Cheryl Bachelder’s presentation was one of the Dine America events that I was eagerly anticipating—I’m sure many conference attendees felt the same. After all, Popeyes is the 2^nd largest chicken QSR in the country, and has made great strides since 2008. I was very interested in hearing Bachelder’s formula for success.

Bachelder opened by stating that 2009 was a game-changing year for Popeyes. In a matter of months, the brand achieved the following goals:

-       increased guest traffic

-       beat competitors

-       built and enhanced brand

-       provided a significantly better customer experience

-       married passion to fact based decision-making process

-       moved owner operators to put more money in the bank

-       opened new successful restaurants

Popeyes’ success was based on a combination of focus, collaboration, and fact-based decision-making, rendering 2009 a foundational year in their long-term plan.  Their menu consists of Cajun Creole packed flavors from regions of America—which differentiates them as a QSR brand that offers only the highest quality, best tasting food.

Popeyes is headquartered in Atlanta, and now has over 1900 restaurants with 26 international locations, including Asia, Canada, Latin America, and the Middle East.

Bachelder stated that Popeyes is feeling very confident as they look towards the future, and by all accounts, they have good reason to be optimistic, as their results distinguish them from the rest of the industry. Through the 2^nd quarter of this year, Popeyes outpaced the overall results of the QSR category in sales, and they outpaced the cQSR for the ninth consecutive quarter. Their domestic same store sales in 2009 were positive as compared to overall QSR same store sales figures, which were negative. These positive figures and percentages have continued into 2010. Additionally, Popeyes’ guest traffic has been extremely strong, and resulted in a dramatic increase in their market share.

So—what’s the reason for this considerable momentum? The answer to this is related to Popeyes finding themselves at a major crossroads in November of 2008—a time period that coincided with the realization that the brand was failing miserably in several areas. Bachelder referred to this time frame as “The Brutal Reality”, and pinpointed the major issues as negative sales and traffic, poor service, margin pressure, and no metrics or measurement system to track success.

Popeyes was forced to take a hard, cold look at the facts, and compelled to make a major decision: should they view the recession as a sign of danger, or as one of opportunity? Clearly, the brand chose the latter and embarked on a plan titled “Road Map For Results”. Rather than shying away from the risks and fears of the economic downturn, they accelerated their plan, believed in it, and never looked back.

Bacheleder went on to describe the four major pillars of their plan:

1)   Build a distinct, real brand: a brand must resonate with its customers. Popeyes’ tagline: “Food so good, you can’t wait to eat.” The food is intended to summon a Cajun, culinary, authentic, superior experience. Popeyes immersed themselves in understanding their guests through traveling around the country and interviewing customers. “Grow market share” became the mantra; they placed emphasis on streamlining design and adjusted their fractured messaging. Last, they pinpointed “Annie” as the Popeyes brand ambassador, and featured her in commercials and marketing collateral.

2)   Run great restaurants: “Service so good, you want to come back.” The brand established a GEM, or Guest Experience Monitor, and guests would use their phones to call in and take a survey while their experience was fresh in their minds. Service with speed: Popeyes tracked drive-thru times, and began running quarterly business reviews with restaurant owners.

3)   Strengthen unit economics: profits so good that franchisees love the business as much as the food. Constantly be building a strong business case to build more restaurants, both domestically and internationally. Measure, track, and collect information—no more guessing

4)   Ramp up unit growth: Popeyes embraced an international, strategic plan.

95 units opened globally; locations include Malaysia, Egypt, Turkey, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and the Cayman Islands. Countries have embraced the colorful culture, flavorful food and authenticity of the brand.

According to Bacheleder, the foundational tenet behind the four pillars of Popeyes’ plan is to align people and resources across the company. The brand developed a new culture of partnership focused on honest dialogue and mutual trust, increased the frequency and quality of their daily communications, and has taken steps to accurately measure franchisee satisfaction. Without a doubt, Popeyes is reaping the rewards of their efforts; recently, QSR magazine named them as “One of Ten Great Franchise Deals”, and their name recognition has increased along with their overall momentum.

As far as 2010 is concerned, Bacheleder shared the good with the bad. The bad: the economy is proving to be slow to rebound, and unemployment rates continue to be high. The good: we’re seeing vitality in various segments, and franchisees are ready to grow. Throughout all of this, Popeyes will continue to move forward, innovate, grow market share, develop strong unit economics and growth, and hire capable operators.

It was virtually impossible not to be inspired by the story of Popeyes and their journey to success. Their story is a testament to the fact that brands and organizations can overcome any challenge by establishing a solid brand, practicing stellar customer service, and viewing obstacles as opportunities.

For those of you who attended Bachelder’s presentation, I’d like to hear hear your thoughts. Were you equally inspired by the Popeyes story?