Growing a Franchise
Chris Williams, senior director of operations for Walk-On’s Sports Bistreaux, explains how the brand uses forecasts, sales trends, guest feedback and local conditions to evaluate territory performance
As senior director of operations at Walk-On's Sports Bistreaux, Chris Williams oversees performance evaluation across the brand's 80-plus locations. When a restaurant's numbers start to soften, Williams said the first step is to determine whether the problem lies with the location itself or reflects something happening in the broader market.
Williams said his team starts every review by comparing a restaurant's actual sales with its own forecast, built using market research and local data specific to that territory. Once the team has more historical data for a location, it adds year-over-year growth trends, guest sentiment and on-site operational reviews.
That combination gives the team a way to judge performance against expectations while also looking at what guests are experiencing inside the restaurant.
"At the end of the day, strong territory performance is about delivering a consistent guest experience that drives true sustainable growth," Williams said.
The biggest mistake, Williams said, is leaning too heavily on firsthand impressions instead of the numbers. A site visit can add context, but he doesn't want that experience to determine the conclusion before reviewing the data.
That becomes particularly important when trying to determine whether a decline is isolated to one restaurant or reflects conditions affecting a larger market. Williams said his team first looks for similar trends at other locations before turning its attention to the individual operation.
"Data gives you a broader look at market performance, and from there, firsthand experiences help color between the lines," Williams said. "This could be a look at competitive intrusion or a local economy issue."
If the broader market appears healthy, the questions turn inward. Williams said the team looks at leadership, staffing, the physical condition of the restaurant and whether the location is following the brand's operating system.
"Do we have the right leader in place with a growth mindset to drive the restaurant forward? Is the restaurant in good repair? Is the team properly staffed? Are they putting our restaurant success playbook to work?" Williams said.
The distinction helps determine what kind of response is appropriate. A problem rooted in one restaurant's operations calls for a different approach than a problem caused by economic conditions or other changes affecting the territory as a whole.
Competition is another factor Williams considers, although he does not view the arrival of another sports bar as automatically bad for a territory. In some cases, competitors can help establish an area as a destination and bring more potential guests into the market.
"For us, strong sports bar competitors help attract guests to an area, and our goal is to outperform them through superior execution and guest experience," Williams said.
Demographic changes tend to require a longer view. Rather than using them to explain every short-term fluctuation, Williams said the brand considers changes in income and trade-area composition as part of its longer-term planning.
"Demographic trends, such as income shifts and changes within a trade area, tend to evolve more gradually, but they remain critical indicators for long-term proactive planning so we can adapt appropriately," Williams said.
Technology has made much of that analysis faster. Williams said his team now has real-time access to sales data, guest feedback, operational assessments and financial reporting, allowing it to identify changes without waiting for problems to become entrenched.
"That visibility allows us to react quickly, celebrate loudly and stay ahead of issues that we may have had to face in the past," he said.
Taken together, those data points give the brand a way to move from identifying that a restaurant is underperforming to understanding why. The process starts with the forecast, expands to the surrounding market and then narrows to the restaurant itself when the evidence points to a location-specific problem.
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