Medallia/Chick-Fil-A Sales Challenge Adam Arafat

Table of Contents

1. Tools2. Research3. Opportunity for CXM 4. Decision Center 5. Approach

Tools

Tools used for company research

Tools at current disposal

LinkedIn.com● Used to identify decision center

Wikipedia.org● General company overview

Chick-Fil-A Pressroom (The Chicken Wire) ● See most recent news regarding company

Tools that would be handy

Data.com (Product of Salesforce)● Used to find information on a prospect,

will give info you would find on a business card

LinkedIn Sales Navigator ● Will help you identify key members of the

decision center more efficiently

Research

Chick-Fil-A SWOT AnalysisStrength

● Leads the fast food industry in average sales per restaurant (Since 2010)

● Has high level of customer satisfaction for service and quality

● Sponsorships with many sporting events like the NFL

Weakness● Closed on Sunday● Donated over $8 million to groups that oppose gay

marriage, which caused parts of the market (especially millennials) to have a negative perception of the brand resulting in lost customers and negative voice of customer in social media, review platforms and the news.

● Outnumbered by many fast food competitors in most states

Opportunity● New app that cx data can be measured and

collected from (Chick-Fil-A One) ● CFA expanding market share into larger markets,

like NYC, which means they need to closely monitor customer experience to ensure successful expansion

Threat● Consumers are opting toward more healthy options

like Panera Bread, Subway, and Freshii● Trends toward veganism threaten sales● Diseases like bird flu

How customers ‘experience’ C-F-A

● Driving down the street and seeing it● Dining in ● Going through the drive thru● Thinking of it● Having it at a catered event ● Seeing it in advertisements ● Ordering through the app

Opportunity for CX software

Chick-Fil-A’s One app launched about 2 years ago, with the tagline “A restaurant experience personalized to you.”

There are many ways customers experience the app through making custom orders, placing orders to bypass the line, and collecting points to redeem for treats.

CFA would benefit from CXM software because it will allow them to tailor the app more towards the customers truly want while using it.

Decision Center

If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll never get there.

If you don’t know who’s buying, you’re not likely to get the business.

Decision Center Explained

Coach: Someone who works on the inside of the company who wants you to win. They will give you information on what’s going on within the company. Without a coach, you are essentially selling in the dark.

User: Someone who will be using your product once it is implemented. It is important to know the users in order define who will be benefiting from the product. The product will impact their job.

Gatekeeper: Decides who plays and who does not. Cannot say yes but can say no. Typically a secretary or some staff person. They give you access to a Dominant Influencer or Economic Decision Maker.

Influencer: If they have experience with the product in question, their opinion is sought out. May have a stake in the outcome of the decision.

Decision Center Explained Continued

Economic Decision Maker: The one who controls the money. They have final say if purchase is approved or not, they have power to veto. This is the main person to win over when selling your product.

Dominant Influencer: They have authority or are the recognized expert on the subject under consideration. Their opinion is respected by decision makers. Heavily influence Economic Decision Makers.

Uncovering the Decision Center

Using LinkedIn, I searched for the decision center by typing Chick-Fil-A Corporate in the search bar and setting the location filter to Atlanta, Georgia which is where there corporate headquarters is.

From there, I scrolled down and found the CMO Jon Bridges who is the former VP of Customer Experience. In the sidebar of his page it included many other members of CFA Corporate with similar criteria, including the current VP of Customer Experience, Shane Benson.

Using this strategy, this is how I outlined the Customer Experience decision center.

Decision Center

Kaitlyn White (Digital Experience)

● Potential Coach/User/Influencer ● Membership engagement for CFA one app

Jon Bridges (CMO)

● Economic Decision Maker/Dominant Influencer

● CMO at CFA Corporate for almost 26 years● Former VP of Customer Experience

Jay Duff (Management Consultant) ● Influencer/ Potential Coach● Background as a IT Professional

Dan T. Cathy (CEO, President, Founder)● Economic Decision Maker● Likes to think he is in Customer Service

Decision Center Continued

Michael Lage (Senior Manager, Digital and Mobile Experience)

● Influencer/User● Has over 9 years of experience at CFA

corporate

Shane Benson (VP of Customer Experience)● Economic Decision Maker/Dominant

Influencer

Mark Moraitakis (Sr. Director, Customer and Market Insights)

● Dominant Influencer● Over 25 years at CFA corporate with

TOP 3 IN THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE DECISION CENTER

The Approach

Approach #1

First, I would call the corporate hotline at (404) 765-8000.

From there I would ask to speak Shane Benson, the VP of Customer Experience. They would then redirect me to his office phone.

● If he happened to pick up, I would ask him if has ever heard of Medallia before. If not, I would describe Medallia to him, then ask if he was interested in scheduling a meeting to further see if Medallia and Chick-Fil-A would be a good fit.

More than likely, he would not answer and it would go to his voicemail. The message I would leave is:

“Hi Shane, this is Adam with Medallia, we are the industry leader in Customer Experience Management software. I would like to schedule a 15 minute phone call and ask you a few questions about CFA’s current customer experience platforms and see if we would be a good fit. If you could, please give me a call back at 281-687-4406. Once again that number is 281-687-4406, thanks and have a great day!”

Email to VP of Customer ExperienceHi Shane,

I saw that Chick-Fil-A has been a thought leader in Customer Experience from this Forbes article that I read. Also, I see in the news the company is growing into NYC, are you guys closely monitoring your customer experience to ensure successful expansion?

I am with Medallia, we develop software to measure and improve customer experience in real time. We allow businesses to listen to, understand, and then act on their customers' feedback.

Can we schedule a time for a 15 minute phone call so I can ask you some questions about how your business manages customer experience?

Thanks,Adam

Approach #2 and #3

I would follow the same approach as #1, but this time I would reach out to Mark Moraitakis, the Sr. Director of Customer and Market Insights and if he did not answer, leave a voicemail then move onto Michael Lage, the Sr. Manager of Digital and Mobile Experience.

If I received no response from Shane, Mark, Michael, or their gatekeepers, I would follow-up bi-weekly for a month, followed by once a week for a month, then once a month in perpetuity until I get a response.

Approach #4 and #5

To reach out to Kaitlyn White (Digital Experience) and Jay Duff (Management Consultant) I would send them InMails via LinkedIn saying:

“Hi Kaitlyn/Jay,

I see from your LinkedIn profile you understand the importance of customer experience. I am with Medallia, we help large organizations gather customer feedback across multiple marketing channels and enable everyone in the organization to use it.

Who we are:https://www.medallia.com/company/What we do:https://www.medallia.com/what-we-do/How we help manage the experience in hospitality:https://www.medallia.com/solutions/hospitality/

Let me know if you have any questions and we can schedule a time to talk!

Best,Adam”

The End

Works Cited

● Forbes Chick-Fil-A CX Article● HBR Understanding CX Article● Chick-Fil-A One App● Chick-Fil-A Pressroom (The Chicken Wire)● Selling to the Top by David A. Peoples

Works Cited

● Since 2010, Chick-fil-A has led the fast food industry in average sales per restaurant, despite being open only six days a

week,[20] earning an average $4.8 million per restaurant in 2016 (Whataburger was second with $2.7 million per restaurant).[21]

● Chick-fil-A has donated over $5 million, via WinShape, to groups that oppose same-sex marriage.

●