Dave’s Hot Chicken is the fastest growing fast-casual chain in America, and it is also poised to become one of the most beloved as well as one of the most profitable like current industry icon Chick-fil-A. Why is that? It’s because, like Chick-fil-A, Dave’s Hot Chicken has embraced Customer Obsession as a cornerstone of its business strategy, and that puts it in good company with other icons that transcend its industry, e.g., Amazon, Apple, Chewy, Costco, and Zappos.

Dave’s rise to prominence has been nothing short of amazing, growing from seven locations in 2021 to 180 locations in 2023, plus its development pipeline already has 900-plus locations in five countries. Over this period, Dave’s has garnered numerous accolades, including QSR Breakout Brand of the Year – 2022.

It has amassed a healthy fanbase with more than 85 million organic TikTok views and by far the most followers per restaurant of any national fast casual brand on both TikTok and Instagram.

It also gained celebrity investors the likes of Drake, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Strahan, and movie producer John Davis.

Now Dave’s has incredible infrastructure in place to anchor its meteoric growth as well as a template that its C-level execs used in building franchise powerhouses Blaze Pizza and Wetzel’s Pretzels. Yet, the proof in the pudding is whether, along with this meteoric growth, Dave’s can replicate the values that made it an instant hit when there was just a single pop-up in an East Hollywood parking lot.

The experts at The Customer Obsession Advantage analyzed how Dave’s fares vs. the Customer Obsession differentiators defined in the book Blueprint for Customer Obsession, and especially how it fares vs. head-to-head competitor Chick-fil-A and found that they have a lot in common.

For example, Chick-fil-A is anchored by two principles that make its company mission come alive in its restaurants: 1) Operational excellence, 2) Second mile service.

Similarly, the experience at Dave’s locations is anchored by the three core elements that sparked its initial success: 1) Mind-blowing chicken, 2) Great service, 3) Awesome vibe. One TikToker tried a Dave’s sandwich on camera and his eyes literally rolled back into his head. 

That’s the reaction Dave’s is dedicated to bottling up and delivering every time, i.e., a mind-blowing experience.

Both companies build and expand on these principles/values to specify, in simple, relatable terms, everything they expect to happen within the walls of their restaurants, from the quality of the food to how employees behave toward customers.  That’s how they embed the culture of Customer Obsession across their chains.  Chick-fil-A’s Operational excellence principle requires operators and staff to execute on four things: Taste of food (Serve crave-able food), Speed of service (Be surprisingly fast), Cleanliness (Offer a refreshingly clean environment inside and outside the Restaurant), and Attentive and courteous service.

Also, Chick-fil-A has adopted simple and easily relatable tenets that it uses to proliferate its culture across the chain. 

For example, they use the “Core 4” to guide associates’ behavior with guests during their visits, i.e., Make eye contact, Smile, Speak enthusiastically, and Stay connected. 

Likewise, Dave’s has embedded the mnemonic F.A.N.S. into its mission, which mobilizes operators and associates to “Blow their minds and make them F.A.N.S.” The mnemonic lays out the behaviors they need to execute to transform customers from casual consumers into rabid fans:

F – Fresh, Hot Food,
A – Accurate Orders,
N – Neat & Clean Restaurants, and
S – Say Yes Service.  

This seems pretty similar to how Chick-fil-A defines operational excellence, but it’s not a knock off.  It was developed organically to capture and scale the elements that inspired customers’ over-the-top reactions to their experiences with the brand during its earliest days.

To quote cofounder Arman Oganesyan – “They come in as customers, we treat them like guests, and they leave as fans willing to follow us on Instagram and TikTok.”

Some may look at these and say “What’s the big deal? We have a mission, vision, and purpose too.” That’s all well and good, but do customers see that mission, vision and purpose come to life when they do business with your company, because at Chick-fil-A they do, and at Dave’s they do. These two establishments have figured out how to articulate and communicate their cultural values in a way that gets the whole team of employees, franchisees, operators and associates to buy in and execute. Check out this quote from a customer who has visited.

“The customer service [at Dave’s Hot Chicken] is stupendous! Absolutely amazing. Honestly never had a fast-food type spot ask me if I enjoyed the food after I was done eating and how I liked the sauce and made sure to tell me to have a great day 10/10! It’s very clean and neat and I love the artwork in there gives off dope vibes.” — Jennifer D. Yelp

You can find countless similar comments about Chick-fil-A. They’re both backed up by oodles of customer feedback from sources such as Google reviews, where Dave’s consistently gets 4.7–4.8 out of 5 stars, or the American Customer Satisfaction Index where Chick-fil-A has ranked No. 1 for restaurants for nine consecutive years.

It’s been suggested that Chick-fil-A’s secret sauce is its chicken-centric menu. If that were the case, KFC should be equally or more successful having been the most well-known national chicken brand for decades before Chick-fil-A burst onto the national scene. Yet, Chick-fil-A’s market share among fast casual chicken restaurants is almost four times the market share of the next largest chain.

No, Chick-fil-A’s secret sauce is not just its menu. It’s a culture of Customer Obsession and Dave’s is well on its way to building the same, as well as a group of followers that is equally as passionate.

Marbue Brown is the author of the book “Blueprint for Customer Obsession” and founder of The Customer Obsession Advantage (customerobsession.net), a firm dedicated to helping companies achieve extraordinary business results through Customer Obsession. He is an accomplished customer experience executive with a track record of signature results at JP Morgan Chase, Amazon.com, Microsoft Corporation, and Cisco Systems.