Maintaining guest experience consistency in an ever-changing market comes with its own set of challenges. Companies like Groucho’s Deli, a quick-service franchisor with 30 locations, understand the importance of well-trained staff and maintain consistency within its workforce through the use of the training platform Opus.
Opus is a hospitality training platform purpose-built for restaurants with the capability to deliver training, messages, and company resources over mobile directly to workers in over 100 languages. And, with complete visibility across the workforce, franchises can get intelligence that is essential to their business.
Groucho’s Deli, founded in 1941, has transformed from its early days as a meat and cheese counter to a modern-day restaurant with a hybrid quick-service approach, believing that a focus on retaining customers drives organic same-store sales growth. Deric Rosenbaum, president of Groucho’s Deli, has cracked the code to optimize these necessary processes using Opus, proving this 83-year-old brand can successfully evolve with the times.
“While we do engage in new customer acquisition efforts, our core emphasis lies in retention through Opus and its comprehensive training mechanisms. Opus enables us to prioritize brand identity, standards, marketing, advertising, quality control, and customer experience.” says Rosenbaum, “When our field inspectors identify recurring patterns in the field, we promptly create tailored modules and classes to address them, which are then distributed to the respective teams. Ultimately, we aim to establish consistency as the driving force behind our operations.”
Groucho’s chose Opus for its “future-proof” abilities, which are key factors in the company’s decision-making processes. “You can’t expect 100 percent out of somebody that’s only had 10 percent training,” says Rosenbaum, who has been a part of Groucho’s for 24 years. “Today’s workforce is digital native, and its microlearning structure is natural to them,” he explains.
Opus excels in this regard, as the platform’s mobile-first approach makes it accessible and adaptable for franchises like Groucho’s. The company can assign, reassign, and customize learning modules on the fly while providing real-time accountability to ensure employees receive the necessary training. Consistency is key, and Rosenbaum draws upon larger corporations’ models to further this point. “McDonald’s demonstrated this concept early on—no matter where you go in the world for a Big Mac, it will taste the same,” says Rosenbaum. “The people delivering that Big Mac might not be the same, but we try to maintain consistency as much as possible. And the only way to do that, especially with today’s workforce and in our industry, is with a mobile-first approach and microlearning.”
As a franchise, getting franchise operator buy-in was a critical first step. Some operators initially resisted, believing they already knew how to do their jobs. However, the key was shifting the narrative. “It’s about equipping the future generation with the proper skills,” Rosenbaum states. “We shifted the focus around helping operators teach today’s workforce. This change in perspective led to buy-in becoming more organic, and operators could see the value of that training.”
Beyond formal training, Opus also serves as a real-time messaging tool for operators to promptly address time-sensitive issues like out-of-stock items or payment gateway problems. This instant communication ensures a seamless customer experience, as operators can quickly plan accordingly. As Groucho’s grows, Opus supports the brand’s rapid scaling of training needs across various locations. The platform’s adaptability allows them to adjust to different market conditions, demographics, and training environments. “Opus provides us with agility that we did not have before,” says Deric.
The power behind investing in employee training and development and embracing a mobile-first, agile, and collaborative approach has led franchises like Groucho’s toward an even brighter future. Through the use of Opus, Groucho’s has been able to enhance guest retention, drive same-store sales, and ensure that Groucho’s experience remains consistent, regardless of location.
To learn more, visit Opus’s website.
