Shake Shack Leads with Intuition and Data: How It Made the Shift From Gut-Led to Data-Driven
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Intuition in business is important. Many of the world's leading brands may not exist if someone didn’t take a chance on an idea. But, in the age of data, it has become more difficult to put contextual blinders on and lead with full-blown intuition.
Toeing the line between inspired decision making and data-driven strategy is something most companies struggle with today. This was also a challenge highlighted by Charles Frankievich, Shake Shack’s Director of Consumer Insights and Analytics.
In a conversation at X4, Qualtrics Experience Management Event, Frankievich shared his experience making the shift from gut-feel to data-led decision making at the popular restaurant chain. Although intuition certainly played a large part in their success today, the brand has realized the importance of data in making customer-centric decisions and implementing positive change.
“We really leaned on that intuition to make sure that we make the best decisions for our teams. But we find that the data can help us pressure those decisions, to challenge them and to really make sure that we’re making the best decision for our organization and for our team,” Frankievich shared.
Shake Shack’s experience leading with intuition starts from the top; Founder Danny Meyer built Shake Shack off of the back of his experience in the fine dining world. Coming from the acclaimed Eleven Madison Park, Meyer decided to take his expertise to a single hot dog cart — or the original Shake Shack.
After a few successful summers operating out of Madison Square Park, Meyer was granted a contract for a permanent space and ultimately opened the first Shake Shack restaurant in 2004.
If not for intuition, who knows if Meyer would have made the move to open a fast food burger restaurant. But, his intuition was also backed by industry knowledge, experience and a vision. By leveraging high quality ingredients from the kitchens of fine dining restaurants, Meyer was paving his own way and building a market for accessible high-caliber fast food.
Leading Consumer Insights, Charles Frankievich shares that this intuition and vision underpins a lot of what the brand is about and what it stands for. Intuition, he notes, is key to making your brand stand out.
When Intuition Steered Shake Shack Wrong
Although it may have gotten them where they are today, intuition isn’t always the answer. Frankievich shared a story of gut-feelings gone wrong in the Shake Shack kitchen.
After experimenting with recipes, Director of Culinary Innovation Mark Rosati came up with a near perfect french fry — or so he thought. By changing the frying temperature he was able to achieve a fry with a soft gooey center and a hard crispy exterior. Sounds delicious, right?
After serving the first customer directly, Rosati’s perfect french fry results were met with skepticism. The individual addressed the fries on his tray immediately and requested a refund.
After a rocky start, the team rolled out the fries for 30 more days and were met with overwhelming feedback. The classic crinkle cut fries were ultimately reinstated, to customers’ delight.
While this is only one small example of an intuition-led misfire, it is decisions like these that have prompted Shake Shack leaders to shift toward a data-driven CX strategy. If the culinary innovation team had the data to understand their customers' deep affinity for the crinkle cut fries, they could have focused their efforts elsewhere and avoided the unsuccessful rollout.
“We’re becoming far more rigorous in the way that we evaluate decisions, using data and testing to really make sure that we feel good about the decision. So when we roll it out nationally, it’s ultimately going to be a hit,” Frankievich stated.
Data empowers his team to pressure test ideas so they can better understand how their customers will react before even considering a new product or concept. As an international chain, the brand is hoping to add value to every region it operates in and interact with customers in a meaningful way — a strategy that requires comprehensive data. “It’s really important to just engage with, and to try to stay connected to, every single region that we have; hear what they’re saying, what they’re doing and understand that to be an asset to the neighborhood,” he shared.
This shift has also enabled Shake Shack to adapt and address customer needs beyond just service interactions. The brand is always keeping an eye out for what customers want from them, on all levels. Beyond speed and convenience, the restaurant chain is working to optimize quality, source the best ingredients and promote sustainability.
Amid an economic downturn, Frankievich shared that value has become the most critical for customers, “Value is not necessarily dollar per calorie anymore, which maybe it was a few years ago. There’s an element of, where those calories come from, what am I actually putting in my body?”
Ultimately, he states, the brand is a step ahead right now. By connecting with customers more deeply and understanding their needs, values and expectations, Shake Shack is building a brand that delivers on its promises and adds value to the customer experience.
“While we’re an organization working to deliver a product that we love and feel good about, it’s really, at the end of the day, about 2 humans transacting on a single thing trying to give each other a positive experience and feel good experience,” he shares.
