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!