Holiday Gift Sets

This winter, our region was chosen to be a test market for Holiday Gift Sets. These gift sets include a calendar, gift card, holiday plush cow, cow ornament/gift card holder, and are held in a limited edition cow nutcracker box. They cost $10 + the value of a gift card and are targeted towards customers who are searching for a gift for someone that they are not necessarily close to (i.e. a teacher, mailman, tennis partner, etc).

Each unit was shipped and charged for 450 sets in October. Being a bit of a pessimist, I thought that we would have trouble selling more than 50 of these Gift Sets. After paying the bill, however, I decided that selling this few would simply not be an option.
After meeting with my UMD and my leadership, we devised a month-long strategy to aggressively market the Holiday Gift Set during the Christmas season.

Product Display
First, we placed numerous displays around our restaurant to increase customer awareness. We had a basket display in our Dining Room, a hanging display with fishing line above our registers (I was initially against this because it wasn’t very attractive but was a big fan after witnessing its effectiveness), and a display in our Drive Thru window as well as signage around our Drive Thru queue.

The Contest
We divided the entire team into 3 groups, with each leader in our store leading each group. We put a huge sign in our break room with a Christmas tree and a ladder. Each team had a colored snowman that would climb the ladder as the teams sold gift sets. We set a grand prize for the team that sold the most gift sets and smaller prizes for each team that crossed various milestones. For instance, when a team sold 25 gift sets, each member of the team received a free milkshake. The higher the milestone, the better the prize.


Implementation
It was leadership’s responsibility to stir up the competitive juices in the store and pump up their respective teams to sell the gift sets. They did not disappoint. After about 2 weeks of the competition, it was all any of the team members were talking about. Leadership was constantly jawing at one another. Team members were taking gift sets to their churches and schools to sell. People were asking their parents and husbands to sell them at work. It was really incredible how excited the team was over this competition!

The Results
When the dust finally settled, our restaurant had sold 420 gift sets, FAR more than I ever would have guessed at the beginning. To put it in perspective, other local Chick-fil-A’s totals were 100, 150, and 250. This has been such a positive experience – the restaurant was more profitable in December and the leaders and team members are energized and motivated heading into January.

Signage

Signage is an important (and often overlooked) means of communication with the team. It is a very effective way to communicate vision and measure development.

This past month, I took down all of the old signs and replaced them with my own new signs. This had an immediate effect on the team and has continued to improve performance. The entire first week after hanging the new signs, there was a general buzz around the store – with team members were discussing what they were reading and asking questions about what certain things meant.

The new signs have also provided me with a way to create competition and accountability. For example, recently our closes have not been up to par in terms of cleanliness and setting the morning shift up for success. I decided to create a closing grade sheet and post each night’s sheet on the wall, along with the names of the closers and the date, and those grades stay up for an entire week. Initially, this improved performance because people did not want their names associated with terrible scores. Now, however, performance is continuing to improve as the closing teams are trying to top one another. I often hear people claiming that their close is going to be “the new record” or “the first perfect score."

Hanging these grade sheets, as well as the other signs, has significantly impacted the team at Federal Heights.

Never a Dull Moment

I have witnessed a number of interesting things during my tenure at Chick-fil-A. There have been a number of interesting guest interactions, employee misfires, and crazy events. But this past week, something happened that might top them all.

Here is what happened: There was an armed bank robbery about a mile from our restaurant. This robbery was followed by a high speed car chase with the police. The police chase ended up taking a detour through our Chick-fil-A parking lot!

After exiting our lot, the assailants discovered they were surrounded by police so they made a U-turn and proceeded to drive past our store again. As they were passing our restaurant (literally 10 feet from our windows), they decided to open fire, which was then reciprocated by the police!! It is not everyday that you hear gunshots fired over your drive thru speaker system! (By the way, I am not lying or exaggerating…there was a gun fight between bank robbers and the police RIGHT outside of my restaurant!)

Somehow, they got away (temporarily) until they ran into a police car barricade a few minutes later. The armed robbers were both killed by gunshot wounds (2 policeman were shot, but neither was fatal).

For the remainder of the week detectives were in and out of our restaurant, police were surveying the land for evidence, and our surveillance cameras were constantly being rewound and observed. This was a fascinating (and memorable) experience and an eye-opening example of the importance of unit safety and security.

R & M

The primary responsibility of an Interim Manager is to set the incoming operator up for success. One of the best ways to ensure that this happens is to ensure that all the equipment in the restaurant is working properly and that all preventative maintenance has been taken care of.

This area of Repairs and Maintenance has been my primary of focus for the past month. While I have repaired approximately 25 or so different items in the restaurant so far, I will only focus on the “highlights” for this post.

Henny Pennys
Henny Penny Lids
All three Henny Penny pressure fryers had cracks on the top bar that supports the lids. Over time this will cause the arms to break in half, which can obviously be very dangerous. I enlisted the help of Gary Halbritter, and had all three complete lid assemblies replaced (it is actually cheaper to do this than to replace the arm by itself!).

Other Henny Penny Issues
The Hennys also had a number of smaller issues that needed to be addressed. There were a number of spacers (for the coils) that were missing, casters (wheels) that no longer would roll, and high limit switches that needed to be replaced. Also, on one of the open fryers, there was a high limit thermometer that was simply laying on the bottom of the henny, with the bracket that is supposed to hold the thermometer in place no where to be found.


Walk-In Refrigerator Door
The Walk-In refrigerator door would not fully close. It closed enough to block the cold air from the room temperature air but about a 1 inch gap remained at all times. After some investigation, in turned out that the hinges on the door were bad (it appeared that one had been rammed by a heavy cart unloading truck) and needed to be replaced. Now that these hinges have been replaced the door closes fully.


Landscaping
One of the first things I noticed when I arrived to Federal Heights was that the grass next to the sidewalks was dead. This was a result of the chemicals that they use to melt the ice in the winter. Once the ice would melt, the water (with the chemicals) would run off the sidewalk and into the grass resulting in about 6 inches to a foot of dead grass next to the sidewalk the following spring. I debated re-sodding the area but decided it would look the same after the winter. Instead, I had a rock boarder put in around the sidewalk. This way, the chemicals will drain onto the rock and the grassy area will be preserved. The entire restaurant looks so much better from the outside with this seemingly minor improvement.

Tile
There are a number of tiles that have been severely broken or cracked. A couple of them are so bad that our health inspector had issues with them. Also, there are some areas in the Dining Room where water was leaking through the grout. Instead of re-grouting these areas, a clear silicone was placed over the grout – which, quite simply, looks terrible. The work orders have been placed through Chick-fil-A Inc, and we are merely waiting for the company to come in and install the new tile.

Sales Rising

The goal this month is to have a 10% sales increase.

We have a 3-pronged strategy to acheive this goal.

1. Food Distribution everyday
2. Cow Presence everyday
3. Suggestive Selling contests everyday

The food distribution and cow presence increase the number of visitors to our store. The suggestive selling helps us maximize those visits by increasing our check average.

Increased Transactions
By blitzing everyday we are leveraging our food and people. Briana, our UMD, is visiting what we call the "low hanging fruit" - areas that are close and full of potential raving fans. She hands out Chick-fil-A sandwiches or biscuits as well as a "totally free" coupon to come visit us in the store. She also leaves a few catering brochures for potential future outside sales.

We are leveraging our cow daily with highly visible street presence. Our store is located at the intersection of 2 high traffic streets - 104th Street and Federal Blvd. We are just far enough away from the intersection that cars traveling down 104th Street can drive by without seeing us. By placing a cow on that intersection, we force potential guests to at least consider dining with us.


Check Average
Our suggestive selling contests have really been beneficial in increasing our check average. We have a contest everyday for both the lunch and dinner rushes. These contests provide a number of benefits to Federal Heights. First, the competition creates excitement for the Team Members. Second, it provides a way for us to educate our guests on menu options that they did not previously know about. Last, these contests are a cheap and easy way for us to maximize our sales potential through impulse purchasing.

Results
We began this strategy two weeks ago - the first full week of October. Since then we have only had one day with a sales decrease (and that day we got 2 inches of snow!). Not counting that snow day, sales are up almost 8% and transactions are up 20 per day. (Which is great considering the fact that last month we were down 35 transactions per day). For the month we are up 4% and have positive momentum heading into the second half of the October. Overall, our strategy has been (and continues to be) a great success!

Meet the Team

"If I have seen farther than others, it is because I was standing on the shoulder of giants."
-Isaac Newton

A leader is only as strong as the team that supports him. Meet my supporting cast and learn about their specific goals for the month of October.

Tami Mazucca

Manager

Chick-fil-A Experience: 2 years

Restaurant Area Specialty: Front Counter

October Focus: Operational Excellence, Cost Controls (Increase to 15% net profit while still providing excellent products/service)

Tactics to Acheive Goal: Accurately project sales, monitor daily labor, manage food cost, maintain Chick-fil-A standards

Brian Robinson

Manager

Chick-fil-A Experience: 2 years

Restaurant Area Specialty: Dining Room

October Focus: Cleanliness (Increase 10 points on next RFI)

Tactics to Acheive Goal: Establish towel rotation, ration cleaning supplies, train hosts/hostesses, establish systems to constantly monitor Dining Room

Jared Cordova

Assistant Manager

Chick-fil-A Experience: 4 years

Restaurant Area Specialty: Drive Thru

October Focus: Speed of Service (90 seconds per car)

Tactics to Achieve Goal: Instill a sense of urgency in team, clearly communicate goals, consistently monitor performance/make adjustments, put the right people in the right places

Briana Colclazier

Unit Marketing Director

Chick-fil-A Experience: 4 years

Restaurant Area Specialty: Community/CFAA

October Focus: Sales (10% Increase)

Tactics to Achieve Goal: Increase check average (Suggestive Selling), Increase transaction counts (Blitzing and Food Distribution), In-Store Events (Spirit Nights, Theme Nights), Improved relationships with local schools

Marketing

I am fortunate enough to have a great Unit Marketing Director that participated in Project IF this summer. She gets our store involved with what's going on in our community. We have been able to put on a number of great Marketing events in my short time here at Federal Heights. We had a huge presence at the Westminster Faire with food, cows, and event tents; we have hosted a number of Kid's Nights and Spirit Nights; we've held a Spirit Challenge Week between two local high schools; and have participated in a local "Tribute to Heroes" promotion on September 11th. Also on 9/11, we were able to raise $2500 for Joe Grein, a local firefighter who is battling cancer.





Tonight at Federal Heights we held another special Marketing event:
Princess Night.


All children who visited our restaurant tonight received a free Kid's Meal and any girl dressed up like a princess received a free dessert in addition to her free meal.
We had craft tables where princesses could make tiaras or wands to complete their outfits and we even had a special nail-painting station. One princess was overheard saying "Isn't this just the best!"
Chick-fil-A at Federal Heights was transformed in to a castle full of princesses and it was a great night full of emotional connections!

Welcome

I have been at Federal Heights FSU since mid-August. As you can imagine, I have been pretty busy getting settled here. Now that I have finished the Transition Checklist, the Smallwares Checklist, the One-on-One Team Member Meetings, the initial Vision Planning, etc… I decided that I would spend some time blogging about my Interim Manager experience here at Chick-fil-A at Federal Heights.

Recap
My first month here has been AMAZING! The team is very hospitable and friendly. It has been such a smooth transition.
Denver is beautiful. Driving to work everyday with the Rocky Mountains in the background is like living in a dream.

Observation/Assessment
I decided from the beginning that I was simply going to observe the restaurant for the first week I was here. This store has endured quite a bit of leadership change and I wanted to be sensitive to that. So unless a critical issue arose (i.e. food safety), I initially remained fairly hands off, observing all facets of the restaurant.

After the first week, I sat down with all of my notes and assessed what I believed to be the greatest areas of need at Federal Heights. More than anything I want to leave this restaurant better than I found it, so I chose to focus my efforts on a few critical areas of need as opposed to fixing every little issue I came across.

Vision Plan
To provide the next Operator of Federal Heights with the best restaurant possible – with unsurpassed food quality and customer service - by using and measuring specific, timely goals.

Goals for Vision Plan
-To ensure that food quality standards are met
-To serve each individual guest with honor dignity and respect
-To heighten cash security/accountability
-To address the gaping labor cost gap
-To continuously develop the leadership team
-To increase sales by 10%

Implementation
I quickly found the need to establish systems in the store in order to establish sustained growth. I have created a number of systems- including a new playbook, opening and closing checklists, boards checklists for all times of day, manager roles and responsibilities, and a cash accountability system.

I have also been conducting training sessions for all areas of the store, with an emphasis on food quality and service. A number of employees have worked at Chick-fil-A for years and were in need of re-calibration. It has also been encouraging to explain the “why” – not only teaching the correct way to do things but also the reasons why we do things.

Leadership development has also been a primary focus of mine. Federal Heights only has two managers, but a number of Team Members have the potential to step up and make a difference for the restaurant. My leadership team has weekly meetings where we discuss the business’s statistics, basic “housekeeping” issues, and focus on key areas from the vision plan. I have also started a book review, Patrick Lencioni’s "The Three Signs of a Miserable Job", where we analyze a section of the book and discuss how to apply what we read to Federal Heights specifically. One of my leaders has enjoyed the book so much that she has already finished the book and we are only halfway through!