Phillip Keiser is a bit of a traditionalist when it comes to dessert. If, after his double cheeseburger with the works, he’s still inclined for custard, he goes for a plain vanilla cone. And it should taste the same whether he’s at the Culver’s restaurant near his office in Prairie du Sac, Wis., or the one in Elkhart, Ind., closer to his hometown. As president and COO of Culver Franchising System Inc., a chain known for its ButterBurgers and frozen custard, Keiser’s job is making sure everything, down to dessert, is consistent everywhere.
But he can’t be in all 435 locations at once.
“How do we keep brand standards going?” Keiser says. “One of our critical success factors is our franchise operators and their commitment to the brand.”
Because he takes extra care to bring in committed franchisees, Keiser doesn’t have to manage details too closely.
“The only way the brand grows is if we’re all in this together,” he says. “So our training program is more extensive than most. Our interview and selection process is more extensive than most. Our core values surrounding what type of franchisee we look for are more extensive than most.”
These days, those core values are stronger and clearer than before, thanks to Culver’s new “Welcome to Delicious” campaign that reinforces the chain’s reputation for good food, family values and great service. Founder Craig Culver is very involved in the campaign, telling stories about Culver’s ingredients and relationships.
So Keiser has to make sure those stories and values radiate throughout the Culver’s system. That starts with attracting and developing franchise partners who are committed to them.
1. Identify committed franchisees
When Keiser joined the company in 1996, Culver’s operated 44 locations. Now, nearly 400 restaurants later, he still hasn’t advertised a single franchise.
“They’re all sold by word-of-mouth,” he says. “Most of the folks have discovered us through a friend or relative or as a guest in our restaurant.”
Attracting interest, then, isn’t the challenge — it’s identifying the right candidates. The first filter is financial. Even though the restaurant business can be expensive, Keiser’s not interested in investors because investors don’t operate restaurants.
“The first thing is: They’ve got to be somebody that wants to run a restaurant day-to-day,” he says. “We require that in each one of our restaurants, we have an operating partner who needs to own either 25 percent of the operating entity and (25 percent of) the real estate or 50 percent of the operating entity. They’ve got to (be financially qualified) if they want to own the real estate.”
He runs background checks to verify financial standing, but validating the ability to run a restaurant takes more than paperwork.
“Many franchise organizations would do a Discovery Day, where they would come in and interview the franchisor,” Keiser says. “We have what we call Discovery Week, where they come on their own nickel. They need to buy uniforms and work six 10-hour days in our restaurant.
“Basically, during the week they’ll work every station in the restaurant. Can they figure out how to work the grill, how to make the custard? They get there early in the morning and work with our porters mopping the floors, scrubbing the fryers. They basically experience a little flavor of the day-to-day life of a team member working in our restaurant.”
Why subject potential franchise owners to entry-level work? Believe it or not, Keiser’s not testing prior restaurant experience.
“We really want them to do a gut check on themselves, is this right for them,” he says. “If you work in a kitchen, you get hot and you get some of the kitchen odors in your clothing. Are they OK with that, or do they think it’s gross? Are they OK wearing the uniform and seeing their friends? They’ve got to be comfortable with the environment.”
Not only the work but also the hours can weed out candidates.
“If they come from a traditional 8-to-5 type of Monday-through-Friday work environment, do they understand we do as much business after 4 o’clock as we do before 4 o’clock, and the weekends are big days for us?” Keiser says. “You won’t be successful with a Monday-through-Friday mindset.”
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