How Shake Shack meets customer expectations as a global brand

As a well-known, global brand, Shake Shack has to live up to certain customer expectations which Charles Frankievich, director, consumer insights and analytics at Shake Shack said can be difficult.

Speaking to Digital Nation at the Qualtrics X4 Summit in Salt Lake City, Frankievich said meeting customer expectations as a global brand “certainly is difficult” but the brand is “up for the challenge”.

He said it is hard to control sometimes that narrative around the brand, “Especially when you're not the one specifically telling them. But, what we feel is if we can drive that guest experience and hit all of the things that underpin our brand."

“We're going to be able to put enough fuel and narrative into that, that we'll be able to direct individuals to understand what you're going to get at Shake Shack,” he explained.

One of the biggest challenges the brand faces according to Frankievich is customers knowing the brand, and wanting to visit a store but there isn’t one close to them.

“You have this pedestal challenge at times when people talk about your brand against others as having higher quality have such a feel-good experience, and you have to deliver on that,” he said.

Frankievich explained how hard the brand works to bring a top-tier guest experience.

“Internally we spend so much time and energy focusing relentlessly on that guest experience to ensure that every time somebody new walks in, we're delivering on that experience in meeting and hopefully exceeding the expectations of those guests,” he said.

“This is why we find it's such a cyclical relationship now between how our brand is perceived in the marketplace and ultimately how we continue to challenge ourselves in our Shacks.”

Frankievich said it is becoming “super important” to use customer data to make better decisions to enhance the customer experience.

“We are growing into this space because we only started opening Shacks eight years ago," he said.

"We started rapidly expanding so we're learning a lot about how we collect that [data] how we actually use it and what that means for our business. But it's becoming super important."

He explained the significance of a "gut feeling" backed up with data. 

“It's becoming more important on a daily basis and we're becoming more reliant on having a gut feeling.

"But then making sure we validate those things with all the information and all the data sources, whether through Qualtrics or otherwise to make sure we can feel good on both ends of the spectrum to drive those decisions forever,” he added.