Introduction
Sterling Restaurants is one of the largest Moe’s Southwest Grill franchise groups in the US, operating over 80 locations across multiple states.
Keeping that many locations aligned, performing, and focused on the same goals requires communication that is clear, consistent, and reliable at every level of the organization.
The Challenge: Consumer Apps Weren’t Suited for the Job
Before switching to Zenzap, the team had tried consumer group chat apps and personal text message threads to keep everyone connected.
None of them worked reliably enough for a multi-location operation that depends on clear, consistent team communication every single day.
- Messages Not Getting Through: Team members would sporadically miss group messages and notifications. In a fast-moving restaurant environment, missed communication meant missed information, and missed information meant teams that were not prepared.
- iPhone and Android Conflicts: The differences between iPhone and Android users caused messages to split into different groups, creating inconsistency and confusion across the team. Not everyone was seeing the same thing at the same time.
- No Desktop Version: Managing communication from a mobile phone alone was not enough. Without being able to chat on desktop, staying on top of everything happening across multiple locations was harder than it needed to be.
“The challenges that we saw were sometimes people wouldn’t get the group messages. They wouldn’t get notifications sporadically. Sometimes the communication differences between an Android and an iPhone, it would start different groups and stuff like that.”
The Solution: Why Zenzap?
Sterling Restaurants needed a professional work chat app that worked consistently across every device, and gave district managers the ability to communicate and monitor what was happening across all locations from any device at any time.
Zenzap delivered all of that, and the switch brought the whole team together in one place.
“Switching over to the Zenzap app, it seemed to merge everybody together effectively and make it easier for everyone.”
Key Features in Action
One Platform Across Every Device
With Zenzap, district managers and team members can communicate from any device, whether that is a phone, tablet, or computer, with the same experience across all of them.
iPhone and Android users are no longer split into separate groups. Everyone sees the same messages, at the same time, with no gaps or inconsistencies.
“I really like being able to have basically the same systems on my Mac, on my iPhone, on my iPad and everything. So, no matter what device I’m on, I can use it to communicate and see the messages from my team.”
Clear Top-Down Communication Across Every Location
When a new product rolls out or an important update needs to go out, the message flows from district management to general managers, to assistant managers, to store level managers, and down to employees, all through one organized work chat.
District managers can then verify that the message has landed by asking employees directly during store visits, with the confidence that if communication is working properly, everyone will know the answer.
“Anytime that we’re rolling out a new product, I post it to my GMs and assistant managers and then make sure that they share it to their store level managers and then that it goes down to the employees.”
Better Visibility Across All Locations
Zenzap gives every manager on the team a direct line to district leadership, so issues get flagged quickly and support gets where it needs to go without delay.
District managers can see what is happening across all their locations and respond to what teams need before small problems become bigger ones.
“Zenzap gives me better visibility about what’s happening across my restaurants by giving all managers on the team the ability to quickly get a hold of above store leaders and make sure that we’re seeing what they’re needing and we can support them better.”
The Impact: A Franchise Operation That Communicates With Confidence
Switching to Zenzap gave Sterling Restaurants one reliable platform where every team member across every location receives the same clear message, on any device, every time.
- Messages reach every team member reliably, with no more missed notifications or groups splitting between iPhone and Android users.
- Communication flows clearly from district leadership all the way down to store level employees, keeping every team focused on the same goals.
- District managers have full visibility into what is happening across all their locations and can support their teams quickly and effectively.
“I think the biggest impact of Zenzap is just making sure that we have a centralized platform that everybody receives the message and gets basically the same view of it versus no errors between iPhone and Android users.”
Conclusion
Running a high-performing franchise operation across multiple locations depends on one thing above everything else: communication that works every time. Sterling Restaurants found that with Zenzap, one work chat app that keeps every team member connected, every message delivered, and every location focused on the same goals.
“A centralized platform that we can ensure everything is communicated to our teams and grow in the business every day, which is what we’re here to do.”
Introduction
The Kolache Place is a multi-location, family-run food service business based in Utah, specializing in authentic sweet and savory breakfast kolaches, a Czech pastry served as a grab-and-go breakfast.
What sets The Kolache Place apart is its focus: kolaches are the only thing on the menu, and doing one thing exceptionally well is the foundation the business is built on.
Josh Hubri, Total Quality and Human Resources Manager, oversees the day-to-day operations of a fast-moving team where orders can change at a moment’s notice. In such an environment, communication needs to keep up and be just as fast and reliable as the food itself.
The Challenge: Scattered Texts and No Single Place for Team Communication
Before Zenzap, The Kolache Place was managing team communication through text messages and their scheduling system.
For a fluid, fast-moving operation, neither was built for the kind of real-time communication the business needed.
- No Single Place for All Communication: With communication going to a mix of different apps, there was no one place where the whole team could receive company announcements, updates, and operational information in a consistent way.
- No Easy Way to Onboard or Offboard Staff: Adding new employees to the right groups and removing former employees from all of them was a manual, time-consuming process with no easy way to manage access across the organization.
- Managers Had No Organized System: Without a dedicated work chat, managers had no place to manage their own tasks and action items alongside team communication.
“I’ve worked for other restaurants where communication was literally a notepad and a piece of paper.”
The Solution: Why Zenzap?
The Kolache Place needed a professional work chat app that was intuitive and easy to use from day one, worked the way a fast-moving food service team actually communicates, and gave both managers and staff one reliable place for everything.
Zenzap felt familiar immediately, and the whole team was up and running quickly without any friction.
“We decided to switch to Zenzap because it was very easy to use. It was user-friendly and it just made you feel like you were in any other chat system that you use on your phone.”
Key Features in Action
One Place for All Company Communication
With Zenzap, The Kolache Place uses a company-wide chat to send out flyers, announcements, and any information that affects the team’s daily work. Everyone receives the same message at the same time, with nothing getting lost across different platforms.
“Zenzap’s biggest impact on our team is just simply being able to communicate to them all the information needed at once and in one place.”
Organized Chats for Every Team and Function
The Kolache Place has dedicated chats for different teams and functions, such as a chat for cooks, a chat about catering, etc. Every group has the right people in it, so communication stays focused and relevant.
Instant Onboarding and Offboarding
Adding new employees to the relevant chats is now straightforward and fast. When someone leaves, one click removes them from the workspace and every chat at once, with no manual cleanup required.
“Offboarding is just a one-click remove from the workspace, and it also removes them from all the chats, which is very handy and easy to use.”
Built-In To-Do Lists to Stay Organized
Zenzap gives managers the ability to manage to-do lists and action items alongside team communication. Tasks stay visible, nothing gets buried in a stream of messages, and everyone can stay on top of what needs to get done
The Impact: A Smoother, More Organized Operation
Switching to Zenzap gave The Kolache Place one structured, reliable work chat that keeps up with the pace of a busy food service operation.
- The whole team receives company announcements, updates, and operational information in one place.
- Onboarding and offboarding is instant, with new staff added to the right chats and former staff removed from everything in one click.
- Tasks and action items stay organized inside the same app the team uses to communicate every day.
- Dedicated chats for different teams and functions keep communication focused and relevant.
“Zenzap has been crucial in helping our communication become better.”
Conclusion
Running a food service business means staying on top of a lot of moving parts at once.
Zenzap gave the team one centralized place to communicate, stay on top of tasks, and make sure nothing gets missed.
“Zenzap is the ultimate communication tool for any business.”
Introduction
Cali BBQ is a multi-location BBQ restaurant based in California. The business is built on craft barbecue and a genuine commitment to hospitality, and keeping that experience consistent across locations largely depends on how the team communicates.
With managers and staff spread across sites, Cali BBQ needed a reliable internal communication app that could keep everyone in the loop, preserve important conversations, and hold the team accountable without adding complexity to an already fast-moving operation.
The Challenge: Communication That Disappeared When People Did
Like many restaurants, Cali BBQ had been running its team communication through a messy mix of personal group chats and scattered text threads. It felt convenient at first, but the cracks became impossible to ignore.
No Continuity When Managers Changed
Every time a manager moved on, so did every conversation they had been part of. New managers arrived with no context, no record of past decisions, and no way to get up to speed without someone else dedicating time to walk them through everything from scratch.
Onboarding Was Slow and Disorganized
Starting from scratch with every leadership change was costly. There was no system, no searchable history, and no single place to find what had been discussed or decided. Onboarding new hires used to be very difficult.
No Single Line of Work Communication
With multiple locations and a rotating team, messages got scattered across different threads. Getting everyone on the same page required too much back-and-forth and too many repeated conversations.
“When somebody left, the conversation left with them. When somebody new came on, we were basically starting from scratch.”
The Solution: Why Zenzap?
Cali BBQ needed a professional team chat app that felt intuitive and easy to use but with the structure and control a real business needs.
When looking for a solution, they chose Zenzap because it gave the entire team a single, organized place for all internal communication – one that works across locations without requiring any complicated rollout.
“In Zenzap, everything lives on. It’s searchable and our new hires can get up to speed quickly. It’s fantastic. It’s huge for us.”
Key Features in Action
Full Communication History
In Zenzap, every conversation stays searchable – photos, messages, decisions, all of it. No more digging through old chat threads trying to piece together what was said months ago. When someone new joins, everything they need is already there, ready to find in seconds.
Messages Turned into Tasks
One of the team’s most-used features is the ability to turn any message into a task without leaving the work chat. No separate app, no copy-paste, no dropped follow-ups. A conversation becomes an action item instantly, with accountability built right in.
One Work Chat App Across Multiple Locations
Instead of managing a tangle of personal group threads, Cali BBQ now has one professional team communication app where managers and staff across both locations share the same information. Everyone stays in the loop. Nothing gets lost in a side thread.
“I have one line of communication to talk to all of my team, my managers, across two locations, just to get the message clear and so we’re all on the same page.”
Automated Schedule Notifications
Cali BBQ connected Zenzap to their shift scheduling system so that every time a new schedule is published, a notification is sent automatically into the Zenzap team chat. No more chasing people down to check if they saw it – accountability is built directly into the workflow.
“We set up a workflow to notify us directly in the Zenzap chat when schedules are published to hold everybody accountable so everyone’s on the same page.”
The Impact: Work Communication That Runs Itself
Switching to Zenzap cleaned up Cali BBQ’s internal communication and changed how the restaurant operates day to day. Information is no longer tied to any one person. The team moves faster, new hires get up to speed sooner, and the whole operation runs with less friction.
The transformation was clear across the business:
Nothing gets lost when people leave.
All team communication lives in Zenzap, which means it stays with the business, not with any individual. New hires have full context from day one.
Onboarding is no longer a project.
What used to be a slow, difficult process is now fast. New team members can search back through everything that matters and get up to speed on their own, without pulling anyone else away from their work.
The whole team stays aligned without extra effort.
With one clear work chat app across all locations, everyone knows what’s happening, what’s expected, and what comes next.
“At this point, Zenzap isn’t something we have to think about. It’s the way we keep our restaurant flowing very smoothly. And it’s the way we keep our communication with our staff moving forward with no errors.”
Conclusion
Cali BBQ’s dedication to great food and genuine hospitality was being held back by a team communication system that lost everything the moment someone walked out the door. Zenzap gave the restaurant a proper home for all internal communication – one that keeps the history, keeps the team aligned, and keeps the business running the way it should.
By moving work communication out of personal chats and into a professional team chat app, Cali BBQ can now focus on what it does best: crafting great barbecue and taking care of its guests.
“The heart of hospitality is communication. And with Zenzap, we can fulfill that goal.”