CASE STUDY
How Dave’s Hot Chicken Turned Guest Feedback into a 4.7-Star Reputation — and Counting
About Dave’s Hot Chicken
What started as three guys in a parking lot in 2017 has exploded into one of the fastest-growing restaurant brands in the country. With 420+ locations open and a franchise network built on operational excellence, Dave’s Hot Chicken has scaled from a local LA phenomenon to a global brand — and guest experience has been central to every step.
“Since we moved to Ovation, we’ve seen an 87% increase in online review volume. We’ve saved like 100,000 guests, and we’ve increased our average online rating by a tenth of a point. The better the score, the better the sales are going to be down the road.”
Closing the Feedback Loop at Scale
As Dave’s scaled rapidly, staying connected to every guest experience became increasingly difficult. The team needed a way to hear from guests in real time — and to respond before small issues became missed opportunities.
Their previous platform relied on email-based feedback, which created friction on both sides. For guests, it felt impersonal. For franchisees, multiple email accounts per person made it harder to get a clear, trustworthy read on recurring issues.
Real-Time Guest Recovery
Dave’s Hot Chicken turned to Ovation to enable two-way SMS conversations with guests at the moment of truth — right after their experience.
“What we loved about Ovation was the ability to text with our guests when they had a problem or a concern, or even if they gave us a great review. We loved being able to tell them thank you.” – Jim Bitticks
The shift to phone-based feedback also solved the trust problem. As Jim put it: “Very few people have access to six or seven or 11 different cell phone numbers. It’s just the one — so you can kind of see if they’ve continued to complain or try to get some type of free stuff.”
From Feedback to Foot Traffic
Since adopting Ovation, Dave’s Hot Chicken has driven an 87% increase in online review volume and collected over a million surveys — giving franchisees an unprecedented view into guest sentiment across every location. Their 41% guest recovery rate means nearly half of all unhappy guests are won back and return to spend more, turning what could have been lost revenue into long-term loyalty. And with their average online rating climbing from 4.6 to 4.7, every tenth of a point is a competitive edge that translates directly into new customers walking through the door.
Reputation as a Growth Strategy
For Jim, the connection between online ratings and revenue isn’t theoretical — it’s a core business metric. Dave’s tracks their Ovation score as a leading indicator of franchise health, and the trajectory tells the story: from a high of 4.8 at the original location, down to 3.8 at peak growth pains, and back up to 4.7 today through deliberate guest recovery. The goal is 4.8 and higher — and every franchisee is being held accountable to get there.
“I would definitely recommend using Ovation. Anytime you get feedback from a guest and actually do something with it, that’s good for the business, good for the guests, and definitely worth doing. You can’t really get that feedback unless you have a means to get it — and Ovation is that means.”
