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Topper's Pizza, based in Sudbury, Ontario, wants to take Canada by storm by the end of next year. They have gone from 20 to 32 stores in just two years. They want to pump this growth even more in the next year with a goal of 71 stores. With a few new tricks up their sleeves, Topper's is set to do just that. Their biggest trick: the Performance Improvement Center (PIC).
GROWTH THROUGH PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT
The Performance Improvement Center recently opened in Collingwood, which is a central location in Ontario for the chain's franchisees, to help operators along in the process of opening their first and second stores. "The quality of your chain is the quality of each individual unit," Keith Toppazzini, co-president of Topper's, says. "When we recruit an operator or strategic partner, we make sure that person is in complete alignment with the company meaning they share the same beliefs and vision about products and care for the customer."
Once that person is selected, Keith says there are two key elements that will dictate success in the franchise system: training and self-assessment. First, the franchisee is sent to training at home base for six weeks. Then they go through two more weeks of training on site, Keith says. "That eight weeks of training is like a pizza boot camp because we test the endurance of the individual," he says. "We really make them into a pizza operator and get them used to being on their feet for quite a few hours."
Store-Level Development
Once they get into the store, they have to continue the development process. Four weeks after a store opens, operators are asked to perform a self-assessment. This assessment covers all areas of operation and is aimed to give the franchisee a tool to see where he or she needs work. This is where the PIC comes into play. Each operator is assigned a business improvement consultant they can call when they need help on issues they feel they need to improve upon after the self-assessment.
The company also has developed this center so that operators can gather together for workshops and seminars, Keith says. "The PIC is a workspace, not an office," he says. "It's an open concept, with modular and mobile furniture that enables us to handle groups of up to 40 partners." Upcoming PIC initiatives include distributor plant tours and a series of ongoing workshops."
Beyond training and professional development, the PIC oversees several types of store-level reviews. For example, each operator is encouraged to complete a self-assessment every four weeks. The assessment covers everything from financial goals to employee retention.
Progress Reviews
About four times a year, Topper's corporate staff shows up to conduct a Customer Experience Review and they intentionally come unannounced "because in the real world, the customer shows up without notice," Keith says. While on site, they then perform a 100-plus point analysis of the restaurant's performance from the customer's point of view. "When a customer walks into a store, in less than five minutes they are going to walk away with a visual picture of the experience that ultimately is either positive or negative," Keith says. "So with this review, we're better able to anticipate what that photograph will look like." We encourage the operator to have every staff member complete this review, so that as staff performance improves and they gain a sense of pride with respect to their performance, the stores actually encourage us to come back in to test them."
The chain does a full store audit at least once a year. The audit lasts about two days and covers all aspects of the operation. They also do a store visitation many times a year. "A store visitation encompasses all kinds of purposes," Keith says. "This can cover anything from discussing a current campaign to other areas an operator may want to discuss."
Growth from Inside
Topper's is aimed at growing mostly from within through existing franchisees. Having adopted a 20/10 approach means that they want about 50 percent of the franchisees to open a second store so that for every 20 new stores, half or 10 will be opened by existing franchisees with a proven track record. That's part of the reason Topper's has reduced the franchise fee on the second store. "With a commitment to performance improvement, additional stores don't require the same resources as the first stores for growth," Keith says. "It doesn't cost us as much, and we believe we should share that savings with the strategic partner."
Keith says they do not enter into area franchise agreements because they want to evaluate the performance of the partner before they open more stores. "The strategic partner is responsible for getting the customers at the store level," he says. "We grant one store at a time. That will make Topper's stronger on the performance of each store. It will make each store more successful in getting and keeping customers. The goal for Topper's is to be recognized as having the highest average sales per unit for delivery/carryout pizza restaurants in Ontario."
GETTING AND KEEPING CUSTOMERS
Topper's wants to distinguish themselves as a great choice for meal replacement, not just a pizzeria chain, Keith says. Through new product development, new marketing ideas and employee input, they are working their way into the minds of families as a healthy, filling meal option.
Product Development
A variety of menu options is the biggest way they are working to differentiate themselves from being just any pizza place, Keith says. "Topper's tries to differentiate itself through menu options you wouldn't traditionally find on a pizza, such as chicken bruschetta, pizza primavera, shrimp scampi pizza and pizza fiesta," Keith says. "We look at flavors that are just as likely to be found in a bowl as on a plate, because we believe that just about any flavor combination can go on a pizza."
Topper's also encourages staff members to get involved in the recipe development process. Through a contest called My Recipe, staff members are invited to submit recipes and the winning recipe ends up on the menu. Last year's winner brought a lot to the table for Topper's. The Pizza Fiesta, featuring chicken strips and a super thin crust has become one of their most successful specialty pizzas. The phenomenon behind this pizza lies with the crust, however. By dividing the dough needed for a regular thin crust, the cook developed an ultra-thin crust. This option is available with any pizza. "With the Atkins fad of last year, our first reaction was to scramble and come up with a low-carb crust," Keith says. "We couldn't find anything we liked. We moved instead to the ultra-thin crust. That's been one of the most popular moves we've made."
In addition to the ultra-thin crust, Topper's has added a whole-wheat crust option to the menu. They promoted it in their menu and print advertising, but Keith says the way they have really gotten more response has been by simply suggesting it on the phone. "We put a big push in one city, and within one week we had sold 440 wheat crusts in that one location just by suggestive selling. It has been our most successful way of promoting new products."
The health trend is also having its effect on new products for Topper's. Keith says that most of the new pizza recipes are being developed around healthier toppings and cheeses. Fajita strip chicken, feta cheese and more vegetables are options they are looking at in making their pizzas healthier. They are also experimenting with more exotic flavors, including a Thai sauce. "By offering healthy choices, we are finding that we can't take away from flavor," Keith says. "We find that some of our recipes with leaner ingredients almost need to have a little more bite."
Another way Topper's is focusing on health matters is by adding nutritional information on selected pizzas, such as the Chicken Parmesan Pizza, to the menu. While they don't currently have a complete menu analysis, Keith says the pizzas that are profiled give customers something to go by in making meal choices. Over time, Topper's will continue to address customer needs with respect to nutritional analysis.
Rounding out Topper's most recent product development is the launch of boneless chicken wings, which has been one of the chain's most successful endeavors, exceeding sales expectations by about 300 percent in just over three months, Keith says.
New Marketing Ideas
As mentioned before, Keith says Topper's is in the business of getting and keeping more customers. He says they look at the whole dining experience and seek out ways to increase the enjoyment for the customer. For example, they are currently working on a wine pairing suggestion program for their more mature customers. Through a partnership with a wine expert and over 10 wineries, they are looking to give customers an idea of what wines would complement each pizza best. "We don't look at ourselves as just being in the pizza business," Keith says. "We try to keep the doors really wide open to new ideas and have ongoing think tank discussions. Out of these discussions, the wine pairing idea came up as a way to accentuate the fact that Topper's has a line-up of specialty pizzas that typically cater to adult customers with more sophisticated tastes. So why not pair these quality pizzas with quality wines and promote the concept of having an upscale dine-in experience."
Notwithstanding initiatives that target adults, Topper's recognizes that kids continue to be important customers - and catering to the unique interests and needs of kids remains critical to the overall success of the organization. With that in mind, Topper's has used focus groups with school-aged children to get their ideas on pizza. They found that kids recognized most types of pizza, but did not really care about brand. The event of eating pizza was most important to children aged six to 10, Keith says. "Mom gets to choose which brand she brought in the door," he says. "As the child gets older, from 10 to 16, that's where the real influence comes in. They say, 'We will only eat this brand of pizza.' All of a sudden Mom loses that gatekeeper status."
With this kid knowledge in mind, Keith says they have tried some different options when marketing to families. They have done promotions on specialty pizza paired with an eight-inch personalized pizza for a low cost. Keith says this didn't get much response. "To most children it didn't matter that they had their own pizza," he says. "What we have found successful is promoting a meal for the whole family." They started promoting a family deal with a combination or deluxe pizza and a pepperoni pizza for one price. Keith says this has been very successful because it's one for the kids and one for the parents. He says they've seen a change in this combination recently. He says that many families are ordering three pizzas instead of two: one for dad, one for mom and one for the kids. "Mom's starting to think chicken, vegetarian, whole-wheat crust," Keith says. "Dad's still thinking meat mountain. There are health concerns in our industry, but we also recognize that there's a certain segment of the market that says, 'I don't eat pizza every day, so I'm going to treat myself once in a while." Overall, the family is thinking in value terms, and that is working for Topper's.
OTHER MARKETING AND COMMUNICATION IDEAS
Topper's recently introduced a branding campaign in their stores to let customers know they are getting quality, fresh pizza. They have put a poster in each store telling the story of their 100-year-old dough recipe. At the bottom of the poster, there is a line that says Dough Expert on Duty. "Whoever is making dough that day signs it," Keith says. "When a customer comes to the front counter and reads it and has a question about the dough, the dough person has been trained to answer questions. I think that we are ensuring quality through this. Part of earning the customer's confidence is letting them know they are getting a quality product with dough made on site, daily."
The chain has also worked out agreements with hotels across Ontario in communities served by Topper's to encourage hotel guests to order pizza from the local store. They have a different setup at each hotel. In some hotels, they have been able to set up a three-sided menu in guest rooms. This table tent of sorts has the Topper's menu on it. In addition to this, they have a hotel buck system set up. For each delivery to the hotel, the driver gives a Topper's buck to the front desk clerk. The bucks can be redeemed for reduced or free meals. In some hotels, Topper's provides food for the monthly staff meetings. Topper's is also listed in many of the hotel directories. Keith says an ad agency handles that for them.
As far as the costs of marketing, the franchisee is responsible for the local level. Topper's corporate puts 1 percent of total sales toward developing national print and flier campaigns as well as on hold advertisements for the stores.
Franchisees spend about 3 to 4 percent of their sales on marketing efforts, Keith says. The main marketing method for the store operators is fliers. They distribute them in two ways depending on the market. The newer neighborhoods have community mailboxes, so they've found that people are checking their mail less often. For these communities, the operators are utilizing community newspapers for distribution. Keith says that for the older areas, the unaddressed ad mail works best.
The Future
Topper's has a strong plan for growth. They are growing quickly, but carefully. "Some people consider franchising an industry," Keith says, "but we view it as a form of distribution to gain more market share and customers. Through a performance driven growth strategy and strong marketing, Topper's is set to do just that.
- PMQ -
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