In this episode of The QSR Experience Show, Rob Swain, Global Chief Operations Officer at KFC, shares insights from his rich background in the restaurant industry. Rob discusses the challenges and importance of scaling operations, focusing on both guest and team member satisfaction.
Rob also talks about leveraging technology for improved customer experiences, integration of employee feedback into brand strategies, and the future of the restaurant industry. He emphasizes the value of actionable insights and the significance of surrounding oneself with a talented team.
Topics discussed:
- The scale of KFC’s operations, spanning 150 countries with over 30,000 locations and a million employees.
- KFC’s focus on maintaining quality through taste, education, standards, and compliance to drive brand loyalty.
- Ensuring consistent in-location experiences across diverse markets and channels amid technological advancements.
- The significance of employee feedback in shaping brand strategies and enhancing operational efficiency.
- Embracing technology for convenience, with a spotlight on drive-thru innovations and customer touchpoints.
- Implementing technology to streamline operations, reduce paperwork, and improve team productivity in restaurant settings.
- How the “KFC Listens” program, along with leveraging Qualtrics for cross-experience management, helped drive guest and employee satisfaction.
- The interconnectedness of customer experience and employee experience, highlighting the impact of engaged teams on brand success.
Guest Quotes:
“The key to this is to surround yourself with people better than you and keep them motivated. And it really stuck with me. And I think that is so true. If I think of the people that I work with today, the team that I work with, the chief operations officer for our markets around the world, many of them, I would say this, honestly, they’re better operators than me, and that’s a positive thing.”
“Where I’ve really passionately cared is where I’ve had a great time, where I’ve been in a team where people care about me, where I’ve had those uplifting experiences, where I wanted to go to work. And I think that’s just an honest truth for the vast majority of people. We had a former CEO guy called Greg Creed that said that the customer experience will never exceed the team member experience.”
“I think where we’ve evolved over time is the beautiful part is we’ve now got data to back that up. And if you look at KFC Listens, which is sort of a Qualtrics program, the data is very clear, which says the most engaged restaurants are delivering the best experience. And when people come to us and get a great experience, they come back more often, they spend more money.”
So if you look at the amount of restaurants we’re building, it’s up to a couple of thousand a year. That’s one every three and a half hours. And our ambition is to continue to grow.”
“And I think technology, they both work arm in arm, if that makes sense, or hand in hand. I think, look, from a convenience point of view, it really does depend on the market, because what is perceived as convenience is down to sometimes the paradigm or the reality in that market overall.”
Get in touch with Robert Swain:
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Get in touch with your host, Bobby Marhamat:
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