Famous Toastery Launches New ‘Strive for Five’ Incentive Program For Its Famous Guests and Employees; Brings Average Google Review Up One Star in Just One Month

Famous Toastery, the 25-plus unit, North Carolina-based breakfast franchise, has made a name for itself by offering the most “Famously Fresh” breakfast, brunch and lunch offerings in its segment. Since its North Carolina beginnings in 2005 and franchising in 2013, Famous Toastery has maintained its strong momentum and surpassed competition with a business model and support infrastructure that encourages franchisees to “Be Famous.” A major part of this strategy comes down to customer service, with the brand’s “Every Server is Your Server” mentality creating a family-oriented atmosphere at each restaurant. Now, the Famous Toastery team is doubling down on its exceptional customer service with its new “Strive for Five” incentive program.

"Essentially, we are challenging our staff to consistently provide five-star service for every guest that enters the restaurant because that is really our brand DNA,” said Lorna Martinez, Director of Marketing of Famous Toastery. “We genuinely believe in making our guests feel Famous, and doing so not only requires providing excellent food and drinks, but also amazing service.”

The Strive for Five campaign encourages servers to provide that level of service, with experience cards handed out to guests at the end of each meal. Each card includes a QR code that brings guests to the Google review page of that unique location so they can leave their feedback and, ideally, give the location a five-star review. Hence the name: Strive for Five.

“We’ve seen great feedback since launching the program, and we have doubled the amount of Google reviews we would normally receive in that time,” said Martinez. “We have gone up a full star point, which helps place us higher on Google searches and also means we are providing a better experience for our guests.”

Franchise owners also benefit from this initiative as it provides them with live feedback. “We can say that we are striving to provide great customer service, but this is really making it a major initiative in which we can track results in real-time,” said Martinez. “This is about incentivizing and empowering staff to do exactly what they are trained to do. Dietary restrictions? No problem. Is your drink empty? Refilled. We want to make sure everyone is having a great experience, not just a good experience.”

That ability to empower staff is more important than ever, Famous Toastery Director of Training Ann Eley says. “The restaurant industry so often only focuses on negative feedback, so it is very important to focus on that positivity within our four walls,” she said. “It is another way to recognize the team, and who better to do that than the customers?”

The Strive for Five program will also include ongoing contests in which servers can win internal rewards for bringing in the most five-star reviews. “Servers tend to be monetarily driven, so this will be a nice way to give back to the team for successfully representing the brand every day,” said Eley.

Overall, Martinez notes that the Strive for Five campaign is an exciting extension of the brand’s ‘Be Famous’ mantra. “We want to achieve greatness in real-time, allowing guests, servers and franchise owners to feel Famous,” she said. “When we receive that five-star review, it is a full circle moment that goes all the way back to day one. How the staff is trained, the presentation of the kitchen, the development of the menu. It all comes together to reflect that restaurant and help us ‘Be Famous.’”

The cost to open a Famous Toastery franchise ranges from $575,500 to $999,500, including a franchise fee starting at $45,000. To learn about franchising opportunities, please visit www.bestbreakfastfranchise.com.