This week’s episode of Give An Ovation welcomes on Nick Petrocci, current Director of Off Premise for the fast-casual brand, Zaxby’s. Nick lead an Off Premise Growth team focused on the health of digital ordering channels including the custom-built, proprietary Zaxby’s mobile apps and website alongside the 3rd party delivery marketplaces.

Here are a few highlights from this episode:

What is the most important aspect of the guest experience nowadays?

“I started my career as a cook and that colored my thinking. I joke with friends that I’m not overly kind but I’m always polite. There’s some people who just really bubbly and Smiley and things like that, right? Even when I got to a manager role it was very much like I was more comfortable in the back. The best guest experience is the hottest food possible with the most accuracy and on time.”

What successful strategies and tactics have you seen/tried?

“We finally kind of grew up and said, ‘we need to have a guest experience strategy. Let’s go get a team to strategize, drive the business vision for what this looks like and get professionals in the space and and bring them in.’ And we did just that . . .

. . . We want those professionals to do it. so don’t rely on cooks like me to fully drive your guest experience strategy. Go hire professionals who have a heart and soul for that kind of stuff because it’s super important. And then from there I mean, once you have that team in place. Get first party feedback.“

Who deserves an Ovation?

Duck Donuts

“This is a brand that I got to work with on their launch of their first loyalty program. Their whole team was just so awesome, like everything about them exuded servant leadership and the way that they approach things. And one thing that was so clear is that they knew who they were. They knew what kind of brand they were.“