This article was originally posted on QSR.
Digitizing what was previously done on paper has created actionable data.
Since its inception in 2008, MOD Pizza has been a cutting-edge, artisanal pizza brand beloved by its loyal following. In order to ensure top-notch customer experience for that loyal following, the brand—now nearing 500 units—sought out ways to ensure brandwide consistency across its rapidly expanding footprint.
That led MOD Pizza to partnering with MeazureUp, creator of two mobile solutions—AuditApp and DailyChex—that provide multi-unit operators with data that helps manage operational consistency. Replacing paper checklists that get logged and put into a binder to collect dust, these digital checklists help gather and provide actionable information that makes brands better at what they do best.
“Ensuring consistency is one of the hardest things for restaurant businesses, but especially for chains in growth mode, like MOD Pizza,” says Ray Abramson, chief operating officer of MeazureUp. “If brands are still using paper checklists, one way to improve consistency is to instead use a digital tool that helps track what a store is doing in real time and helps you respond quickly to anything that needs attention.”
Here’s a look at three ways MeazureUp has helped MOD Pizza manage its consistency.
Data-Driven Decisions
For the last couple of years MOD Pizza’s district managers have used MeazureUp’s AuditApp as a digital replacement for paper site-visit checklists. District managers log what is and isn’t being done at different locations and the data is reported in real time and flagged when necessary.
“The idea is that we can show you if something is a one-off problem or if it’s systematic,” Abramson says. “From a training standpoint, operators love it because it helps recognize what things need to be zeroed in on and fixed. Before, to get down to that level of specificity would be difficult because you’re going to have to dig into each store’s paperwork. This way, it happens automatically, and you can tag store managers or whoever needs to know.”
Menu Change/LTO rollouts
Ensuring new menu items are made to spec is a complex process. MOD Pizza has leveraged DailyChex to create custom checklists that relay what each store’s general manager needs to know in order to make “Flash MODS,” or MOD Pizza’s version of LTOs, possible. “These menu items are a huge part of what makes MOD Pizza unique, but they are often challenging to rollout due to the temporary nature of them—DailyChex helps streamline the process,” says Kristen Driscoll, vice president of operations excellence at MOD Pizza.
“Really, DailyChex is helpful any time we make a big change and need a checklist to help support that implementation,” Driscoll says. “So if you’re introducing a new procedure you have a custom checklist to support that. Or if you make a change to your opening, mid-day, or closing checklist, DailyChex makes that very simple.”
Safety Protocols
One of MOD Pizza’s favorite parts of working with MeazureUp is the custom solutions built for its needs. There’s perhaps no better example of this than when MOD Pizza was seeking to ensure COVID safety protocols were being logged and followed up on at the outset of the pandemic. MeazureUp worked with the restaurant brand to create a checklist that would facilitate the process. In less than a month, MOD Pizza had exactly what it was looking for up and running at all stores across its footprint.
“This was something that was urgent for us,” Driscoll says. “And MeazureUp really understood that. They took our calls day and night until it got done, and then they made sure it was working. They are great about supporting our business, and very responsive. Whatever they say they are going to do, they do it.”
To find out more about MeazureUp’s game-changing apps, check out the company’s website.
