“Involve all your employees in your mission,” Andy Moore, Director of Communications for Hwy 55 Burgers, Shakes & Fries, told Loyalty360.
Last year, Moore said, the company shut down all its stores and threw an employee appreciation rally at the Durham Performing Arts Center to celebrate the performance of its cooks, wait staff, and operators.
“We drove home the message that all of us are in the business of making people happy—whether we’re signing up loyalty members or treating first-time guests like they’re family,” Moore said. “We believe strongly that our mission is to love our neighbors, regardless of background or relationship with the brand—and as a sign that we got the message across, “Love Your Neighbor" was trending on Twitter in North Carolina at the rally’s end.”
Employee engagement triggers customer loyalty at Hwy 55 Burgers, Fries & Shakes, Moore said.
Hwy 55 Burgers, Shakes & Fries has restaurants in eight states: North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio, Virginia, Florida, Alabama, and Texas.
Happiness is the theme of each and every one of those restaurants, according to Moore.
“We are a brand in the business of happy experiences,” Moore said. “We hold the door open for our guests when they walk in our restaurants, and we cook an amazing burger in front of them at an open-air grill. When you’re dealing in such personal, face-to-face interactions, where a smile can make or break an experience, CX is everything.”
Hwy 55 Burgers, Shakes & Fries comes from humble beginnings.
“The first Hwy 55 opened in a mall in 1991, and there were no deep-pocketed investors to help market our restaurants against the other burger brands at that time,” Moore recalled. “We were forced to grow our customer base organically, allowing our guests to be the biggest proponents for our growth. Over 25 years, they’ve showed us the power of a CX-driven focus.”
Moore said the brand promise is to: “Provide a fun restaurant experience that satisfies customers’ hunger for fresh food and hospitality.”
As a result, the company’s CX policy is defined by the touch points where its guests receive an amazing experience both inside and outside via a robust loyalty program.
“If our guests can say that they not only enjoyed the way they were treated at Hwy 55, but they’d recommend our brand to a friend or colleague, then we know they’re willing to put their reputations as tastemakers on the line for Hwy 55,” Moore explained. “Our extensive surveying hinges on that proposition, and it’s the starting point for how we define the efficacy of the customer experience.”
For the company’s loyalty program, specifically, “We check sales to see a correlation between an increase in loyalty program signups and same-store sales increases,” Moore said. “We also work with our loyalty partner, FiveStars, to monitor each store’s frequency compression—a metric that shows guests’ increase in visits once they become loyalty members.”
Hwy 55 Burgers, Shakes & Fries has a simple and straightforward reward structure.
“You receive one point per visit, and those points can be exchanged for free scoops of frozen custard, free specialty sandwiches, or later on, a free meal,” Moore explained. “I don’t think we’ll ever move toward a more convoluted point structure. We feel like this creates a universal desire within our company to put customers’ needs first, since, in this power dynamic, they sit at the top of the pyramid. Before a marketing decision is made, we ask ourselves if our customers—who we feel pretty attuned to by now—will respond well to it. Then we roll.”