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
From Shark Tank to Sweet Success: Jeremy Carlson’s Journey with Crispy Cones
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In this Crispy episode of "Give an Ovation," Zack Oates sits down with Jeremy Carlson, founder and CEO of Crispy Cones, to talk about the rollercoaster journey from starting a business to appearing on Shark Tank and beyond. Jeremy shares the highs and lows of building his brand, the importance of guest experience, and the innovative strategies that have helped Crispy Cones thrive. Tune in to hear firsthand insights from an entrepreneur who went from the tank to the bank, landing a deal with Barbara Corcoran and expanding to 50 franchise units.
Thanks, Jeremy!
Creating Five-Star Guest Experiences in Restaurants
Speaker 1Welcome to another edition of Give an Ovation , 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 , an operations and guest recovery platform for multi-unit restaurants that gives all the answers without annoying guests with all the questions . Learn more at OvationUpcom . And today we've got the man with the biz , the man with the hair , the man with the stories Jeremy Carlson . He's a founder and CEO of a company you probably saw on Shark Tank Crispy Cones . Jeremy , welcome to Give an Ovation man .
Speaker 2Thanks man , I'm glad to be here . It's exciting stuff .
Speaker 1Yeah , and you're doing some amazing things and you've had such a cool journey over the last few years and I read a post that you wrote recently that talked about not paying yourself for quite a while . Talk to us about that startup grind and what that was like with a family . It's not like you were just doing crispy cones out of your dorm room , some single guy with $200 in expenses a month , you were married and stuff like that . You were doing it . How did that work out for you ?
Speaker 2Yes , it was a tough time , I will say when I started the brand . I was single then and it was easier to get myself through or pay for things , but that's right . For five years we did not take a single paycheck , so Kate and I got married in 2020 . I started the brand in 2018 . And we got our first paycheck after the fifth year in business and we basically just survived off of cheap food , eating at home , low rent .
Speaker 2A lot of Krispy Kones at home low rent , a lot of Krispy Kones yes , a lot of ice cream and basically just kept feeding the beast , and we truly believe that if we kept feeding it , after three to five years we would be able to sustain our life and our family . And it is now so very tough , very difficult , and that's why we had to get creative and how to find cash from other sources . But here we are .
Speaker 2Yeah , and you guys had a photography and video business . Do you still do that , or is that done ? No , it was a good chapter and it was a necessary chapter , but we've closed that book together and we no longer do weddings and photos . We just don't have time for that . There's no time .
Speaker 1Yeah .
Speaker 2Franchising nationwide . Having signed on our 50th unit this week , there's no time to do a wedding in the weekend , but it was necessary to do for a couple of years to get us through .
Speaker 1That's awesome . So talk to us . A lot of people have known someone , who knows someone who went on Shark Tank . What was that experience like and was it worthwhile in getting the word out about Crispy Cones ? It was it worthwhile in getting the word out about Crispy Cones .
Speaker 2It was a once in a lifetime experience . There were about 40,000 applications and they picked 164 people or groups to pitch . We flew out there , we pitched , we made our product fresh and we had the mindset of we're going to get a deal with Barber Corcoran , we're going to close that deal , we're going to become a nationwide brand . And we went into the tank , we pitched to Barber and Mark and the other sharks that were there and she gave us a deal and that deal closed six months after . A lot of people don't realize this , but a lot of deals that go on the show don't actually end up closing .
Speaker 1Yeah , I heard it's like half of them don't end up closing . I think it's more than that .
Speaker 2Oh wow . Yeah , I think it's probably like 80 to 90% .
Speaker 1Oh wow .
Speaker 2I don't know the statistic on that , but I would probably guess that . Just because when you're in the tank , I think a lot of people feel this urgency to bluff up numbers and make their business seem like the best thing in the world , which it is to them , and then , when the sharks do their due diligence , they find that there's actually a lot of things probably wrong with the business . That's just my guess , or both parties leave for whatever reason . So anyway , we met with Barb and her team and we said we'd love to close our deal . You're a phenomenal human being . You're genuine , you know what you're doing . We'd love to work with you and her team . So we closed about four months after that five months and then we've spent multiple times in New York city with her and she's helped us with supplier relations . Her team's been a phenomenal support system and just having her with the media really gains a lot of attraction and her wisdom's pretty awesome .
Speaker 1So that's cool . They did a follow-up on you guys , right .
Speaker 2They did do a follow-up . So we became one of her top performing portfolio companies and she contacted the show for us and they and she's basically like , hey , you guys got to do a follow-up on them . So the producers contacted us back and said when's your next opening ? We said it's Tempe , arizona . And then they all flew out , they filmed it and had a great time . Yeah .
Speaker 1That's awesome and all of this , though , like all of this sizzle , is great , but you got to have the steak , and the steak is the guest experience . And so , when you're thinking about the guest experience , what do you think is the most important aspect ? How do you think of the guest experience ?
Speaker 2Guest experience is huge . Our company mission statement is creating unforgettable experiences through freshly baked gourmet ice cream cones . It's written in every single store behind the arch in the back kitchen so all the employees see . It's written in our headquarter office . Everyone knows our mission statement as a company and that's all about experience and in-store experience . So when people come into Crispy Cones , they really see the brand , they see the product , they see their product getting made fresh , they see the dough rolling on the back of the wall how they've done for 300 years in Europe . It's huge and it's everything for our customers and our guests . It's not just like a pick up and grab and go it can be but it's more of an in-store experience and kind of like enjoying seeing your product get made fresh to order .
Speaker 1So yeah , because going in , like the smell of the store , the look of the store , you just have that whole great brand experience and glad you had a location near me here in Utah and it's one of those things that you have . That authenticity of caring about the guest experience is in everything around the store , like and again , from the visualization to the smell of it , because you don't walk into an ice cream place and it's rare nowadays you walk in and you smell something baking . Not a lot of people make cones anymore , even the waffle cones .
Speaker 2Yeah , they're shipped and ordered .
Speaker 1Exactly , and when you smell that it just creates a great additional sensation , which I think all goes into that guest experience . Like I can't walk by somebody wearing Abercrombie wood cologne and not take me back to like middle school mom dropping me off at the mall because of all like the scent marketing that Abercrombie used to do . But in terms of like tactics like that , what are some tactics that you've used to improve the guest experience ?
Speaker 2There's like little detailed items . So we have a standard operating procedure within all of our stores where they're all on the same playlist of music . So it goes down to the music . All the music in every store needs to be exciting and fun , to kind of bring out that good energy and positivity with customers . And all the stores are on the same playlist , licensed playlist , all set at the same volume , like even to that detail . And then we have in-store kiosks . We've developed software that actually launches next month a new software , but we have self-serve kiosks . What we found is that the majority of our consumers come in and they don't want to talk to a employee . So talking to a well , talking to , but working on a kiosk and putting an order on a kiosk has been better . It's actually increased sales and increased consumer satisfaction , I would guess I'd say so we have like standard operating procedures within our stores to kind of like make that guest experience good throughout .
Revolutionizing Online Ordering and Franchising
Speaker 1Yeah , with something like your online ordering . How has that worked in terms of like your online ordering ? How has that worked in terms of ? Were you concerned about doing stuff online , obviously with like melting and stuff like that .
Speaker 2Are you looking at our website right now ? Yes , I am . We kind of have revolutionized online ordering with ice cream , so we have custom made bags . The bags hold the cones by themselves , and then we have a separate pint of ice cream that we fill up and put in the freezer before the driver comes . Then that's enough for two cones worth pretty much and then they take those home and then they can scoop the ice cream from the pint in their cones . Yada , yada , yada .
Speaker 2So it's not the in-store experience of like the swirl , the beautiful swirl , and the toppings . Instead it's the cones and the pint of ice cream .
Speaker 1Dude . I got to tell you , jeremy , that is so great because you have created something . And this is where I feel like a lot of restaurants mess up with their off-prem . Is there like , how do I create this exact experience off-prem ? And what you're doing is you're saying , well , no , no , no , no . What should be the experience off-prem ? And you're doing is you're saying well , no , no , no , no . What should be the experience off prem ? And you're doing something . It's a different experience than you have in store , but by selling . I'll be honest , I haven't bought any online , but I love that concept Cause , looking at it , I was , like at first , a little confused after seeing the in-store , but having you explain it , I love that you have looked at the channel of online and said you explain it .
Speaker 1I love that you have looked at the channel of online and said what is the right way to do ? Crispy cones to go , and it's not having two cones filled up , and I think that's what most people try to do is they try to take their stuff , put it in a package and let it go . And I love the fact that you've thought creatively around how do you do the cones ? Cause you can just get the cones , it looks like , or just get the ice cream or get the two cone package , which is fun . Then it's like a date to go and you can do that at home . I love that you've thought about the channel experience and not just the in-store experience .
Speaker 2Yeah , yeah , no , it's vital , it's vital .
Speaker 1Love that . Well . Any advice that you'd give to someone who's looking to get into the franchising space .
Speaker 2It is the hardest thing you'll probably ever do . I will just say that . And you've done weddings , so you know , oh , I know I know , and weddings were very tough . But franchising is difficult as the franchisor because what it is , the franchisee success is your success . So it's pretty much you're focusing primarily on the franchisee success and you have . So it's pretty much you're focusing primarily on the franchisee success and you have to because they have to be successful and we have stores that are killing it and doing very well and we're like laser focused on them and their satisfaction .
Speaker 2That it can be kind of exhausting . And at scale , we just sold our 50th unit and we're on track to selling a hundred this year . So at scale that becomes harder . And we our 50th unit and we're on track to selling 100 this year . So at scale that becomes harder . And we're going to grow and we're going to have more people at headquarters to kind of like make sure franchisees are satisfied and are happy .
Speaker 2But what it is and Mark Cuban talked about this in the tank is it's running an adult daycare . And that is the truth , because if there is a problem in the store , the first person they call is the franchisor and if there's a problem that lasts longer than two days , the franchisor is at blame , no matter what happens . That's a tough pill to swallow sometimes as a franchisor , but getting over that , understanding that as a franchisor you're a service company because you're pretty much servicing your franchisees and making sure they're successful when you see it in that perspective , it becomes better rather than what can the franchisee do ? For me it's what can the franchisor do for the franchisee . And if you think of it like that all the time , kind of as a service company , your franchisees will be so much more excited to speak with you , excited to work with you building out more stores , et cetera .
Speaker 1Love that Great . Well . Who is someone , jeremy , that deserves an ovation ? Who's someone that we should be following in the restaurant industry ?
Speaker 2You know Pepper Lunch . Oh , I love Troy Hooper . Oh yeah , Troy , and Paul Tran is over at Pepper Lunch . We've met with Paul . He's phenomenal . They're fun to watch . I'll have to get back to you on that .
Speaker 1Oh yeah , I love Troy . I mean , we love Pepper Lunch . We love Troy here at Ovation . He's a rock star , I think , in the dessert category . One person if I could throw out there that I really like their product is Cineholic . I don't know if you're familiar with them . I think they might even have been a shark tank company as well , but they do great stuff and as someone who I'm not vegan but I am allergic to milk and so most cinnamon roll places I can't have , but anyway , they're pretty great too . But , jeremy , if someone is interested in learning more about Crispy Cones or they're interested in following you because you post some great content on LinkedIn , where could they go to find you ?
Speaker 2We are obviously on our website , of course , but if they're looking to franchise , we do have a franchise application that's on our website . So that's thecrispiesconescom . That's probably the best way to submit application . But LinkedIn is also a great way to connect with more of our team members . A lot of our team members are active on LinkedIn Our VP of finance , our VP of franchise development , support director of support , director of training they're all on LinkedIn . So that's a great way to kind of contact the whole headquarter body is through LinkedIn and social media , but more so for franchising than anything but yeah , cool .
Speaker 1So check out the crispy conescom and check out how they do their online ordering too , because it's really impressive . Well , jeremy , for showing us how to go from the tank to the bank . Today's ovation goes to you . Thank you for joining us on Give an Ovation . Thanks , man , appreciate it Awesome . Thanks 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 .