Give an Ovation: The Restaurant Guest Experience Podcast with Zack Oates
Give an Ovation: The Restaurant Guest Experience Podcast is your backstage pass to the minds of hospitality leaders, innovators, and operators who are redefining what it means to serve. Hosted by Zack Oates, founder of Ovation, each episode dives into real-world tactics and inspiring stories from restaurant pros who know how to create five-star guest experiences—both in-store and off-premise.
From fast casual to fine dining, catering to curbside, learn how to drive loyalty, empower your staff, and deliver hospitality that hits home. Whether you're a restaurant owner, operator, marketer, or tech partner, this podcast will leave you with practical insights and plenty of reasons to celebrate and Give an Ovation.
Give an Ovation: The Restaurant Guest Experience Podcast with Zack Oates
Customer Loyalty in a Competitive Industry With Joe Fontana
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Meet Joe Fontana, the charismatic owner of a successful chicken sandwich restaurant, Fry the Coop. With an unwavering commitment to enhancing the guest experience, Joe reveals how he's carved out a successful niche within the bustling chicken industry. We tackle the tough topic of survival in a cut-throat market and the ever-changing restaurant industry trends.
On this episode, you'll learn from Joe about:
- Timeless menu items
- Nurturing strong community connections
- Tackling customer complaints head on
- More!
Thanks, Joe!
Building a Five-Star Guest Experience
Speaker 1Welcome to another edition of Give Innovation , the Restaurant Guest Experience podcast , where I talk to industry experts to get their strategies and tactics you can use to create a five-star guest experience . This podcast is sponsored by Ovation , a two-question SMS-based real-time guest feedback platform that helps restaurants measure and improve their guest experience . Learn more at ovationupcom . And today on Give Innovation we have Joe Fontana not from Montana , as he was very clear about , although he's a big fan of Hannah Montana , I'm assuming no , oh yeah . And Joe Montana .
Speaker 2Don't forget about the football player .
Speaker 1Oh my gosh that is so embarrassing that the son of a former 49er went to Hannah Montana before .
Speaker 2Joe Montana and not Joe Montana , I know oh my gosh , forgive me the football gods . The football gods .
Speaker 1sorry , but I'm really excited because he is the owner of Fry the Coop eight locations right now and growing , that's right . And dude , you're crushing it . You've got some huge love group for you and I'm just excited to talk about the guest experience and what you've done at Fry the Coop to build such a good experience . So welcome to Give Innovation .
Speaker 2Joe , oh , thanks for having me . This is an honor and very exciting .
Speaker 1Well , I appreciate it , man . So , first of all , for those people who aren't familiar with Fry , the Coop give us a little rundown .
Speaker 2So we're in the Chicagoland area . Like you said , we have eight locations . We just started six years ago . We're about to celebrate six years November 1st , first day open in the doors six years ago .
Speaker 1It's pretty cool , it's awesome , it's tough .
Speaker 2Thank you . So we're very much a startup . Still , our goal is to open up 75 stores over the next 10 years and we really want to blow it up . We want to stay in the Chicago Allian Market . We specialize in chicken sandwiches , so we're a chicken sandwich shop all boneless chicken . We do waffles chicken and waffles tenders chicken sandwiches . We're about to roll out some nuggets . We started out the brand based off of Nashville Hot Chicken , but we're kind of leaning away from that . One of the things with Nashville Hot Chicken it's just different in every spot . So we are kind of evolving into a chicken sandwich joint and you can still pick your heat levels . But that's what we're kind of going for .
Speaker 1Now look , joe , there's crowded , and then there's chicken crowded . How have you built a niche in such a tough industry ? I mean aside from the fact that protein prices have been nuts , aside from the fact that there's been shortages , outages , I mean aside from all the operational complexity , the marketing complexity of going into such a red ocean . Tell me about that .
Speaker 2So we actually kind of came into the Chicagoland market when chicken sandwiches were not really a thing yet . We had opened up probably about two years before the whole chicken sandwich war came about . But you are right now there is chicken shops opening up all around us , so the competition is coming . We were kind of first to market in a little bit like that , so we got to kind of put our name in as like the one of the first . But you're right , it's getting harder and harder . And one of the things I lived in California for a while and I lived right down the street from it in and out burger just obsessed with in and out , loved everything about it , always lying on the door .
Speaker 1Everything , even the fries , even the fries . No , joe , no , don't say it , don't say it .
Speaker 2I always get them animal style , so you put cheese , grilled onions a bunch of sauce on there .
Speaker 1I put Mayhew and cheese on anything , it'll be all right .
Speaker 2Exactly , yeah , by themselves , I don't know . But my point is , though , the whole nostalgic . They don't change their menu , they don't do catering . I mean it's like this thing , that's like classic . So from the beginning we've always tried to be classic , like not try to be trend chasing or trying to be like a hot flash in the pan . We want to be like a classic staple . So it takes a long , long time to get there , but I think when you approach it that way , you kind of get your roots more into the community , the neighborhood , more deeply than if you're just trying to chase some trend .
Speaker 1Awesome . Well , with that , though , you've got to really care about the guest experience . So what do you think are some of the most important aspects of guest experience nowadays ?
Speaker 2Oh my gosh . Well , first of all , customer service is like going out the window . It's so hard to find good customer service nowadays and I think the new generation they're A not trained on it and B , they just don't think about it Like it's not common sense .
Importance of Personalized Customer Service
Speaker 2So I go back to real simple stuff . When somebody walks in , say hello to them , you know , make sure you greet them , make sure they feel welcomed . When they walk in the space , huge , huge we put like such a priority on it and then just like having not a transactional interaction with somebody , like oh , you're number 127 , you know , it's more like oh , hey , jimmy , how are the kids you know like get to know your regulars , get to like know their name , get to know who they are , why they came . You know , compliment something . Maybe their shirt is awesome oh , I love your shirt . You know where'd you get that from . You know things like that . It's just make the interaction not transactional , make it more of a connection , and then check on people you know touch their table how's everything going ? Can I get you anything ? I always love that like southern hospitality . Like , hey , honey , whatever you need , just give us a holler . You know we'll come get you . You know , I always put my hand on people's shoulder too , just a little like touch , to just like a caring , like hey , we're here , we got your back , yeah , and then also always saying goodbye to people when they leave .
Speaker 2This is a funny story , but I think it's so important to say goodbye to people that one day I miss somebody going out to their car , so I jump the counter , I run outside knocking on their window . The guy's like what are you ? She's like what , what ? I'm like oh , hey , I just want to say thanks for coming . You know , thank you so much . I didn't get to say goodbye . And he's like okay , weirdo . Like thank you , we get a five star review . Like two hours later said the customer service is so good at Fry the Coop , it's borderline creepy . I was like that's me , I'm the creepy guy .
Speaker 1I'm the creepy guy , something we should all aspire to , If your customer service isn't borderline creepy you know , you're not doing it right .
Speaker 1But especially I mean like no hate on Chicago , but like , especially in Chicago . I mean I lived in New York City . I've never lived in Chicago , but I've spent many , many a trip in Chicago and it's just like that Southern hospitality . The further you get from the South , the weirder it is . You know , and you also have this like , I'm out here in the Rockies and I got into this habit of like , like saying hello to people , and so when I go back to Jersey and I say hello to people , they're like Do I know you Some things that are still kind of weird about it .
Speaker 1Like , for example , when I showed up one day to my House and there was a plate of cookies on my doorstep here in Utah and my roommates and I brought them inside and they were sitting there and my roommates are like are you gonna eat those ? I was like , am I gonna eat cookies that someone left at my ? No , I'm not gonna eat these cookies , like , and so they just down them . But that concept of like that , that True , like neighborly love and hospitality , just in places like Jersey , new York , chicago , it's just it's . It's not really , it's not the city of brotherly love you know what I mean ?
Speaker 2Oh , for sure . Yeah , and I think it's even more important to have that , when you walk in any place , just feeling welcome right away , you know hey yeah , you belong here .
Speaker 1Yes , the big deal . And regardless of of what that relationship is and what that context is , I am telling you , the data shows that guests want to feel like they belong , they want to feel like they're heard , they want to feel like they're going into a place where , even if they don't know their name , they at least recognize them and they could say welcome back . And those are the types of things that that really drive , that use that really important Conward connection , because , because it starts off with convenience , then you layer up to Consistency and that'll get people in a few times , but if you want to get people in for a lifetime , you got to have that connection like you're talking about , and and it's go ahead .
Speaker 2Oh , I was just gonna say you never know where that connection leads to . We had a situation where Somebody started talking to a customer . Next thing , you know they're talking about their parents business . The guys like , oh , I need my floor done . The next thing , you know , he's like oh , let me give you my number . And then his parents ended up getting a job out of it and Remodeling this person's like floor because they were just , you know , having a human connection . You know they were just shooting the you know what , but it's like no swearing . But you know , but I mean , there , you know they're , hey , he wasn't just like oh , hey , you're number 127 . Here's your order , you know , yeah , later , I love they were connecting as people .
Speaker 2And take this furthermore , I used to bartend and I have a great friend . Just he came back from the Navy he was a stranger to me , hundred percent customer walked the door , ordered a beer shot , set down . You know , hey , start talking to him next . You know he comes in next week , starts becoming a regular . Next thing you know we're going out together . Next thing you know we're going on trips together . Before you know he's like going to my in my wedding . I got his wedding coming up in a couple months but we are lifelong friends he's . I don't have many friends nowadays you know maybe four or five friends in my old age , but like he is one of my lifelong friends and I was joke like he'll be at my funeral or I'll be at his funeral , but like that's how much of a deep friendship we had . And he was just a customer when he walked in and now I have like a Lifelong friend because we had more of a than just a , you know transaction .
Speaker 1That's so cool , man , and and that's so true , right , like you . Just , you look at every single , every single interaction and oftentimes we lose sight of the fact that we don't serve Customers , we don't even serve guests . We serve humans who happen to be eating , who happen to be drinking , and we can't treat them differently just because they're coming in at a restaurant . We can't think that they're different and we can't treat them differently if they order online and we can't treat them differently . They're a third party . We've got to make sure that , whatever the engagement that it's , it's that human interaction . Which leads me to my next question is what ? What are some tactics that you've used to improve the guest experience ?
Speaker 2Well , I just talked about a few and this maybe I don't know if it's so I guess when people have a problem . I just learned about this and we've done this in the past and I've done it kind of naturally , but now I'm really going to go all in on this . It's called the choice between two tokens . Have you heard of this ?
Speaker 1No , okay . So basically , Sounds very Alice in Wonderland-y . Yeah , okay .
The Importance of Addressing Customer Complaints
Speaker 2Basically , it says that if someone has a complaint or a problem and say , this person comes up and hey , you were missing . I found a nail in my sandwich . Horrible experience . I'm chewing , I bite down , I got a nail . Now I'm at the customer service window saying , hey , what the hell , my sandwich had a nail in it . Well , if the manager who's taking care of this problem ? They under what would the word be ? They don't make a big deal out of it . So the customer's making a huge deal of it . Now the manager's like oh , no problem , let me get you a new sandwich . Now they are under God I'm not finding the word for this but they are like they're not matching the energy of the guests . Yeah , they're actually under , saying the world's not ending . No big deal , Sorry about that .
Speaker 1Yeah , they're downplaying the concerns Downplaying .
Speaker 2Thank you , they're downplaying it , so then that will trigger the person who's complaining to be even more upset . However , if the choice between the two tokens were like if they came up and said that now the manager makes like this is the end of the world , like , oh my God , are you kidding me ? I'm gonna get my whole team involved . This is unacceptable . I'm so sorry this happened . We're gonna refund you . We're gonna get you a credit for next time . I'm gonna go talk to my team right now . We're gonna shut down the whole kitchen line . We're gonna clean everything . They might be like oh , okay , well , hey , thanks so much . Yeah , so then now , all of a sudden , the other person who was acting like the world was ending . You have that choice and they call it the choice between two tokens . So lately , when anyone has a customer complaint about anything , I take the choice of hey , we're gonna act like the world's ending here , and then you get them to be like hey , it's not that big of a deal .
Speaker 1Like , relax , you just forgot my fries , you know you're like okay , but I can tell you , I remember I was at a hotel room and my wife and I were in the hotel room . It was 9.30 in the morning and we were supposed to check out that day , but check out wasn't until 11 . Well , you know , we're hanging out I might not have been completely clothed and the , without even knocking , the cleaning lady walks in , right , and it was like kind of an embarrassing situation . So when I called the manager to complain about that because like totally inappropriate that she didn't even knock or anything , just walks into our room he was like okay , well , like what do you want me to do ? And I'm like , well , like first of all , I want you to care a little bit . Like that's not cool , like how would you feel if that happened ?
Speaker 1And he was like okay , well , like I don't know , like you want like a free breakfast or something . And I was like oh , no , he was like , oh , I'll give you , I'll give you like some , I'll put some points on your account . And I'm like okay . But then it was just like the fact that he was just so non-chalant and like didn't care about it . I called , like the I called the hotline of the hotel to be like , look , this is what happened , and your manager did not seem to care . This person was mortified , refunded me , gave me like five free nights , and just that feeling of being heard was like , yes , that's what I want to feel .
Speaker 2And I think it's so great .
Speaker 1Because even in relationships , if I go to my wife and I'm like oh my gosh , look how cool that , let's look how cool that is . And she's like okay , and I'm like well , I mean , like I was really excited about that .
Speaker 2Right , yeah , get excited with me .
Speaker 1Yeah , I think that's a really , really good point . I like the tail of two tokens . Yeah , I think it's the choice of two tokens .
Speaker 1The choice of two tokens Okay , I like alliterations , but that's cool too , so I'd love to ask you a quick question , Joe , about how Ovation has helped you , Because I know that so far , looking in your backend , things are crushing it . I mean , you had some really good , really good reviews before Ovation . In the last month , your reviews are 0.7 stars higher than they were before . You've already bumped up 0.2 stars in Google . You're more than doubling your five-star reviews . You guys are actually in terms of your love group . You're 3% higher than the average Ovation restaurant and we tend to have like really good restaurants . So you've got a lot of really good things going . But I'd love to hear from you , Like how have you felt Ovation has been helpful for you and any like stories .
Speaker 2Oh well , I can say , the thing that I've noticed is that it gives people a place to vent , which I think is such a huge advantage , because , as a restaurant and we go through about 20,000 orders a week right now , maybe a little more like 22,000 between all eight restaurants , that's a lot of orders , right ? Wow , we're 99% accurate . We're still screwing up like 400 orders a week , that's if we're not even 9% accurate . We're probably closer to like 96 . But you know what I mean . So we're screwing up 1,000 plus orders every week . So it's nice when people get the advantage or the option to give some feedback . I feel like it gives them a chance to get it off their chest . Hey , you forgot my cheese , I paid for that . I'm pissed , right , but at least , like they kind of like have a place to like it's like a to vent a little bit . So they write that and then it's great because that stops them from going to leave a one-star review . I feel like if you have no place to kind of vent your frustration , then it either bottles up inside you or you might like complain to your wife and she's like oh , who cares , I forgot your cheese and you're like no , I paid for that cheese . I worked for that , you know . So , like they need a place to like , vent that out . And I think just even writing the words hey , you know , I gave the foods great , customer service was nice , but you forgot this or that . And then it's like they got it off their chest , you know . And then it's a just a bonus when the manager replies and says oh my God , I'm so sorry . I look , you know , we're going to put a $10 credit for you for next time . So now we're getting them back in the store and it's like , wow , I thought I might have been talking to a robot . Like , I'm so glad somebody replied , you know . So I think that's been huge .
Speaker 2Like you said , our five star reviews have gone up like crazy . I don't know exactly , but I know it is asking people to leave the review . You know , when they put a five star , you know , happy , smiley emoji boom . Then all of a sudden they're getting that opportunity to leave a review and maybe , like , sometimes too , like I have a great experience at a place , but I don't think to like , oh , I'm going to go leave a review . But if it's like , hey , do you want to leave a review , I'm like , oh , you know what ? Yeah , actually I did have a great experience , so like I'd leave that review .
Speaker 2And then what I realized recently is that reviews are huge with the SEO . So the more reviews you have on Google and the more people that actually chime in to those five star reviews , that actually puts you up in different map searches and different things like that . So I think it's been helping our improved SEO , it's been helping customers vent , it's helping us win back customers , which I love , because I hate to lose somebody over something like that . But I'm also getting a lot of feedback . Like I did not know that our order accuracy was really bad at one of our locations and we've been doing extra line trainings there based on Ovation , letting us know , through all these customer feedback , that we're constantly forgetting stuff there . And unfortunately , too , I found out , the staff is a small smoking out back and that's probably why they're forgetting a lot of these orders . But you know what I mean . Like we started collecting all this data from customers giving us feedback and that's helping us take action .
Speaker 1So I love that and I love hearing that you're able to take action on it , because it's yes , you want to ask and , yes , you want to make it right now , but you also want to fix it forever . You want to make sure that you're fixing the root problems and not just , you know , not just like putting constant band-aids over it . So I love that . So , joe , who's someone that deserves an ovation in the restaurant industry , who's someone that we should be following .
Speaker 2All right , you know I was thinking about this question . There is a place that's been cracking me up and I just love their social media . I don't know them at all , but they're called Shelby's and they're out of Toronto .
Speaker 1You know what I'm talking about . We love Shelby's . We had them on the podcast . They're awesome ovation customers . They they're like rock stars . We love Shelby's .
Speaker 2That's awesome .
Speaker 2Yeah , I just kind of learned about them maybe a few months ago and they've been running these hilarious , almost like commercials that they've been putting together about this whole catch up thing .
Speaker 2Do you know what I'm talking about ? Uh huh , uh huh , it's just for people who don't know they basically , you know they sell shawarma sandwiches and you know the whole thing is like the owner hates when people put ketchup on it and so then , like they're like one of the scenes was like guy goes and buys his shawarma and he's leaving all things , you know he goes outside and there's like a ketchup dealer , kind of like a drug dealer , and he opens up his coat and he's like what do you want ? You want the packet , you want the bottle , and so like he like buys it , but he's like they're like totally scared of the owner . So they like you know they buy the ketchup and he goes in his car and like as soon as he goes in his car to put the you know ketchup on his shawarma sandwich , the owner jumps out of the backseat to like attack him , you know . End of scene . It is so fun . That's just one of like 40 ketchup videos that they have Dude .
Speaker 1Yeah , Shelby's check them out . On TikTok . They're awesome and let's put that in the show notes too their podcast episode , because we had both the CMO and the CEO on and it was just awesome .
Speaker 2I got to go back and listen , because they're crushing it . Everything about their brand just looks . I didn't know they had eight locations too . Yeah , that up . I was like , wow , yeah they're crushing it .
Speaker 1So , joe , how do people find more about you ? And Fry the .
Speaker 2Coop . You know you can see us at at Fry the Coop and almost everywhere Instagram , tiktok , twitter , facebook . At Fry the Coop or come when you're in Chicago , come stop by and grab the best chicken sandwich you ever had .
Speaker 1There we go . Well , joe , for helping the spirit of the classic fly and not run afoul . Today's Ovation goes to you . Thank you for joining us on Give it .
Speaker 2Ovation . Thank you so much , honored to be here .
Speaker 1Thanks for joining us today . If you liked this episode , leave us a review on Apple podcasts or your favorite place to listen . We're all about feedback here . Again , this episode was sponsored by Ovation , a two-question SMS based actionable guest feedback platform built for multi-unit restaurants . If you'd like to learn how we can help you measure and create a better guest experience , visit us at ovationupcom .