A View From The Top
Freddy's COO: 'You can go your own way'
Scott Redler, co-founder and COO of Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers, reveals that although the chain has never strayed from the "Freddy's Way," it has made a variety of changes over the years, including a recent merger and focusing on off-premise dining amid the pandemic.
May 3, 2021 | Scott Redler
By Scott Redler, co-founder and COO, Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers
As a leader, you're often faced with hard decisions and unexpected obstacles that can't be planned for. The past 12 months have challenged our industry across the board and it's safe to say that each and every leader was forced to make timely decisions that will no doubt impact the future of their brand for better or worse.
In my role as co-founder of Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers, I had the humbling experience of being part of the foundational conversations that helped guide the strategy for our concept today. Through the ups and downs of the economy, consumer trends, a global pandemic, and so much more, nearly two decades since our inception there's a three-word phrase that has been key to our success: "The Freddy's Way."
We define The Freddy's Way as doing things the right way — not the easiest, not the cheapest, but the right way. The Freddy's Way means taking as much time and effort as needed to perfect our food, our service, and our operations so that we are putting our best foot forward in every aspect of the business. In a fast-paced industry where brands are competing to be "the first" or "most unique," we attribute our ability to scale through challenging times to our unwillingness to compromise on our values.
With this approach we've found that our franchise owners, guests and team members continue to support our concept. In the almost 19 years since we started Freddy's, we have never made a decision to lessen the quality or portion on any of our craveable food. In fact, quite the opposite.
Founding values
When we started Freddy's, two of the three founders were owner/operators in the casual full-service steakhouse segment, and since then, we have continuously promoted full-service hospitality in a fast casual environment. We apply this mantra across the system from the most micro-level things, like the selection of freshly cut versus bagged lettuce to include on our famous steakburgers, to the most macro-level concepts, like building out our franchise development plans nationwide. No matter what task we are presented with, we have found that approaching it with The Freddy's Way in mind ensures that our brand is consistently putting our guests and team members' interests at the top of the list which clearly is one of the main reasons for our success. This mentality has helped guide my personal decision-making as a leader of the company.
Adapting amid a changing environment
Now, staying true to our founding values is not to say that our brand won't be capable of adapting — quite the opposite, in fact. From experience we've learned that we don't have to sacrifice principle just to keep up with the newest trends. A recent example was in the development of our curbside, app and delivery services. While keeping speed and ease for our guests in mind, we strived to make decisions that weren't going to compromise our high quality and service. We took our time, did our research, and in developing our mobile ordering app, we purposely selected a beacon technology that tracks a guest's arrival to the restaurant and times food preparation accordingly so that their order is just as fresh as it would be if they were dining in the restaurant.
Resisting the urge to rush the process in any new initiative a brand takes on will pay off in the end, as guests will stay loyal knowing that the quality of product will never be compromised. We never want to apologize for the great quality our guests expect.
Additionally, knowing that drive-thru traffic was increasing exponentially as a result of the pandemic, we dove into the numbers and studied various ways to reduce wait times. By testing processes and conducting a thorough study before making any decisions, we ensured that the decisions made were ones we would be able to proudly stand by. For example, in our research we found that there was flexibility in the time available during which orders were being taken, so we moved our functions around in a way that would benefit both the guests and the team members, and succeeded in increasing the time we had to take care of guests and significantly reducing drive thru times during peak. It's our belief that timing is and always will be hugely important to everyone in this industry, but what exactly that time is being spent on and dedicated to is even more important. Our desire was to be faster, yes, but without compromising the quality of our product. By taking the time to thoroughly consider the issue from all angles, we found the solution that would do just that.
Even more recently, our choice to partner withThompson Street Capital Partners through our recent acquisition was a purposeful one that we believe will allow us to continue to invest in our premier operational system, accelerate franchise development and further strengthen our franchise owner support. The values and philosophies of The Freddy's Way mentality influenced this business decision, and we're confident putting our trust in TSCP moving forward because they share our commitment to the success of our Freddy's family.
Long-term impact
Concepts over the years may have struggled to understand that brand evolution doesn't have to mean a complete brand transformation. At Freddy's, we're always looking to improve, and I believe that any executive should remain in that mindset of refusing complacency while always striving to be better. We pride ourselves on our unique ability to maintain the standards of The Freddy's Way throughout all the changes our brand has grown through, especially those presented by the pandemic, without losing our guest loyalty.
Across all of our locations, our guests, team members and franchise owners are treated like family. Through menu shifts, drive-thru adaptations, additions of new technologies, and all of the other ways our brand has evolved over the years, our guests have continued to trust us and continue to show up, because they know they can expect top-tier product and guest care. Very simply, we make guest-driven decisions to positively impact the experience our guests enjoy at Freddy's. I'd encourage every brand struggling with stability and longevity, especially after the effects of the pandemic, to define its own "Way."
