By John Meyers, Marco’s Pizza

In today’s rapidly evolving QSR landscape, delivering an exceptional guest experience has transcended the boundaries of physical stores. The ways consumers can engage with your brand have expanded beyond the four walls and even beyond a restaurant’s own digital platforms. Look at the growth and expansion of third-party delivery, for example.

How, then, does a brand deliver a consistent, quality experience as consumer buying habits continue to evolve and change? There are tried and true drivers that highly influence consumer purchase decisions. In fact, a recent survey by YouGov found that taste (49%), speed (47%) and convenience (45%) are the biggest motivators, followed by affordability (35%) and quality (31%).

As the COO of Marco’s Pizza, I’ve prioritized reimagining the customer experience in today’s modern era in order to fuel long-term growth and overall performance. This article explores five powerful strategies that can help deliver an outstanding guest experience in this ever-evolving consumer landscape. From leveraging technology tools and kitchen equipment to enhancing personalized interactions and empowering front-line workers, these approaches will ensure your brand remains connected with customers and continues to exceed their expectations, no matter how they choose to experience your brand.

1. Customer Centricity Meets Empowerment
At the core of an exceptional customer experience is adopting a guest-first mindset and empowering your team to deliver.

By implementing a guest-first mindset, QSRs can refine their service processes, ensuring that every interaction with the brand is memorable. This includes everything from the quality of the pizza to the friendliness of the staff and the efficiency of service. Prioritize customer-focused initiatives, such as personalized online ordering options and loyalty programs that reward repeat consumers, for example. These efforts will significantly contribute to a stronger market position and loyal customer base.

At Marco’s, the guest experience is a cornerstone of our operational strategy. For a guest encounter to be exceptional, it starts with understanding and exceeding customer expectations at every touchpoint. This requires training and growing a remarkable team that is empowered to act. We call it situational empowerment training, which coaches team members on how they should behave as well as clear expectations on outcomes. We believe in growing remarkable guest experiences, and that continues to be a strategic advantage for us as we stand out from our pizza competitors.

2. Cultivating Talent
One of the biggest drivers in delivering an exceptional customer experience is the development of your front-line team.

Restaurant leaders should establish clear pathways within their organizations for talent growth. Too often, I’ve seen large gaps between roles that demotivate employees and lead to turnover. By clearly defining career progression, we not only address the pressing question of “What’s next for me?” but also ensure that our teams are motivated to deliver the highest level of service.

At Marco’s, we also do annual employee engagement surveys and provide each store with the analysis for their location so they can create action plans to continue to ensure high employee engagement and satisfaction. This process has helped improve overall employee retention percentages and boost overall employee satisfaction, in turn, helping to deliver exceptional customer experiences.

Moreover, it is essential to deliver and provide access to robust tools and comprehensive training programs. These initiatives should emphasize the critical role of operations, helping employees gain a deep understanding of the business. By fostering a culture of continuous learning and development, you empower your team, build confidence, retain top talent, and cultivate a pipeline of future leaders who are committed to operational excellence and extraordinary guest experiences.

3. Optimizing Technology
By embracing technology solutions, QSRs can streamline operations, enhance customer engagement, and maintain service quality across all touchpoints.

At Marco’s, we’ve invested millions of dollars in technology innovations. Such projects include the rollout of MOMS (Marco’s Order Management System); exploring voice-to-text ordering; continued adoption of third-party delivery; utilizing AI and machine learning to generate automated promise times; and more. The goal of these technologies is to create a frictionless customer experience while boosting franchisees’ bottom-line results.

From mobile ordering and delivery apps to streamlined drive-thru and pick-up systems, technology can help bridge the gap between the brand and its customers, ensuring convenience and satisfaction.

Smart investments in relevant technology that can deliver immediate results will be the winning strategy in the years ahead. For example, artificial intelligence is the future—it will become a mainstream element of enterprise-level and cloud technology platforms along with machine learning.

We will find ourselves using AI in our everyday duties such as delivery and ordering. With Marco’s, a great example is our Automated Promise Time program that uses AI to calculate and predict the time it will take to make and deliver a completed customer order, considering the store product capacity, oven time, number of drivers, weather, and traffic conditions. These types of technology innovations help ensure that every customer interaction meets the high standards necessary for a consistently exceptional customer experience.

Pizza brands that properly invest and execute in technology and innovation will be equipped with a roadmap to challenge their competition, fuel long-term growth and performance, and maximize the customer experience. 

4. Equipment Innovation
Investing in advanced and innovative kitchen equipment can significantly enhance the customer experience. We look at equipment that can improve team member satisfaction without compromising our product quality.

For example, we make our dough from scratch in the stores every day. This is a process that is very manual and requires intense, repetitive movements for our team members. High-performance kitchen equipment, such as a dough rounder and divider, for example, enables faster and more precise food preparation that helps ensure that orders are delivered quickly and consistently while reducing the manual labor for team members. With customers increasingly valuing convenience and speed, efficient kitchen operations are essential to meeting their expectations.

Modern kitchen equipment can also be a value-add with the rise of pick-up orders and third-party delivery. For example, at Marco’s we are beginning to test and integrate pizza lockers and warming racks into our new store design.

By prioritizing innovative kitchen equipment, brands can transform their operations, leading to greater employee and customer satisfaction and loyalty in an increasingly competitive market.

5. Taste, Quality and Consistency
There is a reason we are one of the fastest-growing pizza brands in America. It’s because of our vicious commitment to quality above all else. Our dough made from scratch in store daily, original sauce, and three fresh signature cheeses are the basic foundation for every Marco’s pizza.

And we know how to deliver flavor and taste using the finest ingredients and innovative creations, including our signature Old World Pepperoni and new handheld Pizzoli. Consistency in food quality is not just about meeting standards; it’s about delivering the same exceptional experience, no matter how they find us. This reliability builds frequency and loyalty, turning first-time visitors into regular patrons. In an era where online reviews and word-of-mouth can make or break a brand, maintaining high standards of quality and consistency is essential for standing out in a crowded market.

Taste, quality and consistency can be achieved by building strong relationships with suppliers; implementing clear and precise operating procedures for food preparation; menu innovation to delivery your high-quality ingredients in new and exciting ways; rigorous training; and continuous monitoring and feedback.

By focusing on great taste, impeccable food quality and unwavering consistency, QSRs can create lasting positive impressions that encourage repeat visits and recommendations, even in this ever-changing consumer environment.

A customer’s experience can make or break a restaurant, and in the QSR space where consumer behaviors continue to evolve and change, it is important to stick to the tried-and-true tactics that keep them coming back for more.

John Meyers is the COO of Marco’s Pizza. Headquartered in Toledo, Ohio, Marco’s Pizza is one of the fastest-growing pizza brands in the United States. The brand was ranked No. 48 on Entrepreneur Magazine’s 2024 “Franchise 500” ranking.