Jay's Melting Pot franchises had a strong brand, a loyal customer base, but growth stalled and turnover was high.
Here's how one reframe changed both sides of the business — at the same time.
We shifted from a place to eat to a place to connect — in our marketing and in our culture. Hit #1 in the nation for sales growth and lowest turnover across the entire franchise.
Jay KilmartinOwnerThe Melting Pot
The Connection Reframe
Move #1 — How We Hit #1 in Sales Growth
When growth plateaus, the instinct is to work harder at what you're already doing. Better promotions. More spend. But sometimes, better and more aren't the answer. Different is.
Jay had this problem at his restaurants. A national brand that was pumping out marketing. Yet, local sales with flat growth.
Find the truth
- Jay and the management team believed growth meant better promotion and more marketing. Seasonal specials, fondue content, and holiday campaigns about new menu items.
- Customers said they didn't really come for the fondue. They came to slow down and connect.
Current marketing focused on pushing meals. But customers were buying a moment. So every "food" based campaign sold the franchise short.
Worse, every restaurant sells "good" food. This messaging has high competition, low margins, and guarantees a race to the bottom.
When your message works for everyone in your category, your only lever is volume. And volume is an expensive bidding war.
The move
My motto: Our best customers tell us what business we're actually in. We just have to listen to them. So we did. We shifted all marketing. This isn't a place to eat. It's where you come to connect. We ran connection campaigns, like Tag a Dad for daddy-daughter date nights.
The clincher: Commodity messaging organizes around the product. Premium messaging organizes around what customers can't put a price on. Do this, and you won't just differentiate. You'll become irreplaceable.
The proof
From flat growth across two locations to #1 in sales growth across the national franchise.
Same menu. Same locations. Different story.
The Culture Reset
Move #2 — How We Hit #1 in Staff Retention
The biggest challenge to keeping customers is the gap between what you promise and what you deliver. That gap doesn't just cost you customers — it costs you staff.
Jay knew that as a leader, he was in a slump. His managers weren't focused. Turnover was increasing. And customer service had taken a hit. It was time for a reset.
Find the truth
- Jay wanted personal coaching — his own life needed tightening up before anything else could change.
- Managers wanted direction — how to lead better, what to actually do.
- Frontline staff were disengaged. No one knew what to rally behind.
Everyone wanted things to be better. The problem wasn't effort — it was the absence of a shared identity and road map. Something to rally behind. Not more "try harder" – "do better."
For a service business, culture IS the product. No way to deliver a superior service without also having a winning culture.
The move
My motto: Close the gap. Build your culture to match the campaign. Because great marketing can't outrun a promise your team doesn't deliver on. So that's what we did.
From the top down, we integrated "connection" into the culture. From here's who we are (identity) to here's what we do (action).
The clincher: When your outside message matches your inside one, you stop performing your brand and start being it. Marketing gets easier — because you're no longer selling what you want people to think. You're just sharing who you actually are.
The proof
Customer service scores up. Ranked #1 for lowest turnover across the entire national franchise.
No new HR system. No new incentives. The same idea that won over customers kept the team together.
Each Move addressed a different problem at a different moment in the customer journey. None required a big budget, a long timeline, or a complete rebuild.
That's the discipline behind every engagement: audit to find the truth, make one move at a time, and prove it before doubling down.