Fast-changing consumer behavior, low margins, and intense competition are demanding a new level of value and excellence across the quick-service restaurant industry. But without effective restaurant audits, it’s easy for brand standards to slip—especially amid industry wide staffing shortages.
Auxis’ virtual Audit and Brand Protection Services model makes it possible for operators to visit every location as often as they need to ensure ideal brand experiences, product quality, and food safety wherever their customers go. Leveraging digital innovation and the advantages of nearshore outsourcing, virtual restaurant audits solve the critical challenge of how operators and owners can visit stores more often, at scale, and at the lowest cost per audit in the industry.
“Inflation is making consumers more discerning than ever about where they spend their dining dollars,” says Keith Sayewitz, Auxis restaurant services managing director. “In our Yelp-driven world, a few missteps don’t just lose a few customers they can damage a brand’s reputation.”
Traditional brand audits are performed by brands’ internal staff or outsourced to third-party providers. However, requiring teams to physically set foot in every store makes it difficult to control performance, and becomes too expensive and logistically impossible to touch every location more than once or twice a year, if at all.
“Our virtual audit model was developed with a leading restaurant operator to address a need in the marketplace,” Sayewitz says. “Without frequent store touches it’s easy for busy staff to let brand standards slide. Visiting your stores at least once per quarter creates a natural cadence that keeps customer experiences consistently high.”
The Auxis process includes dedicated teams trained to a brand’s specific standards who leverage advanced technology to conduct virtual walk throughs of store operations. They evaluate branding, food handling and preparation, cleanliness, speed of service, and other essential areas. The assessment is repeated at every location ensuring usable data across critical categories that define an ideal customer experience.
Targeted coaching combined with detailed evaluation reports close performance gaps. Auxis also supports restaurants with real-time analytics to boost brand quality and sales.
Customization is challenging with third-party in-person providers since regionally based staff cannot be dedicated to a single brand. Auxis audits are customized to meet the needs of specific brands, restaurant models, and the overall restaurant industry. Operators can choose any store audit frequency to achieve the best results, visiting multiple locations daily.
“Cost and geography should not prevent operators from visiting stores as often as they need to deliver consistency and quality,” Sayewitz says. “Virtual audits pave the way for the kind of elevated customer experiences and glowing reviews that lead to increased profitability.”
Virtual audits also help elevate the role of internal operations teams. “Time lost traveling to scattered locations and assessing the nuts and bolts of internal operations diminishes the role of internal staff,” Sayewitz says. “Partnering with Auxis allows operators to focus on high-value work and solve common issues proactively.”
Leveraging nearshore outsourcing in Latin America delivers top-tier talent while eliminating travel expenses and high U.S. labor costs associated with in-person models.
“For quick-service brands with hundreds or thousands of locations the ability to constantly be in store is unprecedented,” Sayewitz says. “Auxis gives operators a way to see what is happening in all their stores at a price they could never have imagined.”
To learn more about Auxis and its brand protection services, visit their website.
