The Chick-fil-A Way: Embracing the Power of Less [Big Brand Breakdown]

Kinsey Machos: 00:01

I'm Kinsey Machos, your host and founder of the category Queen. Welcome to the podcast for coaches, consultants, and course creators who don't just want to dominate their niche, but they desire to play in their own league. My mission is to help you unlock the power of your unique brilliance and use it as a vehicle to gain recognition, reach more people, and make more money. Not too long ago, I took a bold leap, leaving behind a six figure corporate salary with nothing more than a used MacBook and a burning desire for more freedom. Today, our brand has become globally recognized, helping thousands of female founders to become industry leading experts. Join us each week as we go on a journey together to discuss mindset, marketing and money, and more importantly, the real-life discussions about balancing success with motherhood and marriage.

Kinsey Machos: 00:56

Because we're a community of women who build and scale impact driven businesses, but do it without sacrificing the things that matter most to us. Welcome to the category queen show. Hello, my fellow category queens. It is so good to be here with you today. At the time of this recording, it is officially summer. Kids are out of school, and it is like the chaos has ensued. Every season has its own chaos, and I can already sense this really fun and joyful and playful, chaotic energy coming through. But, you know, I don't know if you've ever heard this term, quote unquote may sember, but it is so fitting. And the last month of the school year is just so chaotic. You have teacher gifts and ceremonies and awards and concerts and field trips and all the things.

Kinsey Machos: 01:52

And with three kids this year in full time school, we're like, holy crap, we kind of made it. We only missed one. One thing. But here's the thing. Last year, I actually missed yearbook sign ups. I missed yearbook purchase or whatever, and it was like mid year, it actually came out. They always send these notifications out, like, prior to Christmas. It's always the worst time. And I know that I probably saw it and just put it aside and totally forgot about it. But I'm telling you what, I didn't order yearbooks for my two kiddos that were in school at the time, and I will never make that mistake again. So I feel like the kids came home with yearbooks, and I freaking nailed it. I'm like, I don't even care what else happens. All I know is I got those dang yearbooks.

Kinsey Machos: 02:42

But if you know, you know. But now we're really rolling into summer, and our pool has actually been open for the last few weeks. It hasn't been very warm, but kids have already swam. But I just love, I love this season so much and I'm excited to really roll into that, but it really requires a different version of me, if you will. I have to be a little bit more flexible with my routine. And, you know, I thrive in a structured environment. I thrive in all of us having routines. And although we do a pretty good job still keeping some functions of that during the summer, you know, it's definitely not as rigid. And so I'm learning to just be flexible and have fun with it. And, you know, we're definitely getting to the point.

Kinsey Machos: 03:26

Our oldest, we only have a handful of summers left with him. So I'm just going to love it and enjoy it. But let's talk about the big brand breakdown today. This is a segment that I've been doing to really help you see what we can learn from these bigger brands, these bigger companies that invest millions of dollars in marketing, in their operations, in delivery. And we can take those lessons learned for free. And I've shared before, but I'll say again, I have this really funny toxic trick, if you will, where I see marketing all around us and I naturally my brain goes to, oh, why does this work? What doesn't work about this? Or what can we learn from this? Or, oh, that's interesting. And so I know that most brains don't work that way.

Kinsey Machos: 04:16

And so the gift here is really, again, encapsulating these really incredible, very expensive insights and strategies and pushing them to you totally for free and helping you see that what you are building now, whether you're really super small or you're, you know, growing to be big, whether you are, you know, aiming for a hundred million dollar business or not, there are still principles that we can learn from those bigger businesses. And so that's what I want to do here. And today's company and today's brand, if you will, the focus is chick fil A. Now, funny story, Idaho didn't actually get a chick fil a until about a couple years ago. And even then, I think it took me about a year to finally try their food. And I was actually really fascinated by it.

Kinsey Machos: 05:09

You know, I'm a health freak and so I'm really conscious about what I put in my body and, you know, what I eat. And I'm also just intolerant to some of the things that are out there. And so I don't necessarily, well, I don't love fast food, but I'm also just very conscious about the things that I order off the menu. So I was actually pleasantly surprised with how good their chicken was. So I don't mind it. In fact, if were to ever do quote unquote fast food, I would probably opt for Chick fil A. But one of the things that came to my awareness was when Alex Hermozzi actually was breaking down Chick fil A and their strategy. And ever since I heard that, it was just really stuck with me. And I think there's a lot.

Kinsey Machos: 05:50

I know there's a lot that we can learn from this company that has had incredible success. I'm going to share that the specifics around that success with you here in a minute. But has become known as the place for its chicken sandwiches and exceptional customer service. So here's what you need to know about the company. Just a couple little background facts. So Chick fil A was founded in 1946 by Truett Cathy, and in fact, there's a whole biography around him, which is really incredible. And the company's mission is to be America's best quick service restaurant at winning and keeping customers trust. So from the beginning, Truett Cathy was really big on customer service. That was a really big thing for him and really gaining that trust and that loyalty with their customers. Now, let's talk numbers.

Kinsey Machos: 06:47

So just to put it into perspective for you of, like, how well is Chick fil a doing? Because, again, we see these companies, we see these bigger companies, and it's just sort of obvious. We just, like, know they're doing well. But when you start to unpack the data, it's actually really fascinating. So Chick fil A has reached $16.7 billion in revenue in 2021. So this is looking back in just a few years ago for, you know, the most accurate data, but that was actually a 33% increase from its previous year. So Chick fil A is obviously, like, steadily growing. Also on that note, Chick fil A hasn't seen a decline in sales. So even in Covid, during the Covid-19 pandemic between 2019 and 2020, they still had a 13% increase. That is just freaking cool, if you ask me.

Kinsey Machos: 07:44

But what's even more amazing is that is when we take that data and compare it to Chick fil A's main competitors, which are McDonald's, Wendy's, and Burger King. And when you look at Chick fil A's average sales per restaurant, you're gonna see a very distinguishing factor, if you will. So in 2021, Chick fil A's average sales per restaurant were 8.1 million. McDonald's in 2021, average sales per restaurant were 3.4 million. So despite McDonald's having way more locations than Chick fil A is still doing more sales per restaurant, more revenue per restaurant. And also, Chick fil A is closed on Sundays, so they're open less, which is, again, so fascinating. Wendy's did 1.9 million sales per restaurant in 2021, and then Burger King did 1.4 million per restaurant in 2021.

Kinsey Machos: 08:48

So Chick fil A, again, even though they have less locations, fewer location than their competitors, they are still doing more average sales per restaurant than, and by far, like, way more, so more than double of McDonald's. So they're, like, totally crushing it. So that, again, when we look at things like that and when we know data like that, for me, it's like, how do we dig deeper? What is there here to learn? Because obviously they're doing something well. But a lot of us small business owners don't even allow ourselves to go there because we just assume we're so much different than these bigger businesses. But again, right, there's the foundation and the principles underneath that serve all business owners. So let's really dive in. What makes Chick fil a grow at the rate that it does?

Kinsey Machos: 09:45

And how has it, you know, what has led to chick fil A's ultimate success? Well, here's the thing. This is what I really want to focus on. There's many different elements that make chick fil a great. But because Truett Kathy really focus on excellent customer service, they focused on a more narrow menu, a specialized menu. Okay, so Truett Cathy's intention was from the beginning to keep it small. So he actually believed that by offering a limited menu, the company can concentrate on quality, consistency, and efficiency. Truett Cathy's philosophy was actually rooted in his earlier experiences in the restaurant industry. So in 1946, he opened the Dwarf Grill, which was later renamed the Dwarf House in Georgia. And initially, that restaurant served a variety of dishes.

Kinsey Machos: 10:36

But Kathy noticed that the chicken sandwich was the most popular item, so he decided to focus on perfecting that particular signature dish, which led him to then creating the famous chick fil a chicken sandwich in 1964. So as chick fil a grew, Truett Cathy continued to maintain that commitment to a simple menu. And so what does this mean for you now? I want to talk about the different levers and different elements of what a simple menu really helps this company do, but also apply it to you, because if you're a coach, a consultant, a course creator, or service based agency, you've likely heard this idea of keeping it simple, having less offers. Right. When you have multiple offers, what does that mean? It means that the business becomes more complicated. The messaging gets diluted. Right.

Kinsey Machos: 11:27

There's a lot of other things that could go wrong, but I love the context of a simple menu in regards to helping you see the power in this and how even these big, big businesses are leveraging, quote, unquote, less offers to drive business growth. So, just to give you more context, chick fil A's menu is. Is relatively small, again, compared to its competitors. So as of 2023, Chick fil A's menu consists of about 25 to 30 items, which includes entrees, you know, sides, salads, and beverages. McDonald's, however, has over 100 items. Wendy's over, you know, 40 to 50, Burger King, 60 to 71 of their other competitors is a Popeyes Louisiana kitchen, which we don't have a Popeyes here, I don't think. And they're about 50 to 60.

Kinsey Machos: 12:18

So even in that context, you can see how they're more narrow in comparison to their competitors. So what does this allow them to do? Well, first of all, it allows for consistency and quality control. So when they have fewer items to prepare, now the kitchen staff can focus on executing each dish consistently and to a higher standard. So what does this do? Well, it reduces the likelihood of errors and ensures that the customers are receiving the same quality food across all locations. So, obviously, when you go to something like a chick fil A, now we have two locations. You know, if I'm gonna go get their waffle fries downtown, I'm going to hope that it's the same waffle fries that I usually get at our location, closer to us. Same thing goes for a McDonald's. If you get a cheeseburger.

Kinsey Machos: 13:07

If you like McDonald's cheeseburgers, you likely are expecting the same exact cheeseburger that you always order. This is what it means to have that consistency and quality control. Well, what does this mean for you as a coach or a course creator or a service based agency? Well, your clients, your customers want that same thing. They want consistency in what they're getting, whether that's a, you know, a product type of productized, you know, course, or it's an actual, done for you service. They want that consistency, and, of course, they want the quality of that service, of that product. But what happens when there's more items, if you will, on the menu? More offers? Right. What. How does that impact the quality or consistency? Well, let's say you're in. Let's say you're a health coach, and you might resist niching down like most women do.

Kinsey Machos: 14:05

And so you have a really broad messaging of helping women lose weight, maybe by, you know, simplifying the nutrition. Well, somebody who comes to you that may be in their mid twenties is going to have very different, you know, problems, challenges, and even require different solutions than somebody that might be in menopause. And while you might be able to literally help them both their customized plan and their needs, their desires, they are going to be different. So how do you create consistency in the results that you deliver if you're catering to many different types of people that need these different types of solutions? Meanwhile, what's happening through that, especially if you're thinking in terms of a scalable offer.

Kinsey Machos: 14:49

So an offer where you are taking a group of people through an experience, whether that's group coaching program or it's a course, right, where you are delivering a streamlined pathway to more than one person, and they're all going through this pathway, right, this step by step process, whether it's through, you know, curriculum or group coaching or a blend of both. And they're all in different seasons of their life. What do you think the results are going to be? Right, you're going to have maybe some people happy, but then you're also going to have some people that are not. And what happens? The people that are not happy speak louder. And that's what we really want to monitor.

Kinsey Machos: 15:31

And so when you have a lot of different offers, or you have these different avatars, or you're staying really broad, you're losing that ability to have consistency and quality in your offers. Now, if you're just getting going and you're still testing, then I just want you to put that in your back pocket because I want you to keep testing and working with people because you may not know yet who your best fit is, but most of you do, and yet still sort of resist this idea of getting more narrow with the idea of losing people. But think about Truett. Cathy. Right. He could have probably put cheeseburgers on his menu, or he could have probably tried to keep up with his competitors by expanding their menu and catering to the people that want beef.

Kinsey Machos: 16:21

But because he stayed narrow, that is why I 100% know they are able to drive those sales consistently year over year, even in the most challenging economic times. Now, what else? We have consistency and quality control that comes from a narrow menu. In this case chick fil A, but in your case, less offers. What this also does, though, is it simplifies operations and training. Filet what happens is now their inner like, operational unit is just really solid. So they're able to master the few things that are on the menu in preparation for them in the actual, you know, putting them together in the actual final, you know, delivering of the menu items to the people. It's really solid. And if you've ever been through a chick fil A, they are freaking quick. It is wild.

Kinsey Machos: 17:16

I mean, I have never waited more than a couple minutes and that's even with the line being really long. But they fly people through and I know it's because their operations is just really dialed in. Additionally, when they bring on new staff, they're just so much more efficient on, you know, onboarding and training that staff to continue to maintain that efficiency. So now they have, you know, better quality training programs for their new employees and also a really smooth machine when it comes to ongoing operational infrastructure. What does this mean for you?

Kinsey Machos: 17:54

Well, especially if you are in scale mode and you want to remove yourself from the business in a way of, you're not the one always doing the coaching, you're not the one always doing the content creation, you're not the one that everybody always is wanting to see, which is really important. Now, of course, right, as a personal brand, there's going to be elements of you in the business that will not be removed. But if you want to amplify your impact and amplify your reach and really multiply your revenue in ways that you really had never imagined, you have to start streamlining your processes. And this is also in relation to your intellectual property.

Kinsey Machos: 18:34

So think about how chick fil A, when they bring new people on, they have a whole process of training those new employees and getting them up to speed so that they can also represent the company and the brand and the mission and the values just like everybody else. Same goes for your team. Whether it's a content creator or a support coach, you want them to also maintain that consistency in the brand, the mission and the values. But what happens is if we don't allow ourselves to really nail our offers, the few offers that we have, and optimize those processes and fine tune them right in that consistency and quality control, then having a support team that will allow you to get out of the business a little bit more is going to be really hard.

Kinsey Machos: 19:23

And if you always want to be at the beck and call of your business, which I know you don't, this is how you would do that, right? I think it's a really big element for women like us. It's kind of an ego thing to really even consider that people could get results without us. But I'm telling you, it is really powerful and impactful when your clients, your students, start to get results without you holding their hand or they have an incredible breakthrough with one of your support coaches. It's really rewarding to see your reach go beyond you. And if you want to think about going on vacation and not being bothered or really building an empire beyond just you, right, this is where it starts.

Kinsey Machos: 20:07

We have to think about those that operational infrastructure that we build and starting to get consistency around the things that we do. But again, it's hard to do that if we have offers over offers. Right. So for you, what would that look like to start narrowing that in so that you can fine tune that, so that the people that you want to bring onto your team can master that as well? The third thing here that a narrow menu does for chick fil a is inventory management and waste reduction. So with a narrow menu, chick fil a is able to reduce the risk of over ordering food and supplies or, you know, and having that food spoil, and then which leads to lower food waste and better cost control, which is contributing to the company's overall profitability. Now, what does this mean to you?

Kinsey Machos: 20:59

Now, most of you likely do not have inventory, but what I want you to start thinking about is waste inefficiencies. Because just because you don't have, you know, physical products to store or stock, I want you to think about your energy and your time as components or units of stock, things that you are either holding on to or are like, fleeting you faster than you would like. Additionally, one of the things that you have to really consider, obviously, is your profit margins. And so if you have really high overhead, not in the form of inventory, but you have payroll or you're paying a lot to, you know, tech or just like the ongoing subscription services, there's a lot of, you know, little nuances that can add all up.

Kinsey Machos: 21:48

If you are, your expenses are too high and your revenue isn't, you know, high enough to match that, your profit margins are going to be small, and that is not any way to run a business just because you're making a lot of money. If you're not keeping any of it, then it's all for nothing. And so we really have to think about how you are managing your time, your energy, and the efficiencies within that. And so how does this relate to you and how, and like, your limited offers, if you will. Again, we're really trying to connect, or I'm trying to connect for you, this quote, this idea of a narrow menu of, you know, fast food items for you, a narrow menu of services and offers for you and your customers, your clients.

Kinsey Machos: 22:34

And so if you have a one particular offer that requires a lot of your time and energy, but it turns out that offer is not actually the most profitable. And this, you know, offer b over here is actually higher in profit margins. But you don't know that because you're either not paying attention to your numbers or you don't know how to see the numbers, right? That is waste. You are putting time and energy into something that is not profitable and ignoring something that can be profitable. Think about your digital courses or your coaching programs as products on a shelf, right? Are they collecting dust? Are they getting waste? Does it cost a lot to maintain them? And even within that, are you getting the margins on what it's costing you to maintain that?

Kinsey Machos: 23:27

And if you think there's no cost to maintaining your programs or services, then you've really got to dial that in here because your time is a cost that what you're paying your team is a cost. The things that you are investing in order to maintain and grow those programs, those are all costs associated with your products and programs. And so we really have to know which ones are most profitable, which ones are wasteful. And sometimes that means letting go of something that maybe you really loved but isn't really meeting the market needs. And so it's not as profitable as you would think. And at the highest level, where our attention goes, energy flows.

Kinsey Machos: 24:05

And so if you are split, if you are putting your time and energy into many different things, you're only going to get a little step, a little bump ahead across the spectrum of all these different things. Rather, if you put your time and energy into less things, imagine how much more momentum you would create for yourself. Now, the other thing that a narrow menu gives chick fil A is specialization in brand identity. And this is hands down, so on point for you as a coach, course creator, consultant, service based agency, because I mean, it's so obvious. But by focusing on a core set offerings, Chick fil A has become obviously known for its signature chicken sandwich and other chicken centric dishes. This specialization also helps them really distinguish themselves from their competitors and just creates a really strong brand identity.

Kinsey Machos: 24:59

And that's what we want to create with your audience, with your clients, with your customers. People don't get known by being a generalist and if you think about even how you shop or how you're drawn to certain services or products, right. It's likely due to specialization. You know, even in regards to the medical system, if you want to have your heart checked out, you're not going to go to a generalist. You're going to go to a cardiologist. And by the way, the difference in what a generalist or a general practitioner gets paid versus a cardiologist is insane. I know this because I was in the healthcare system, but you have to really understand that generalists, yes, serve some sort of purpose.

Kinsey Machos: 25:44

But when it comes to working with high caliber people and starting to make a name for yourself in the industry that is already very noisy. We really got to start to narrow in on that brand identity. The thing that you want to get known for now, it's not going to be chicken, but for chick fil a it was chicken. What is it going to be for you? This goes back to our initial point around consistency and quality control, right. It's really hard to fine tune products and services in a general market because the process and the pathway is so variable. There's so many different ways you can take all the different types of people.

Kinsey Machos: 26:21

And so as you start to get known and you start to narrow in on the one thing, your product is going to get so much better and it's going to get so much easier to sell. You know, I just ask you, what is it that is preventing you from just doubling down on the thing? I talk to women all the time, especially coaches, that they are really good at something, and yet they have so much hesitancy to just niche down in that regard. And I'm always so envious because they have the best niches and I'm like, what are you waiting for? Right? So instead of calling yourself a general life coach who helps women live their best life, if you can help them exit corporate because you have an exit strategy, freaking double down on that.

Kinsey Machos: 27:07

Instead of calling yourself a general health coach, helping women, you know, have their best bodies, if you can help them move through eating disorders and live their best lives. Let's talk about that. Right? I mean, again, time and time again I talk to so many women and as I'm starting to extract their brilliance, it's so obvious to me and I think ultimately it's obvious to a lot of you, but there is so much resistance around niching down. And I wish time and time again I'm like, no, like, this is one of the biggest opportunities in our industry. As you know, coaches and consultants and creators is picking a subspecialty. This is where you are going to have the most traction down the road.

Kinsey Machos: 27:49

Once you have the results you would like to have, you can decide at that point if you want to become more general, but there's just no need for that right now. And it's not going to work. It's going to be really hard to make traction in a very general industry. And by general, I mean even health coaching, that's general, right. That's a red ocean. And so you have to start, you know, weight loss, that's still general. We have to get more specific. We have to get more specific on the who, the what, the how. And if you need more help here, I'm going to link up to an episode that I did around creating your category of one because I go deeper in that regard. And it's not just about identifying a specific avatar. It's really sinking into your unique problem, your unique solution.

Kinsey Machos: 28:36

And then lastly, what a narrow menu does for chick fil a is faster service and throughput. So if you think about a streamlined menu, right, it just goes back to the operational component and really thinking about how it impacts the final product, the final thing that's getting delivered to the customer. So, you know, I noted earlier that I barely ever wait in a line at Chick fil a despite them having a major line, right. They just move people through so fast and that's because their operations are so dialed in because they have less things to master and so they can have a faster service. Now this may mean for you, it may not mean faster, it could mean higher quality, right. There's different elements here to play into.

Kinsey Machos: 29:22

I'm not saying you want to have the fastest service, but when you start thinking about a more narrow menu offers for you that end to end product. So by the time that your clients get results, right, it's going to be more efficient and or effective, whether that is internally. So especially if you're like a service based agency, right, your team is going to be able to handle projects better and more efficiently if they have less things to master, right. But even to the client or customer. So if you're in the coaching or the consulting space by now, especially if you have started to master consistency, master quality control with your unique pathway, your clients will get faster results, they will get better results.

Kinsey Machos: 30:13

And that's the whole point here, is how ultimately all of this really impacts the product and or service by the time it reaches your client. And that could even mean, right, how they're actually experiencing it so that they can go get results. So in total, there's five core benefits to narrowing your menu offers. You have, number one, which is consistency and quality control. Number two, simplified operations and training. Number three, inventory management and waste reduction. Number four, specialization and brand identity. And then number five, faster service and throughput. I mean, if I haven't convinced you by now to really niche down and start to really specialize in a few core things, then I don't know what else to say.

Kinsey Machos: 30:56

But this, I think chick fil a fully represents how well this actually pans out at a larger scale and how it's proof that you can also really double down on just a few key things. Right. So just to wrap this up, here's what I want you to do. I want you to think about what you want to get known for, right, true. At Kathy, he was like, I want to get known for chicken sandwiches, right? What do you want to get known for? What is that thing? What is the core thing? And then I want you to really master the one offer that's a part of that process, that's a part of that one thing, the one core offer. And then do not move on to more offers until you have that really dialed in from the elements that we've talked about here.

Kinsey Machos: 31:38

Right, the quality control, the consistency, the results, the streamline approach, really brand identity. Right. You will know when it's time to introduce a new offer. You will resist. You will absolutely resist kind of the advice of like only the one thing, but it will be of service to both you and your clients and your long term results. So you're going to focus on the one thing that you want to get known for. Then you're going to really master the one offer as part of that. And then you can start to really think about what's the next best thing, what is going to allow me to expand on this narrow thing of my brand identity. So I'm not straying away from that, but it's just going to enhance the overall client journey and continue to master that as well. Consistency. Consistency. Consistency.

Kinsey Machos: 32:27

Because what consistency leads to is quality. And now more than ever, we have to have good products and services hands down, period. So just want to thank chick fil a for being a model and really demonstrating that focused approach to less is more because this is something that I'm really trying to embody and really reminding us what's most important, which is the customer, which is that satisfaction. And hopefully encouraging you to do less better. More is not more. And if you love this episode, just do me a favor. Give me a rating. Go to iTunes, pop a rating in there. I really love that. And share it. Share it on Instagram. I've just really been enjoying these big brown breakdowns and what we can learn from companies that are crushing it that we can really take into our own purview and implement for ourselves.

Kinsey Machos: 33:23

All right, my friends, I will talk to you next time. Hey, if you're ready to stand out online and get paying clients consistently without having to fumble your way through tech run ads or create complicated funnels, I want to invite you to join us in the category queen school, where you're going to learn my simple, proven formula for getting clients online. It's risk free. You either make your money back or we'll give you a refund. Just head over to kinseymachos.com/theCQschool, and join today to get instant access. We'll see you inside.