With four different concepts and ten locations, American Gonzo Food Corp (AGFC) needed a way to monitor its execution standards to ensure their customers had great experiences across the board. To do this, they looked not only externally but internally as well, creating a program that consists of mystery shoppers to collect unbiased, third-party feedback, and an audit program to collect internal data. The combination of the two has resulted in enhanced consistency in the customer experience and execution overall.
Starting with a mystery shopper program to collect unbiased external data, AGFC shopped a mix of meal times and locations to create a complete view of their customer experience. The data provided either validates that standards of excellence are being met, or that new coaching or training tools are needed for constant incremental improvement. Recognizing positive feedback, the AGFC team embraces the opportunity celebrate what’s going well.
But for AGFC, shopper data was just half of the picture. To complete the 360-view, they needed to capture internal data to combine with their shop data. They rolled out a field audit program within the last year to complement the third-party data. By partnering with 360 Intel for both solutions, they can combine and view data in a single dashboard, resulting in easy interpretation of the data to make key business decisions.
“I’ve seen some cultures embrace the shops while others ‘manage’ the shop,” stated Jeff Goodman CEO of AGFC. “You need to turn yourself over to the feedback. Data is coachable information. If you put the appropriate amount of energy into coaching and resolving, you see a real ROI. You can’t manage a program just looking for 90% score, then put that report in the drawer. Even at 95%, look at the misses and take the opportunity to improve. You get out what you put in.”
AGFC is still growing. With new restaurants in development this year, they will continue to monitor and validate their standards of excellence through their mystery shopping and audit programs for continued success.