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
Humility, Speed, and Personalization with Blaze Pizza CEO Beto Guajardo
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You could argue that there's no one more experienced in leading fast-casual restaurants than today's guest, Beto Guajardo. Beto is the President & CEO of Blaze Pizza and has held leadership roles at Starbucks, Levi Strauss, and Schlotzsky’s. We were excited to tap into his extensive insights on this episode!
In this episode, Zack and Beto discuss:
- Why humility is key to delivering exceptional hospitality from the top down
- How Blaze Pizza is innovating with guest customization, both in-store and at home
- The critical role of speed and personalization in fast-casual dining
- The power of online reviews and how they influence business success
- Blaze Pizza's global expansion and maintaining consistent guest experiences across locations
We hope you enjoy this episode filled with valuable insights on leadership and hospitality in the fast-casual industry.
Thanks, Beto!
Leadership and Guest Experience 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 Today . I am so excited . This has been someone who I've been following for a long time , someone I love to listen to at conferences , whether he's on a panel or especially when he's keynoting , because that's when he gives the real good stuff . We have Beto Guajardo . He is the president and CEO of Blaze , the former president of Focus . Brand Schlotzky's one of the senior leaders at Starbucks , levi Strauss and Avon , just to name a few . This guy has done it all . Beto , thank you for joining us on Give an .
Speaker 2Ovation . Hey Zach , Thanks so much for having me on board . I really appreciate it . It's good to see you again .
Speaker 1Absolutely . Now , you have been an incredible leader . You've been in a lot of leadership positions , and one of the things I want to know is , like what do you see as being the most important aspect of a restaurant leader nowadays ? Well , that's a great question .
Speaker 2We're in kind of funny times right now . Guests are looking for either exceptional experiences or they're looking for great value . But across either one of those aspects of the spectrum of what they seek , they're still looking for great value , but across either one of those aspects of the spectrum of what they seek , they're still looking for great hospitality . And I think great hospitality that really needs to be reflected from the top down in any organization that's going to be successful begins with humility . Humility is really the foundational cornerstone of being able to deliver great hospitality . Without humility , you think you're always right . And you know , zach , it's the old cliche right , the guest is always right . Listen to the guest . So I think for a leader today to be successful in this industry , it starts by them showing great humility with a laser-like focus on delivering personalized hospitality inside the four walls or outside the four walls of their stores .
Speaker 1I love that , because at Ovation we talk about humble hustle , right , someone who's willing to work , but someone who's also got that humility about them , because then you're listening right , You're learning , you're looking for that better way , believing that there always is a better way .
Speaker 2Absolutely , and one of the things that we're focused on here at Blaze Pizza that we are developing and will be delivering is this idea of Blaze your Way right .
Speaker 2So , whether you're walking into a store or you're choosing to experience Blaze Pizza at home , we want to make sure that we are providing you with an experience that is defined by you , so that you're getting what you want , when you want it , how you want it , in a way that shatters your expectations in a positive way , of course and that starts within the four walls of our store . Do you want to stand in front of a counter and walk down the line and assemble your own pizza , or would you rather have a seat , relax , place that order on your phone and have your pizza delivered to you at your table ? Or do you want to interact with the device inside the store that we have curated to make that experience as seamless as possible for you ? So , something that right now , we're testing out in some of our California stores and you'll be seeing it come to all of our locations within the next year .
Speaker 1And I love that because this kind of leads into the next question , which is you're starting with the guest first right , and that was something where , when we originally talked about this podcast , it was after one of your keynotes where you talked about the different channels and how you've taken such care to analyze every channel and make sure that you can maximize the experience for the business and for the guests in every channel , and so I'd love to get your take on the guest experience . What do you think is the most important aspect of guest experience ?
Speaker 2Well , it's a little bit like what's the most important thing in real estate Location , location , location . Yeah , I think nowadays , zach , look , truth be told , depending on what the experience is that you're trying to deliver to a guest , but in fast , casual QSR , I mean , it's right , in the name of the industry , fast , and so you're not executing the speed , speed , speed you're going to disappoint the customer in that guest experience . Now again , but that feels like table stakes to me , right , Like , if you're not focused on delivering a great experience with
Creating a Personalized Guest Experience
Speaker 2speed . Again , I'll go back to something that I was saying earlier . It's about providing a great experience with a guest customization . Right , I want it my way , when I want it , where I want it , how I want it done , exactly the way I expect it to be , and one of the things that we really pride ourselves on at Blaze Pizza .
Speaker 2With the multitude of toppings and crusts and sauces and cheeses , you've got a trillion different pizza combinations that you could create . Make it your way , zach , but let's do it in a way , right , that is fast for you . I don't want you to walk into a Blaze restaurant and wonder , I wonder how long this is gonna take . No , you should expect from the moment you place your order , we fast fire that pizza in 180 seconds , right , 180 seconds . You're getting that pizza created by you the way you want it . That fast , and when we get that right , I think that we are one of the best experiences that a guest could seek in the fast casual restaurant industry .
Speaker 1It is so funny of all the thousands and hundreds of thousands of times I've said fast , casual , I don't think I've ever like put it together , like yeah , it's in the name , it's fast . And I think that that makes so much sense because I remember I had a marketing person that works for me and they sometimes would be , I mean , a 10 out of 10 . They were like the work that they did was so good and sometimes it was like a one out of 10 . And I'm like I can handle . And so the next marketing person that I hired , they had been actually reporting to this person and they were like , well , I can't do work as good as they did . And I was like , maybe on their best day . I was like but if you give me consistently seven and you're striving to improve to get to an eight , I know what to expect and I can work around that . If you're a 10 and then a one , I don't know what to expect . Right .
Speaker 2Absolutely . Oh , I love the fact that you're saying that now , of course , we're going to strive to be a 10 every time . Exactly Right For you , but your point is really well taken . One of the things that I know , you know this . I'm speaking the obvious here but all of us have become so adept at expecting to be able to choose a place to dine , and we seek the reviews of others' experiences before we even show up , right , I mean even the types of restaurants that we know already . Right , like you're thinking to yourself oh okay , I'm going to go check out this chicken joint . Well , you have been there before somewhere else . Before you go , you're like I wonder what the Google reviews are on that location .
Speaker 1Yeah .
Speaker 2Yelp reviews are on that location and if you're seeing 4.5 , 4.8 stars , you're like , okay , this is great . But if you see something under a four or 3.5 , and then you start looking at the reviews , like half of them are ones and half of them are fives , I don't know what I can expect when I walk in there .
Speaker 1Absolutely , and that's the thing is that we worked with a we're under NDA , so I can't say who , but a very , very large chain and every single person knows this chain in America guarantee it . And when we started working with them , they put us in the city and half locations with Ovation , half locations without , and their whole test was okay . If we're able to improve the guest experience and , like , improve the online rating specifically , is that going to affect revenue ? And after four months , the stores using Ovation had 9% more revenue than stores not using Ovation , everything else being equal , because people still care about the online reviews , even if it's a big , well-known brand .
Speaker 1Because , if I look up a national brand and I see all these reviews about it being dirty , I'm not going there .
Speaker 2No , no , and you know what , all too often and again , obviously , we are a very mobile society and you may have your favorite restaurant that could be a national brand in your hometown , where you know the people , you know what to expect from a cleanliness , from a speed and from a quality of production perspective . And then you hit the road and you just want to have that comfort of home and so you seek out that national brand that you love in your hometown and you show up in another location , in another state or maybe even another country , zach , and you're like this isn't anything like what I'm used to , and they can actually ruin your connection to that store in your hometown . One of the things that I used to share with anyone who would listen to me my experiences when I was at Starbucks .
Speaker 2My family and I we lived in Hong Kong for several years and while we were there , we sought out the comfort of that experience that we were used to in the United States , and Starbucks was it for us , and so the family and I , we would leave church on a Sunday and we would walk down Robinson Road , which is located in the mid-levels of Hong Kong , and there was a wonderful Starbucks store that was located there , and it was just you know , being so far away from home that moment of oh okay , we understand this world .
Speaker 2This is good , right , and my wife and I , we had four young daughters who were trailing behind us , but it was something that we all look forward to every Sunday to then join the Starbucks team . It was a real connection for myself personally , and that's something that we want to be able to do at Blaze Pizza as well . We just opened up our third location in Bahrain , in the Middle East . We have other deals in the works to expand ourselves globally , and one of the things that I really want to be able to create , with the help of my team and our franchisees , is a consistent , great , personalized , connected experience with world-class hospitality , no matter where you are in the world , when you're with Blaze Pizza .
Speaker 1Oh amen . I mean you are using all of my trigger words right now , beto . I mean to me I talk about the three cons of hospitality and true loyalty , which is the number one , is convenience , which you're talking about with speed , where when I go in , I need to know is this going to be convenient or is it going to be a long time ? And then laddering up . It comes to consistency , because I need to have that experience every time . But then the true sense of loyalty isn't about convenience , it's more than just consistency . It's about connection and that one-to-one connection . Man , this is like you . Give me goosebumps , have you ?
Speaker 2written this book yet , because if you've written the book , I want to read it .
Speaker 1Hey , I'm still trying to read all the books . I love these two books behind me Unreasonable Hospitality and Setting the Table . They're just , but they're speaking to what we're talking about here . But you know , it's kind of like the Bible . It's like people talk about principles in the Bible even though they're not Christian , because good words are good words . The truth is the truth .
Speaker 2You know . It's so funny that you mentioned Danny Meyer's writing back in my early days of my career , living in New York city , when I was with the cosmetics company , and on our wedding anniversary I took my wife to Gramercy Tavern . And having lived around the world and traveled to a lot of foreign countries and having had so many amazing experiences , I don't know what I expected . I guess I just expected it to be great . But that night at Gramercy Tavern it was beyond exceptional .
Speaker 2And when we walked into that restaurant and they knew my name I remember this is before the internet , so it's not like they could figure out my picture , right I walked in and they called me by my name like how do you even know who I am ? And then we sit down at our table and the waiter is talking to us as if they known us for years . And then the service and the way they made it absolutely perfectly right for us . I walked out of there and I had not worked in the restaurant industry prior to that . This is back in 2005 . Walking away from that experience , I said to my wife , as we were going home that night , if I get a chance to change my career and to move into the hospitality industry , specifically around guest experience service and restaurants and stores . That's what I want to do next , and by golly it came true .
Speaker 1Wow that is a powerful story . Have you shared that with Danny ? I have not .
Speaker 2I've only met Danny at conferences . I've never really had a chance to have the one-on-one connection with him , but it will happen someday .
Speaker 1That is such a great story . I'm going to make sure this podcast gets into his hands , because what a cool story to inspire people . And the whole point of it , all right , is that as you help people feel important . They feel the truth of that because every single human on the face of this earth is important and when we're in hospitality , we have such a privilege of being able to help them feel that way and help them , no matter what other battles they're fighting in their life . When they get that pizza that's just for them and when it's delivered with care , I mean like it's just a moment of remembering , like yeah , okay , I am important and someone does care about me , right ?
Speaker 2It's a funny thing , right . As a CEO of a multi-hundred unit restaurant chain , I go and I visit my locations and our store team members , our general managers , they know I'm coming . They don't necessarily know what to expect , and one of the things that I love to do and that is connect with every single person who's in the store . I'm actually starting with the guests . So oftentimes when I walk in , before I even acknowledge our team members and our general managers , I'll go around and say hi to our guests , not introducing myself as a CEO , but I say ask , who am I ? I'll just say , hey , I'm with Blaze Pizza . Thanks for being here today , right . But then I get a chance to actually speak to our team members and one of the questions that I always ask is what have you done today to make the world a better place for someone else ?
Speaker 2It's a simple question what have you done today to make the world a better place for someone else ? And they , they look at you and they're like what an interesting question , right To be coming from the CEO . And I'm fortunate enough to have my team members have name tags so I can at least call them out by who they are and then encourage them . Oftentimes I'll carry around free pizza coupons in my pocket and I'll hand them to our team members and be like , look , surprise somebody today and say , hey , this pizza's on you when they least expect it . Right , just do something , because that little bit of gratitude and that attitude of making others feel important in their lives at that moment , that moment that you have a chance to connect with them Zach , I know you know this because we're using the same words . But , man , we're just trying to make the world a better place , and when we can do that inside the four walls or outside the four walls of a store , it's the world I want to live in .
Speaker 1Amen . I love that man Beto . This has been so amazing and I appreciate the getting to the core of what this is all about , which is humans , which is connection , which is love , and I think that's so important . And now you obviously , in a great career , know a lot of people , but who is someone that you feel like deserves an ovation in the restaurant industry ?
Speaker 2Yeah , that's a great question and there are a lot of folks that I'd like to call out , but there's someone I'm actually who I haven't spoken to in a couple of years , but I've been following her career . We had an opportunity to work together when we were at Starbucks and I've always admired her and her approach to this industry and this business . She's now the CEO over at Dutch Brothers Coffee . Her name is Christine Barone and in following what she's doing at Dutch Brothers and , of course , we see all the changes that are happening at Starbucks and how she's leading another great coffee company I'd like a shout out to Christine I'm rooting for you . Keep doing the great work that you're doing Awesome .
Speaker 1And Beto . Where can people go to learn more about Blaze or follow you ?
Speaker 2Yeah , thanks . So I am a prolific poster to my LinkedIn profile . I'm trying to brag as much as I can about the great efforts of the Blaze Pizza team members and Blaze Pizza itself . So you know , find me at betogobajardo , at linkedincom , but if you want to follow us on Instagram , facebook , tiktok at Blaze Pizza . Again , we are prolific posters on social media , so we hope to see you there .
Speaker 1Awesome , well Beto for bringing connection to the forefront of hospitality . Today's ovation goes to you . Thank you so much for joining us on Give an Ovation .
Speaker 2I'll take that ovation , Zach , and thanks for having me .
Speaker 1Thanks for joining us today . If you like 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 .