Smashburger implemented Empathica's customer experience management program to help scale their brand while maintaining high quality standards across locations. Empathica's tools helped improve guest satisfaction by 5.5% in pilot locations versus 1% elsewhere and focus area scores by 8%. The program generated over 12,000 social media recommendations, reaching over 2 million people and promoting the Smashburger brand.

1. Case Study:
Smashburger
Smashburger is quickly gaining a reputation as America’s hottest Two key product components of the Smashburger Empathica
new restaurant concept, both for its premium, handmade burgers programme were:
and also for their extremely loyal customer following (known as
“SmashFans”). Focusing on delivering great customer experiences » Empathica Local™, an application designed to help brands
at each and every location and driving active advocacy is an like Smashburger deliver a consistent experience across all
integral part of the Smashburger recipe for success. locations. It helps by empowering location managers to know
exactly where to focus each day and how to execute using
patent-pending prescriptive algorithms to determine focus
The Business Challenge areas of improvement.
From their roots in Colorado to their current rapid pace of growth, » The GoRecommend™ application from Empathica which is a
the company expects to have over 450 locations in the next few patent-pending social media advocacy solution. It has helped the
years. Like many businesses with this type of growth, the challenge restaurant brand transform their satisfied customers into active
for Smashburger is not in developing a recipe for success, but brand advocates creating positive word of mouth advertising.
scaling that success to new markets and geographies.
When researching their options for a customer experience
management programme, the key criteria they were looking for
was the ability to help them scale their brand while still maintaining Results Statistics
their high quality, by helping ensure that brand standards were
adhered to.
5.5% improvement in guest satisfaction
In addition to this, they were looking for a programme that could using Empathica Local versus 1% in control
help share the best practices from high performing locations with group locations
new locations and lower performing locations. This focus would
help them to ensure that every location manager at Smashburger 8% improvement in experience focus areas
was fully equipped and educated on how to deliver the “perfect
guest experience” that Smashburger fans have come to expect. 12,000+ social media recommendations
from SmashFans
The Solution 2,000,000+ friend impressions of positive
recommendations for Smashburger
Smashburger selected the Empathica solution because the action
and advocacy focus of the programme was the best match for
their initiatives around customer engagement and social media.
They found that Empathica shared their belief that customers
and employees deserve to love where they dine and where they
work. Part of making that a reality was going beyond collecting
basic feedback and transforming customer communications into
valuable insights and tangible actions. The Empathica programme
allowed Smashburger to read between the lines of their customer
feedback to gain a deeper insight into what their recipe for loyalty
was. These insights translated into operational improvements that
not only drove greater experiences but led to positive word of
mouth and brand advocacy as well.

2. The Results About Smashburger
Smashburger was recognised by Forbes magazine as America’s Smashburger is the country’s fastest growing, fast casual “better
Most Promising Company in 2011 and was also named to the 2011 burger” restaurant. Its hand-crafted burgers are made with fresh,
Inc. Magazine 500 list. These great results have been driven in part never frozen, 100% Certified Angus Beef, that are “smashed”,
by their focus on great experiences and their continuing efforts to seared and seasoned on the grill to juicy perfection for every
build satisfaction, brand loyalty and active advocacy from their individual order. Guests can build their own burger masterpiece
SmashFans. or enjoy one of Smashburger’s award winning signature recipes.
Jeremy Morgan, SVP, Marketing & Consumer Insights, commented Smashburger localises its menu in every market including a unique
that “At Smashburger we believe that our in-store experience helps burger and often, chicken sandwiches, sides and shakes — that
us stand out in the crowded restaurant market. The Empathica highlight the distinctive flavours of that region. Smashburger also
programme and its location focus is a key to maintaining our serves tender marinated grilled or crispy chicken sandwiches, black
competitive edge. During our initial rollout of the Empathica Local bean veggie burger, grilled and split hot dogs, freshly prepared
programme we saw 5.5% improvement in satisfaction scores in the entrée salads, kids’ meals, and an array of signature sides along
pilot locations versus a 1% improvement in the control locations.” with handspun Häagen-Dazs shakes and local beer.
The location focus area capabilities of Empathica Local also proved Developed and owned by private equity firm Consumer Capital
to be highly impactful. Mr. Morgan stated, “The improvement our Partners (CCP), Smashburger operates and develops both
pilot locations saw in their focus areas was an impressive 8% corporate and multi-unit franchise territories across America with
in only the first two months of running the programme.” 145 restaurants in 25 states nationwide. Smashburger topped
Forbes America’s Most Promising Company list in 2011 and
The programme has also helped boost the positive social media was also named to the 2011 Inc. 500 list. It is the recipient of
chatter surrounding the brand online while helping to grow the International Council of Shopping Centers 2011 Hot Retailer
Smashburger’s own online community. Award. To learn more, visit www.smashburger.com.
Mr. Morgan acknowledged, “One of the most exciting outcomes
of our Empathica programme is the impact it has had not only
on our in store experience but on our social media buzz. To
date the programme had helped us to generate over 12,000
recommendations posted to social media sites which resulted in “At Smashburger we believe that our in-store
impressions on over 2,000,000 friends and followers newsfeeds. experience helps us stand out in the crowded
This is an incredible number of SmashFans out promoting the love restaurant market. The Empathica programme and its
of the Smashburger brand.”
location focus is a key to maintaining our competitive
edge. During our initial rollout of the Empathica
Local programme we saw a 5.5% improvement in
Jeremy Morgan satisfaction scores in the pilot locations versus a 1%
SVP Marketing & Consumer Insights improvement in the control locations.”
About Empathica
Empathica provides Customer Experience Management programmes to more than 200 of the world’s leading brands, ranging from multi-
unit retailers, to banks and restaurants. Its rich analysis of survey data using state-of-the-art surveying and dashboard reporting software
allows for performance-improvement solutions, evidence-based marketing insights, and customer experience management consulting.
Annually, Empathica’s 30 million customer surveys in 25 languages reach more than 70,000 locations. A privately-held organisation,
Empathica is headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, has an office in Birmingham, England, and U.S. executive consultants
in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Bozeman, Montana. For more information about deriving actionable insights that enhance a
brand’s operational excellence, visit Empathica at www.empathica.com.
www.empathica.com
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