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."
Keep your team connected
Improve your team communication with Zenzap, the professional work chat app.
