a good experience is obviously the food
being as hot as we possibly can, without it coming directly
from the pizza oven at arestaurant.
Um, making sure that you knowwe're not just saying here's
your food, but we're saying, uh,a little bit about the brand
with each, each person that'swalked walking through
explaining to them what they'regetting.
You know, with that clamshellpizza box when I was, hey, one
(31:08):
side is going to be a big Don's,which is our meat lover style.
The other side is going to beour Carl's King, which is kind
of like a Supreme pizza that weoffer.
We've got our salad, you know,we've got the veggies on that
fresh every day.
Um, have you guys ever heard ofcrust before?
You know, ask those questions.
They're trying to create, uh, Iguess, a profile of the, uh,
the customer, um, and really geta chance to tell them about who
(31:31):
crust is.
You know about the uniquedining experience for that type
of restaurant it's fast, casual,fresh ingredients.
Cheese comes from a block.
We have proprietary mozzarellacheese, things like that.
That, I think, was.
It's exciting to tell acustomer that, yeah, we don't
freeze our dough or we don'tpull our cheese out of the
freezer and, just like, slap iton your pizza.
(31:52):
It's like it's we care.
Speaker 1 (31:54):
Love it, what else?
Speaker 2 (31:57):
I think ultimately I mean I don't know if it's
possibly going to be part of theexperience is making sure you
know they sign up for therewards, they get something out
of it.
If we get something out of it,you know they get great food.
They walk away thinking youknow, man, that pizza was good.
We definitely got to go checkthem out and get them ultimately
to the store.
Love it, yeah, so you show upwith hot food, you engage them,
(32:26):
you tell so you show up with hotfood, you engage them, you tell
the story, you find a way tobring them back, make sure they
come back into the restaurant.
Yeah, I want to give themsomething to go menu.
Maybe not give them a couponafter I just gave them free food
, but have them walk away orsomething.
I want them to walk away,wanting to go to the restaurant?
Okay, sounds like a pretty goodprocess right there.
(32:48):
Yeah, I've been thinking aboutit for a little while.
Speaker 1 (32:50):
Yeah, I think you've got what you need.
Speaker 2 (32:53):
I think so.
Yeah, okay, I thought I wasthinking about earlier this week
.
It's on my my to-do list or mybullet journal.
Speaker 1 (33:00):
Yeah, I love it.
What is one thing that you'remost excited about this year?
Speaker 2 (33:08):
Hmm, there's going to be try to say this as vaguely
as possible we're gonna beopening new restaurants.
Speaker 1 (33:19):
Okay, we won't say where.
Speaker 2 (33:24):
Okay, yeah, yeah, I'm very excited for that um, those
, those things that are in thepipeline.
Speaker 1 (33:27):
I'm excited because it can create new opportunities
for the people below me yeah soI think that's always exciting
what are the opportunities it'sgoing to give you um?
Speaker 2 (33:36):
more restaurants, more restaurants, more
restaurants, different type ofrestaurants, different type of
food.
I think it's going to help meum get out of my comfort zone,
so that's I think that's why I'mexcited about it too, For sure.
Speaker 1 (33:51):
Sounds like um 2025 is a year of growth for you.
Speaker 2 (33:55):
Um, I I'd say the next five years is all going to
be growth.
Speaker 1 (33:59):
Amazing, yeah, amazing, how Amazing.
How do you want to show up ifwe, you know, you and I touch
base five years from today?
How are you showing up as aleader?
Speaker 2 (34:09):
Oh, as a leader.
I was like maybe in aLamborghini.
No, I'm just kidding, you canbe part of it as a leader.
How do I show up?
That's a good question.
How do I show up?
That's a good question.
How do I show up?
What do you mean exactly?
Speaker 1 (34:27):
What characteristics would you use to describe
yourself if you and I aretalking five years from today?
Speaker 2 (34:34):
I'd like to be able to say that he me Maybe that I
care a little bit less aboutwhat people think maybe I'm a
little bit more apt to take alittle bit more action on
something I see I the less lessthat like your podcast about
people pleasing.
I listened to that today and Iwas like, hmm, I've got some
(34:54):
qualities in there.
I like those to go away.
I'd like to.
Let's go away a little bit.
Speaker 1 (34:58):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (34:59):
But overall, I mean, it's been a I think it's been a
good, good growth path overthese almost a decade now.
Speaker 1 (35:06):
How would letting go of some of those or changing
some of those people pleasinghabits help you be more
effective in your role?
Speaker 2 (35:15):
Um, I think it would help me to articulate things
with less fluff.
Me to articulate things withless fluff, like getting rid of
the uh, like the trying tovalidate why I'm telling
somebody something right, tryingto just be a little bit more
direct, with the being inbalance.
Of course I don't want to be, Idon't want to be an asshole,
(35:35):
but uh, probably that just seesomething.
A lot of people have moreaccountable to it yeah, where's
the fluff coming from?
Speaker 1 (35:42):
what do you what?
What are you?
What's making you hold?
Hold you back.
What is holding you back?
Speaker 2 (35:46):
excuse me, um, I think it's just, I care about
the people.
I think that's why I I willlike pad things a little bit too
much, because, also, I thinkit's because, like I've never
been really talked to in thatmanner, like I've always just
been like, hey, this is what youneed to do.
I'm like, all right, cool,let's do it Like there's never
(36:08):
been.
Hey, I need you to work on this.
Or I've noticed that you knowyour, your, your schedule's
coming a little late.
You know, what can we do to getyour schedule to be done at the
right time?
Or it's like hey, we keeptalking about this.
It's not proving.
You know, I never had to havethose conversations, so I'm kind
of like figuring that outduring this time.
Speaker 1 (36:26):
What could having more of those honest
conversations do for the company?
Speaker 2 (36:35):
Maybe it would help people get them to where they
need to be.
Faster is all, or make it seemmore serious to them.
Speaker 1 (36:43):
What would it do to the relationship between you and
the person that you'recommunicating with?
Speaker 2 (36:51):
Um, I mean, ideally it makes it better, but it could
, it could be worse, I guess.
Speaker 1 (37:02):
Yeah, how can?
Speaker 2 (37:02):
it makes it better, but it could, it could be worse,
I guess, yeah, how can it makeit better?
Um, maybe they did, they wouldjust, uh, maybe they would just
know that, like that, I, when I,when I bring these up, it's
it's from a place like I reallywant them to improve and by me
continuously following up onthem, it's it's because I care
about growth.
I don't care about necessarily,I'm not trying to micromanage
them just for the sake ofmicromanaging, micromanaging for
(37:25):
results.
But I think that there's somestruggles in.
That too is because it's been abalance this whole time of
micromanaging and telling people, because when I was younger, I
did the opposite.
I told you right away and Ilearned oh, that doesn't always
work.
So I think I've done it on theside of like, let me pad it a
(37:46):
little bit more, let me and Ithink I swung a little bit too
far sometimes- I think I'm, I'mokay with it and I think some
people would maybe be like.
You know, I don't think you havethat problem at all.
It's all in your head, but inyour head.
But if you haven't tell I likea system, I like a process.
Speaker 1 (38:05):
So I sometimes tend to overthink things, it's true,
yeah, yeah, I love it.
What's one, what's one thingthat you want to take away from
this conversation today?
Speaker 2 (38:12):
Um, take away.
I feel like the one thing I'vetaken away already is something
that I already know is just andit's kind of been the goal this
year is just for marketing isjust take more, just take action
, just be more consistent withit.
I don't have to have a processto take action on it, you know,
just do it.
Speaker 1 (38:29):
Yeah, yeah, it's, business is all an experiment,
right, and this is one of thetoughest times the industry has
ever seen, and soexperimentation is just key, and
getting uncomfortable is key,and trying to stay above, ahead
of the competition and keep yourname out there and build
relationships is just so muchmore crucial than it's ever been
before.
Speaker 2 (38:50):
Right, no, yeah, well , I mean, you're right, this has
been hard, but it's cool to beable to say it's like, yeah, we
were okay in the hard time andwe're great in the great times.
Speaker 1 (38:58):
Yeah, yeah.
Well, jesse, I thank you somuch for coming on.
You are an incredible leaderand it's been an honor to just
get to know a little bit more ofyou today.
We haven't spent time togetherbefore this, so I appreciate
your, your bravery and I hopemaybe this was a little
uncomfortable for you coming ontoday and kind of talking about
what you do, but we certainlywish you all the best and, you
(39:21):
know, would love to stayconnected over the next five
years and continue to cheer onyour journey.
It's going to be reallyexciting.
Speaker 2 (39:28):
Yeah, I'm curious where the next five years will
go.
I'm sure it'll be great.
It's going to be great.
Speaker 1 (39:34):
Awesome.
All right, everybody that'sgoing to do it for us this week.
Thank you so much for tuning inand please share this episode
with anybody that you know inthe restaurant industry that
could benefit.
We'll talk to you next week.
Hey everybody, welcome back to the show.
This week I am doing a coachingsession with Jesse Hansen.
Jesse is an area manager downin Texas for Crest Pizza Company
and I am so honored that hedecided to jump in for the first
time into coaching with me onthe show, in front of everybody,
(00:28):
and talk about one of hisbiggest challenges right now,
which is a common challenge inthe industry of how to grow
sales.
His target is three to 5% andwe talk a lot about
understanding what's beenworking for him in his business
and what he feels reallyconfident about understanding
what's been working for him inhis business and what he feels
really confident about, and thenalso where he needs to get a
(00:51):
little bit uncomfortable andlean into some different areas
of the business that are goingto be successful for him moving
forward and some of the thingsthat are getting in his way of
potentially helping him getreally uncomfortable.
And we talk about what's on thehorizon for him for the next
five years, which is really,really exciting, and we talk
about what's on the horizon forhim for the next five years,
which is really, really exciting.
Again, as you're listening tothese coaching episodes, the
hope is that you're listening tothe questions that are being
(01:12):
asked and some of the responses,obviously, that Jesse is
providing, but that you're alsolistening for your own moments
of insight and shifts inperspective and things that you
can immediately take and applyto your life or to specific
areas of your business so thatyou can develop yourself
professionally as a leader.
I hope you enjoy.
(01:33):
Welcome to the RestaurantLeadership Podcast, the show
where restaurant leaders learntools, tactics and habits from
the world's greatest operators.
I'm your host, kristen Marvin,with Solutions by Kristen.
I've spent the last two decadesin the restaurant industry and
now partner with restaurantowners to develop their leaders
(01:53):
and scale their businessesthrough powerful one-on-one
coaching, group coaching andleadership workshops.
This show is complete withepisodes around coaching,
leadership development andinterviews with powerful
industry leaders.
You can now engage with me onthe show and share topics you'd
(02:15):
like to hear about, leadership,lessons you want to learn and
any feedback you have.
Simply click the link at thetop of the show notes and I will
give you a shout out on afuture episode.
Thanks so much for listeningand I look forward to connecting
.
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Jesse, how can I make this anextraordinary conversation for
you today?
Speaker 2 (04:02):
I need life changing advice, so it'll blow my mind In
terms of what we need help with.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
I think we got operations down pretty well.
I'd say our biggest, ourbiggest struggle has always been
increasing sales.
That's been the big struggle.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
Okay, say more.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
I'm sorry.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Say more about that.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
Let's see, I feel like we've tried a lot, a lot of
things in the book.
We've done mailers, we've doneoutreach to schools, we set up
spirit nights.
Uh, we've done different typesof promotions.
We've done, uh, more recentlywe've done more text message
marketing stuff with promotionsand that seems to be kind of
successful.
Um, but I feel like trying toget more, more attention to the
(04:53):
restaurant is is where we'vestruggled a little bit with
that's what you're saying.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
So talk me through a little bit about your your your
career history here and the timethat you spent as a GM and the
time that you spent as an areamanager what, what are some
things that you've seen that'sworked really well for you in
the past when it comes todriving sales.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
The best things.
That, I think, is justobviously, and everybody knows
this.
It's just to create the bestexperience possible has been the
number one thing, and trainingbeing in the GM role I always
push is like trying to learnthis customer's name.
Everybody knows this.
It's just to create the bestexperience possible has been the
number one thing, and trainingbeing in the GM role I always
push is like trying to learnthis customer's name, so that
are walking through the door soyou can be like hey, frank,
you're back for whatever theirfrequently ordered item is.
That had a big impact on therestaurant.
(05:38):
Even now, as an area manager,I'll step into those locations,
or the location I was a GM atand they still, hey, jesse,
how's it going?
And I haven't been a GM foralmost five years and they still
know who I am.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
So obviously, made a big impact to those customers in
that way.
Love it.
What else have you done?
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Um in terms of helping sales or yeah well, I
think trying to be the best thatwe can be obviously is going to
help the sales because wecreate the best experience.
So it's creating as manyprocesses as we can to guarantee
they have a good experience.
So initially I was the one thatdid a lot of the training and
(06:16):
then, as we grew and had othermanagement that come on, they
helped with the training process.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
I would say that yeah , what's special about that
training process?
Speaker 2 (06:28):
I would say just getting into the nitty gritty of
things Like this is exactlywhat we want to say when a
customer walks through the door.
This is the process.
We're going to repeat back theorder.
We're going to offer garlicknots or cheese bread.
You know we're going to makethree visits to the table.
We're going to drop off thatinitial, the food items.
We're going to follow up, makesure everything came out great.
And then that last visit, we'regoing to make sure they don't
(06:49):
need any boxes or we can clearoff, you know, plates off the
table.
Like it's actionable, you know.
I can walk up to any of ouremployees and be like hey, are
we doing these three things?
And if they're not, then I knowthat we can improve to provide
that experience.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
Yeah, how many locations are you overseeing
right now?
Speaker 2 (07:06):
A whole whopping three, okay, three locations.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Yeah, and what does increasing sales look like to
you with those three locations?
Speaker 2 (07:18):
As far as what?
Speaker 1 (07:20):
How would you define success in terms of increasing
sales in your region?
Speaker 2 (07:26):
I mean, ideally, we're always growing, right?
I'd say 2024 was a hard yearfor sales.
We were growing, but there wasdefinitely some months there
that were not the best.
So I'd say, if we can continuethe year by doing, I would say,
three to three to 5% growthevery single month over last
(07:48):
year, I would consider that awin.
Um, but ideally more, ideallymore, because 2024 was
definitely a harder of a yearfor sales.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
And what would three to 5% growth do for the company?
Speaker 2 (08:04):
growth do for the company.
I mean we'd be, we'd make moremoney, That'd be great.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
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Speaker 2 (09:25):
I just make everything easier.
I mean three to 5% increase insales consistently.
We can keep that trend up andget closer to those numbers.
We have more staff on.
It just gets easier for thelower volume sales our stores
that we have, cause we have torun tighter, tighter crews at
those lower volumes.
(09:46):
What does that mean for you?
It just means that there'spotentially going to be more
times I'll have to step inbecause we have to run a tighter
crews, which thankfully doesn'thappen a lot.
We do have pretty good, prettygood teams for the most part,
but yeah, I'd say that's what itmeans.
It's just I have to payattention to a little bit more
than the ones that have moreemployees.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
How would increasing sales by 3% to 5% impact your
quality of life?
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Honestly, I feel like my quality of life is pretty
good.
I don't think it woulddramatically improve my life.
It would be more for them thanit would be for me, because it
means that they get hired more,which means that they are going
to be less stressed if somebodycalls out.
So it's probably more of animpact for them than it would be
for me.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
What's the impact for them beyond just being able to
hire more teammates?
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Well, I mean it's just easier.
I mean it's easier to managelabors.
You know it's just easier.
I mean it's easier to managelabors.
You know it's less stressful.
Um, obviously, with therestaurant being busier, the
tips are going to go up.
Employees are going to makemore money.
Um, it just gets sales helps.
Everything just gets easier.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
It really does Top line cures all.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
Yeah, for the most part.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
Yeah, what is standing in your way right now
of reaching that goal ofincreasing your sales by 3% to
5%?
Speaker 2 (11:10):
Ignorance.
I think, yeah, I feel likethere's something that I don't
know, I don't know to try Idon't know what, I don't know
and probably that, and justbeing a little bit more
consistent with those salesbuilding activities, like going
out and talking to thebusinesses and making more
frequent uh follow-ups oncontacts that we already have, I
(11:32):
think those are things thatdefinitely could improve.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
What do you know?
Speaker 2 (11:39):
What do I know about what?
Speaker 1 (11:40):
About you said.
You said ignorance.
So let's talk about.
Let's talk about the oppositeof ignorance.
What do you know about?
Speaker 2 (11:47):
about how to increase sales um, I mean, obviously
operations is the number onething to look at first before
you try to go bring more peopleto the restaurant, and I think,
operationally, our stores dophenomenal I think they do
really really well super clean,um, so I think that that box is
definitely checked.
But aside from that, when I'veasked other people, they have
(12:11):
told me a lot of it has to dowith the schools reaching out,
trying to set up the spiritnights, going out to the local
businesses and promotingcatering, dropping off flyers,
coupons to those businesses tocome check us out, what else.
I'm trying to remember all thethings that we've done.
(12:35):
We've done the mailers.
We've done live music.
We still do live music atConroe, but we tried it at Katie
.
That didn't do too well.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
We've tried we tried a lot of things.
Yeah, I remember them all, butwe tried a lot of things.
Which, of those things thatyou've tried, you remember being
very successful?
Speaker 2 (13:03):
none of them have really done what I thought they
would do.
I.
The thing with the mailers isthat people came in with them,
um, but it was.
It seems like it was more oflike a, a way to get the offer
that we're offering, whetherthat be a free item or a
discounted price.
Then we don't really see themturning into consistent
customers.
It's more of like just gettingthat free food.
(13:26):
It's kind of like we have kidseat free on Tuesday and we see a
lot of those Tuesday customersonly on Tuesday, not the rest of
the week.
That's kind of what it seemslike.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
So, internally, you feel like you've got a really
strong handle on operations.
Sounds like you're super proudabout what the team's doing.
Is it consistent across allthree of your locations?
Speaker 2 (13:47):
Yeah, I'd say it's fairly consistent.
I mean we've got perfect ornear-perfect corporate audits on
all three stores, got reallygood Google reviews.
Stores are clean, they getgreat food safety.
I personally check those allthe time.
So I'd say, operationally,stores are in pretty good
standing.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
How's the team?
Speaker 2 (14:08):
What do you mean?
Speaker 1 (14:10):
How's the quality of your team in each location?
Speaker 2 (14:17):
I say the quality of my management team or just the
entire store.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
The entire store.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
The entire store.
I think each store is unique.
They're not all obviously goingto be the same.
I think that certain storeshave certain strengths over the
other.
Do you want me to go intodetail?
Speaker 1 (14:34):
Yeah, let's explore it.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
So I feel like Arcadia location, specifically
the kitchen manager of thatstore she's got a really really
good grasp of what she needs todo to get that store to maintain
those standards because shestepped into a role, into that
role, but the previous kitchenmanager wasn't the strongest.
So I feel like she has like areally she's really strong in
that area.
She's good at like delegatingit out, whereas some of our
(14:58):
other locations that kitchenmanager may not be as willing to
delegate things out.
He gets more pushback thoughthe source.
Still the stuff gets done.
It's just, it's just different.
Um, but yeah, I feel likethey're they're all slightly
different.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
How does delegation contribute to an increase in
sales?
Hmm, yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
I guess making sure if, if I can delegate that stuff
out, my GMs can delegate youknow certain things out, they
have more time to focus on thosesales building activities.
Speaker 1 (15:37):
And what does that delegation do to the hourly
employee?
How does that impact them?
Speaker 2 (15:45):
Um, I mean I.
I guess what I mean bydelegating is, like you know,
with with the, it's just makingsure that we're providing that
good experience.
So making sure that likethey're like, for example, the
the GM is like, their job is tomake sure they go, walk around
and interact with thosecustomers and make sure for sure
(16:05):
that they're getting a goodexperience.
But if that GM is the only onethat's walking around checking
on it and the front of house isnot, then like, obviously the
front of house is lacking.
You know the GM still needs todo that, but I guess what I'm
saying is that it can't all relyon the GM being there for the
experience to be good.
Does that make sense?
Speaker 1 (16:24):
Yeah, 100%.
When the GM is walking aroundand checking in with guests, are
there opportunities there todrive more sales?
Speaker 2 (16:33):
Oh yeah, absolutely, I mean for one.
Invite them back.
That's something that we couldbe better at.
I mean, we'll thank them asthey walk out the door, but I
know that we had some freeappetizer cards made and the
intention was for the generalmanager to walk around check up
on the experience.
Invite it back by giving methat card.
Hey, come back, see us.
(16:53):
You know, that could be a wayto get them back into the
restaurant sooner.
Or just looking for, you know,maybe they're wearing some sort
of uniform.
Ask them about you know, theirjob potential, catering stuff
like that, yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
Is there opportunity for the rest of the front of the
house to do that?
Do you think?
Speaker 2 (17:14):
Possibly.
If it's slower, there ispotential.
If it's evening sales, I'd sayno, okay, it's just it's too
tight of a group.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
Is there opportunity to enhance the guest experience
once the order or when, when theguest enters the building like?
Is there an opportunity forfront of house to elevate that
experience even more than whatthey're doing right now?
Speaker 2 (17:41):
um, I mean, I'm sure, I'm sure there is like not
every single customer is goingto exactly exactly the same
experience, though I think forthe most part they all get a
pretty good experience.
I can't think of anything thatwe could really add to that
experience to make it that muchmore.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
How's the menu?
Knowledge of the team.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
They know the menu.
They know the menu very well.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
How's upselling?
Speaker 2 (18:11):
upselling.
I mean, we have a prompt thatit pops up that it requires them
to put an appetizer on there.
Um, there's, and there's a wayto hit no starter.
So you continue the work.
They don't want an appetizer,but it's a frequent reminder.
We listen for it.
Um, in the morning it's alittle bit harder to upsell just
because we have great lunchspecial that includes a drink
and includes everything you'dwant.
(18:33):
So maybe dipping sauce youcould upsell.
But upselling should be prettygood.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
How are you measuring that?
Speaker 2 (18:41):
So what we used to do it where we could see how many
garlic, knots and cheese bedswere sold compared to how many
orders were taken and we'd usethat as an upsell percentage.
Now we've kind of transitionedto we're just looking at average
check as a whole and seeing ifwe're moving that in the right
direction.
But we've used both.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
And how is your average check performing
compared to last year?
Speaker 2 (19:09):
Well, honestly, the past month it's gone down
because we started a newpromotion on mondays that is a
lower average check promo.
So I think overall the monthit's gone down a little bit.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
Um, but before that it's probably about the same as
it was and has that, even thoughit's lowered, your average
check has it increased sales.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1 (19:33):
Because guest traffic is higher.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
Guest traffic is definitely higher on those days.
So we probably increased or wedefinitely increased about
$1,000 on the Monday sales atour Conroe and Arcadia locations
.
They've increased.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
We only run at those two locations.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
The other location we don't, because they do great.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
What are you um?
What are you if you don't mindsharing what is a typical sales
number look like on a Monday?
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Mondays are rough days.
Um, it can vary.
I would say at worst it can belike 17, 1800.
Okay, um, or, or more normalcould be like 22, 23 fluct, be
like $1,700, $1,800.
Okay, or more normal, it couldbe like $2,200, $2,300.
It fluctuates in between there,but we're seeing it more
consistently with this promo.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
So you've added $1,000 roughly with this promo
yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
If you look at it, yeah, it's about $1,000.
It's on average.
For the past five, six weeksit's been about $3,000.
That's huge.
Yeah, that's huge.
It seems to go three weeks in arow.
It'd be like good, and thenit'll dip and then it goes back.
It's like people are like allright, we've had enough cheap
pizza or discounted pizza.
I should say yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
So you're offering more value and it's driving
business on that day, yeah, okay, on that day yeah.
Where else in the businesscould you see?
Speaker 2 (20:54):
that working.
I'm afraid to offer thatbecause we don't want to be a
cheap pizza kind of placebecause we have such good
quality ingredients and cheesethat's from blocks we we make
our dough every day.
I'm very hesitant to do thattoo much and become the cheat
piece place.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
Yeah, 100% yeah.
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(21:37):
audio book today.
Is there a way you could buildon what you're already doing
with those promos?
Such as such as what Is there away you can help spread the
(21:58):
word more externally about thatpromo?
Is there, do you have room togrow that on Mondays beyond
where you're at right now?
Speaker 2 (22:08):
Oh yeah, I mean we could grow if I mean you could
keep going up to like sales andwe could just add more staff on
potentially.
But every Monday we send out atext for our loyalty program.
So every Monday there's a linkon there.
You can order right online,pick it up.
It's also on our table tents atthe restaurant, our little
acrylic signs, and we have it ina few other spots in stores so
it's visible, people can see it.
They're like, oh cool.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
We got a monday promo , so I feel like there's
definitely a good attention onit.
If you can, will you continueto run this?
Speaker 2 (22:36):
promo throughout the course of the year.
Um, so the original plan was todo, I think, one month, because
we're doing two differentpromos.
We're doing one promo katie,one promo conroe.
We wanted to see which one kindof did better, and then
we're're going to kind of goingto pick or maybe swap and test
it out.
But I think we're just going toleave it alone, at least
through next month, possiblyfurther.
Yeah, okay.
(22:57):
So, probably at some point.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
Okay, so kind of experimenting, waiting to see
what happens, what works, andthen and then you can build on
that.
I mean a thousand dollars aweek added in sales over the
course of the year if youcontinue.
The promo is pretty significant.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
Yeah Right, $52,000.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
Yeah, would that help you reach the 3% to 5%?
Speaker 2 (23:21):
I mean probably not.
Our sales volume is a littlehigher than that.
Okay, okay, but we need more ofthose.
Speaker 1 (23:30):
Do you have decision-making over stuff like
that?
Speaker 2 (23:34):
As far as like what promos we?
Speaker 1 (23:35):
could run Promos and stuff, uh-huh, I mean yeah, yeah
.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
Ultimately, if I wanted to do it and the owner
thought it was a good idea, he'dsay go for it, he's pretty free
on that stuff.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
Okay, so the promo is working.
You feel like operationallythings are tight.
You mentioned a few thingsexternally that you could go do,
but you haven't seen a ton ofsuccess in those in the past.
(24:03):
Why?
Speaker 2 (24:07):
do you think they haven't been successful?
It's probably just consistencyon those things 's probably the
the root cause of it.
I just need to be moreconsistent.
Those things, um, because we'veseen the success in the
restaurant, because that'sthat's what we say it comes down
to is just consistency andsystems and processes is the
reason we're successfuloperationally.
Like we don't do anything fancy, we just try to always do the
basics, like always right, and Iknow that.
(24:31):
I think it's hard for me too,because it's my comfort zone.
You know, that's where I feelthe best.
Marketing is definitely notwhere I feel the most
comfortable.
And, uh, it's also just puttingit down.
That's what I'm doing today.
I'm gonna go out talk to peopleinstead of go be in the
restaurant.
What happens when you getuncomfortable?
I'm doing today.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
I'm going to go out and talk to people instead of go
be in the restaurant.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
What happens when you get uncomfortable.
I think it depends on what itis Cause.
Sometimes when I'muncomfortable, it's exciting
Cause I know that it's like oh,it's something new.
Like, for example, many yearsago, many, many years ago I did
door to door sales and I knew itwas going to be uncomfortable.
I don't like door-to-door sales, but it was exciting because it
was something new and it didn'tend up working out, but it was
(25:17):
exciting because it was justsomething new.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
So you know, when you get uncomfortable growth,
happens yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
Yeah, yeah, you can't , you can't, you can't change
unless you're uncomfortable.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, you can't,you can't, you can't change
unless you're uncomfortable.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
Yeah, how would your leadership transform if you
leaned a little bit more intomarketing?
Speaker 2 (25:37):
Probably, it probably improved because I could give
somebody I could train somebodybelow me to, if I was ever be
replaced, or if I was to helpthe GMs take on more of that
role as we continue to grow.
I could give them somethingthat I am confident in, like I
am right now with the otherstuff.
So it would help them beconfident if I'm in confident.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
What happens when more of your team builds their
confidence and they take moreownership of the job?
What happens?
What's the impact on thebusiness?
And they take more ownership ofthe job, what happens?
What's the?
Speaker 2 (26:12):
impact on the business.
I feel like if more people tooktake ownership I mean to be to
be fair, I think they do do agood job at taking ownership of
the restaurant, but I think ifthey took more people took more
ownership of the restaurant,they would look for every
opportunity, whenever somethingis maybe not quite right, to get
fixed, stuff like that.
That way it's less of mepointing that stuff out which,
(26:34):
like I said, to be fair, theytake very good care of those
restaurants.
Speaker 1 (26:38):
Yeah, very profitable .
And how does that ownershipimpact the bottom line?
Speaker 2 (26:45):
I mean, I guess when people are more cautious,
they're more aware abouteverything in the restaurant,
they use it more sparingly, theytake better care of the
equipment, everything it allrelates.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
Yeah, how does it impact the guest?
Speaker 2 (26:59):
experience by people taking more ownership.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:03):
Because I know for sure whenever customers walk in
there they're going to gettreated and appreciated as
customers, not just as a job.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
Yeah, and how does that impact sales and repeat
business?
Speaker 2 (27:13):
Because people are going to tell everybody about
Crust, how great we are, yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
How does that help your marketing efforts?
Speaker 2 (27:21):
I don't have to do less of it.
I'm doing it for them.
Word of mouth is so cold.
Speaker 1 (27:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:27):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
So if I was going to challenge you to get a little
bit uncomfortable when it comesto marketing, what's one thing
that you would like to exploreand lean into a little bit?
Speaker 2 (27:40):
well, something we've already kind of been working on
I just I've been putting it offis doing these kind of like
tasting events at apartmentcomplexes.
So essentially what that wouldprobably consist of I think I've
got most of the details workedout is it'd be like a clamshell,
so it'd have like a pizza,maybe it has two different
flavors.
It'd have a little thing ofpasta, a little thing of salad,
(28:01):
which has like a little bit ofeverything that we'd offer.
It'd be about a two-hour window.
We'd get some balloons, we'dget a little acrylic sign that
says, hey, sign up for ourrewards program so you can enjoy
this free tasting event,something we've never done
before.
That's a little bit out of mycomfort zone because I don't
have a process for it yet.
It makes me uncomfortable.
But I know that it could be agood potential to introduce a
(28:23):
lot of people to the Crest brand.
So that's kind of the goal toget that in place, and I've
already got a yes from aapartment complex.
They're just waiting on me.
Speaker 1 (28:31):
Okay, what's been the reason for you putting it off?
Speaker 2 (28:38):
Past couple of weeks we just had some management
turnover, just gettinginterviews, all that stuff,
trying to make sure we get theright people in store.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
Okay, how would having a process in place help
you execute this?
Speaker 2 (28:51):
It's just less thought, it's just easier.
You just sign it up.
This is how we're doing it.
We're executing it.
That's it, just like opening.
You do this, you do this, youdo this.
You don't even think about it.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
Yeah, what's the process you need to put into
place?
Speaker 2 (29:06):
To make this happen, I need to do it first do it
yourself yeah, I just need to doit.
Then I know I'm like don't dothis, do this, this worked, you
know, and then slowly improve itover time, like we've done
everything else.
Speaker 1 (29:18):
Okay what's the risk there?
Speaker 2 (29:21):
um, there isn't much risk, I'd say.
It's just.
I think I just want to create agood experience, even though
it's outside the restaurant, andI don't.
I don't want to not give itenough attention.
I don't want to, I don't wantto.
I don't know if I can say thaton here or not, I don't half-ass
it, basically.
Speaker 1 (29:41):
Yeah, you're welcome to cuss.
I checked that explicit box.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
Okay, just making sure.
But yeah, I don't want tohalf-ass it, I want to make sure
that I, because I do that, Ilike to think through things, so
I can make sure that the only Ican minimize the amount of
effects it has on other peopleif I can't with anything that we
try to do or we need to release, so I can think through the
problems first, just to make itsmoother.
Speaker 1 (30:05):
It sounds like you're very protective of your team.
Speaker 2 (30:12):
I don't know if I would say protective is the
right word.
I just care.
I care about people.
That's one thing the owner hasreally taught me is that people
are everything in this business.
So like if we don't take careof the people that work for us,
we don't give them the time ofday that they need.
I mean, we're selling pizza,but we're in the people of
businesses.
That's what he's always saidand he's a hundred percent right
(30:32):
Every single time.
So definitely, definitely,appreciate and give people, our
employees, attention.
Speaker 1 (30:38):
Yeah, love it.
How do you want to create agood experience for this tasting
event?
What does, what does that goodexperience look like?
How would you describe it?
Speaker 2 (30:47):
Um, I think a good experience is obviously the food
being as hot as we possibly can, without it coming directly
from the pizza oven at arestaurant.
Um, making sure that you knowwe're not just saying here's
your food, but we're saying, uh,a little bit about the brand
with each, each person that'swalked walking through
explaining to them what they'regetting.
You know, with that clamshellpizza box when I was, hey, one
(31:08):
side is going to be a big Don's,which is our meat lover style.
The other side is going to beour Carl's King, which is kind
of like a Supreme pizza that weoffer.
We've got our salad, you know,we've got the veggies on that
fresh every day.
Um, have you guys ever heard ofcrust before?
You know, ask those questions.
They're trying to create, uh, Iguess, a profile of the, uh,
the customer, um, and really geta chance to tell them about who
(31:31):
crust is.
You know about the uniquedining experience for that type
of restaurant it's fast, casual,fresh ingredients.
Cheese comes from a block.
We have proprietary mozzarellacheese, things like that.
That, I think, was.
It's exciting to tell acustomer that, yeah, we don't
freeze our dough or we don'tpull our cheese out of the
freezer and, just like, slap iton your pizza.
(31:52):
It's like it's we care.
Speaker 1 (31:54):
Love it, what else?
Speaker 2 (31:57):
I think ultimately I mean I don't know if it's
possibly going to be part of theexperience is making sure you
know they sign up for therewards, they get something out
of it.
If we get something out of it,you know they get great food.
They walk away thinking youknow, man, that pizza was good.
We definitely got to go checkthem out and get them ultimately
to the store.
Love it, yeah, so you show upwith hot food, you engage them,
(32:26):
you tell so you show up with hotfood, you engage them, you tell
the story, you find a way tobring them back, make sure they
come back into the restaurant.
Yeah, I want to give themsomething to go menu.
Maybe not give them a couponafter I just gave them free food
, but have them walk away orsomething.
I want them to walk away,wanting to go to the restaurant?
Okay, sounds like a pretty goodprocess right there.
(32:48):
Yeah, I've been thinking aboutit for a little while.
Speaker 1 (32:50):
Yeah, I think you've got what you need.
Speaker 2 (32:53):
I think so.
Yeah, okay, I thought I wasthinking about earlier this week
.
It's on my my to-do list or mybullet journal.
Speaker 1 (33:00):
Yeah, I love it.
What is one thing that you'remost excited about this year?
Speaker 2 (33:08):
Hmm, there's going to be try to say this as vaguely
as possible we're gonna beopening new restaurants.
Speaker 1 (33:19):
Okay, we won't say where.
Speaker 2 (33:24):
Okay, yeah, yeah, I'm very excited for that um, those
, those things that are in thepipeline.
Speaker 1 (33:27):
I'm excited because it can create new opportunities
for the people below me yeah soI think that's always exciting
what are the opportunities it'sgoing to give you um?
Speaker 2 (33:36):
more restaurants, more restaurants, more
restaurants, different type ofrestaurants, different type of
food.
I think it's going to help meum get out of my comfort zone,
so that's I think that's why I'mexcited about it too, For sure.
Speaker 1 (33:51):
Sounds like um 2025 is a year of growth for you.
Speaker 2 (33:55):
Um, I I'd say the next five years is all going to
be growth.
Speaker 1 (33:59):
Amazing, yeah, amazing, how Amazing.
How do you want to show up ifwe, you know, you and I touch
base five years from today?
How are you showing up as aleader?
Speaker 2 (34:09):
Oh, as a leader.
I was like maybe in aLamborghini.
No, I'm just kidding, you canbe part of it as a leader.
How do I show up?
That's a good question.
How do I show up?
That's a good question.
How do I show up?
What do you mean exactly?
Speaker 1 (34:27):
What characteristics would you use to describe
yourself if you and I aretalking five years from today?
Speaker 2 (34:34):
I'd like to be able to say that he me Maybe that I
care a little bit less aboutwhat people think maybe I'm a
little bit more apt to take alittle bit more action on
something I see I the less lessthat like your podcast about
people pleasing.
I listened to that today and Iwas like, hmm, I've got some
(34:54):
qualities in there.
I like those to go away.
I'd like to.
Let's go away a little bit.
Speaker 1 (34:58):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (34:59):
But overall, I mean, it's been a I think it's been a
good, good growth path overthese almost a decade now.
Speaker 1 (35:06):
How would letting go of some of those or changing
some of those people pleasinghabits help you be more
effective in your role?
Speaker 2 (35:15):
Um, I think it would help me to articulate things
with less fluff.
Me to articulate things withless fluff, like getting rid of
the uh, like the trying tovalidate why I'm telling
somebody something right, tryingto just be a little bit more
direct, with the being inbalance.
Of course I don't want to be, Idon't want to be an asshole,
(35:35):
but uh, probably that just seesomething.
A lot of people have moreaccountable to it yeah, where's
the fluff coming from?
Speaker 1 (35:42):
what do you what?
What are you?
What's making you hold?
Hold you back.
What is holding you back?
Speaker 2 (35:46):
excuse me, um, I think it's just, I care about
the people.
I think that's why I I willlike pad things a little bit too
much, because, also, I thinkit's because, like I've never
been really talked to in thatmanner, like I've always just
been like, hey, this is what youneed to do.
I'm like, all right, cool,let's do it Like there's never
(36:08):
been.
Hey, I need you to work on this.
Or I've noticed that you knowyour, your, your schedule's
coming a little late.
You know, what can we do to getyour schedule to be done at the
right time?
Or it's like hey, we keeptalking about this.
It's not proving.
You know, I never had to havethose conversations, so I'm kind
of like figuring that outduring this time.
Speaker 1 (36:26):
What could having more of those honest
conversations do for the company?
Speaker 2 (36:35):
Maybe it would help people get them to where they
need to be.
Faster is all, or make it seemmore serious to them.
Speaker 1 (36:43):
What would it do to the relationship between you and
the person that you'recommunicating with?
Speaker 2 (36:51):
Um, I mean, ideally it makes it better, but it could
, it could be worse, I guess.
Speaker 1 (37:02):
Yeah, how can?
Speaker 2 (37:02):
it makes it better, but it could, it could be worse,
I guess, yeah, how can it makeit better?
Um, maybe they did, they wouldjust, uh, maybe they would just
know that, like that, I, when I,when I bring these up, it's
it's from a place like I reallywant them to improve and by me
continuously following up onthem, it's it's because I care
about growth.
I don't care about necessarily,I'm not trying to micromanage
them just for the sake ofmicromanaging, micromanaging for
(37:25):
results.
But I think that there's somestruggles in.
That too is because it's been abalance this whole time of
micromanaging and telling people, because when I was younger, I
did the opposite.
I told you right away and Ilearned oh, that doesn't always
work.
So I think I've done it on theside of like, let me pad it a
(37:46):
little bit more, let me and Ithink I swung a little bit too
far sometimes- I think I'm, I'mokay with it and I think some
people would maybe be like.
You know, I don't think you havethat problem at all.
It's all in your head, but inyour head.
But if you haven't tell I likea system, I like a process.
Speaker 1 (38:05):
So I sometimes tend to overthink things, it's true,
yeah, yeah, I love it.
What's one, what's one thingthat you want to take away from
this conversation today?
Speaker 2 (38:12):
Um, take away.
I feel like the one thing I'vetaken away already is something
that I already know is just andit's kind of been the goal this
year is just for marketing isjust take more, just take action
, just be more consistent withit.
I don't have to have a processto take action on it, you know,
just do it.
Speaker 1 (38:29):
Yeah, yeah, it's, business is all an experiment,
right, and this is one of thetoughest times the industry has
ever seen, and soexperimentation is just key, and
getting uncomfortable is key,and trying to stay above, ahead
of the competition and keep yourname out there and build
relationships is just so muchmore crucial than it's ever been
before.
Speaker 2 (38:50):
Right, no, yeah, well , I mean, you're right, this has
been hard, but it's cool to beable to say it's like, yeah, we
were okay in the hard time andwe're great in the great times.
Speaker 1 (38:58):
Yeah, yeah.
Well, jesse, I thank you somuch for coming on.
You are an incredible leaderand it's been an honor to just
get to know a little bit more ofyou today.
We haven't spent time togetherbefore this, so I appreciate
your, your bravery and I hopemaybe this was a little
uncomfortable for you coming ontoday and kind of talking about
what you do, but we certainlywish you all the best and, you
(39:21):
know, would love to stayconnected over the next five
years and continue to cheer onyour journey.
It's going to be reallyexciting.
Speaker 2 (39:28):
Yeah, I'm curious where the next five years will
go.
I'm sure it'll be great.
It's going to be great.
Speaker 1 (39:34):
Awesome.
All right, everybody that'sgoing to do it for us this week.
Thank you so much for tuning inand please share this episode
with anybody that you know inthe restaurant industry that
could benefit.
We'll talk to you next week.
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