Burrrrrr! It's getting chilly out there! It's so much easier to get into the holiday spirit when the weather changes! Just want to remind all managers and team members that when the holidays roll around, and the economy is in the mess it is, there are people that become desperate. Just watching the news in the evenings you hear about the random shootings, robberies, and break-ins. This time of year we need to be extra cautious and more dilligent around the safety policies and procedures. Make sure you follow trash procedures, keep doors locked during non-business hours, use the 'buddy system' when exiting at closing time, managers: don't take the deposit to the bank at the same time every day. If you are nervous about opening the door the local police will come to the restaurant to ensure you make it to your cars safely. Make sure all team members know where the panic buttons are located, and they are always consious of their surroundings. Drivers must be especially careful as they are in their own cars and going up to strangers homes. Drivers keep your doors locked at ALL TIMES. Do not deliver to a home if you are suspicious for any reason. Do not carry large amounts of money. These are just a few things that can help keep us all safe!

Happy Halloween Teams! It's that time again! We all know how crazy busy we get on Halloween! The phones will ring off the hooks! Customers will be packed in the lobby like sardines! And the roads will be full of kids and teens in costumes running from house to house! It's the time of year when our drivers have much more to deal with than the normal traffic! Please make sure your all extra safe on the roads. And be sure to let customers know that there are delays on Halloween but asure them they will get a hot, fresh, delicious product! And remember to post the sign on all of your entrance doors asking customers to please remove their masks before entering the restaurant. Be cautious of your surroudings and make sure you team is aware of all safey and security procedures and policies! Have a great time and have a great Halloween Holiday weekend!

Faster, Faster, Faster

How can we make this happen in the restaurants so our drivers are not feeling it on the road?
Well, Ready for Revenue is a good place to start. Time and time again I, Guy Maddox, go into restaurants during evening peak periods and there is no R4R completed. We should have R4R completed for a Monday and Tuesday just like we should for a Friday. But Guy, our sales are down. So what! You're still going to sell certain items that you have prepped for the day. Why not complete the process and sauce and cheese some of it. Don't over-do it and throw it away but use prep planing to help decide how much is needed.
Those who do prep well run better service because they understand that R4R is the backbone of the kitchen and not just another check mark on a check list. What reports can you use? Let's start with these:
Prep Plan Report
Previous Week Product Sales
Previous Day Product Sales
Many people say "well, it doesn't take long to sauce and cheese a pizza". That might be true with one order on your screen. Let's say it's crunch time, 6:15 on a Tuesday night. You have one cook scheduled. Before they can make a pizza that's on the screen he (or she) has to sauce and cheese the dough. They may have to go to the back to get a Thin (perforated) pan. They have to wash their hands. They may need to go to the dish room to get the correct spoodle or cheese cup. They may have to fetch product from the cooler because R4R (which includes filling the maketable) was not completed. Now, what about the other 5 orders that just popped up behind that one. How much longer will it take to get to those orders because the R4R was not completed? Are those customers not as important? Oh, by the way, the last order has 2 Stuffed Crust and a Lasagna pasta on it and there are none prepped and no sauce pre-heated. What's the production time on that order going to be? ...and the ones that are surely going to pop up after that one because now you're behind?
Over the last couple of years we have lost focus on getting the orders out the door with a driver in less than 19 minutes. Do we want to get the order to the customer in 30 minutes? Yes! How can we do this? Let's start with a little of the following.
R4R :
Sauce and Cheese daily
Pre-top when needed
Prep pasta's daily
Prep WingStreet products daily
Fill the maketable in the afternoon
Have all needed utensils and pans in place and ready to use so the cooks don't have to leave the maketable
Fill the retarders with dough (thins too)
Coaching Speed Daily:
Make sure drivers understand the word "HUSTLE"
Have the maketable team focus on "IN THE OVEN" in less than 3 minutes
Have the Cut Table call out production times all night
Make sure everyone knows the focus to get the order out the door in 19 minutes
Make sure shift managers push their production team daily to make it happen with communication
Know where every pizza stands during a rush
"Driver in / Driver Out" so managers can focus on getting them cashed out and back on the road
Post Driver Audits daily and see drive times improve (mark the good and the bad with drivetimes, waits, and production times). Don't just hang it there.

These are just a few things we can do to increase our speed. There are many more but these are the vital few that really count. We have lost focus on this very important part of our business and I truly believe it is showing in our sales. We need to tell every customer 30 minutes or less. Every time. All the time. We need to make it happen so we get their repeat business.

It's easier to take care of a current customer than it is to win a new one. Hopefully everyday we are doing what we can to win new customers but if we lose our current customers, it will always be an uphill battle. A battle that we may not win. Just because we're Pizza Hut does not mean they will return. We need to serve a quality product in the least amount of time to keep winning our current customers. That's why R4R should be completed. EVERYDAY - EVERY RESTAURANT.

The Area Coaches are doing some great HOH meetings with their teams. We need to make sure the RGM's allow this to happen in their restaurants daily. It's all about the 5 Recipes.

Give an inviting welcome - Not only to our customers but to each other, daily. All crew members need to have the positive attitude we are looking for inside the restaurants.

Connect with everyone - Once again, not only with our customer but with each other. Inquire about something to someone else. Engage in a conversation with a customer. Get to know them well enough that they want to come back and tell you what happened this week and the next, and the next week after that.

Take Pride - Be proud of who you are and who you work for. Be proud of the product you make, serve, or deliver. Be proud to work for the largest pizza company in the world. Be proud to be a part of all we do to help our communities. Let it show with a smile every day.

Respect yourself - And others around you. Come to work in a clean uniform. Be a Full-On team member.

Give something back - Maybe its knowledge about your favorite product to a new customer. Participate in our World Hungar program and go above and beyond what others do to reach new goals. Build know-how with a new hire.

It's all about being a human being and following the Golden Rule to treat others as you would want them to treat you. It's a message from the heart. It's making another persons day brighter. This will create a positive atmosphere inside the restaurant that the customer can not only see, but feel when they walk in our doors.

I have attached a few pictures of the HOH meeting Mo and Brad had today. They went above and beyond with the decorations to bring positive energy to their meeting. Keep it alive by going into your restaurants and setting a high expectation around our HOH Recipes. The RGM must own this daily to make it our culture. Hire the right people, train them well, be creative with the positive energy and recognition in the restaurant, have fun, and everything else will fall into place.

Training

Wow! It's been a while since we've heard from anyone. We're about 5 weeks from the end of hurricane season, compare to the previous blog. We have a few items in the training department worth mentioning. Please remember this week, starting on Tuesday morning, we will switch to the new cheese cups. Please do not switch before Tuesday or it will create a food cost issue. Everyone this week should receive the new lids for your oil pumps. They should arrive by Wednesday and should be used immediately. The decisions to change these specs was made to produce a better product for our customer. Following CBQ standards along with the changes should yield a better product score from our customers.

The Learning Zone will be here soon. Guy and Brandon helped test some Learning Zone Modules and the feedback has been great. Most trainings take place in about 45 minutes including test. It is web based, video driven and interactive for our trainee's. Using the Orientation and Restaurant Basics learning tools will be the first steps to guiding and implementing the new LMS system in all of our restaurants. Get ready!

The pictures are the ARL's working the I-Drive restaurant for Diana and her crew. She and her employees got to go out and enjoy dinner on us! That was the prize for winning our World Hunger contest last year. Diana and team raised over $6700. They fed 26,860 children. Who will win the prize this year? We have some big totals out there already. Ask everyone for a donation to World Hunger. Every dollar feeds 4 children. What better way is there to spend a dollar?

Happy Hurricane Season! Hurricane Bill has turned into a dangerous catageory 4 hurricane looming in the Atlantic. Forecasters still aren't sure exactly where he could make landfall but he could start pushing swells and storms towards the coast by the weekend. Not quite time to 'Hunker Down' but we should always be prepared! If you have any questions about hurricane procedures please speak with your RGM's!

Have a great day!

It's hump-day Wednesday! Only a couple more days until the weekend starts! The rain hasn't been too much trouble lately, but living in Florida that could change any second! So be sure your teams are ready for anything!

Have an awesome day!