NATION’S RESTAURANT NEWS – January 2004

 

Special Issues

 

Janice Ball: Outstanding positive attitude, profits have this GM

reigning supreme as a queen at BK's King's Court

 

By Liza Berger

 

Burger King

 

Concept type: quick service

Company location: Miami

Unit location: 4800 W. Broad St.,

Richmond, Va.

No. of years with company: 14

Age: 47

Hometown: Sussex County, Va.

Personal: married, two children

Most rewarding part of your job:

My customers. . . . They make me

feel good about what I do.

One thing you would like to change about your job: Nothing

really. . . . That's why I've been here so many years. It's just the ideal

thing for me because of my personality.

Tip for other general managers: Pay closer attention to the

customers. If the customers are the focus, everything else will take

care of itself.

 

It must be something in the soft drinks. Or maybe it's in the Whopper

that she serves to patrons at the drive-thru every day.

Whatever it is, Janice Ball's bosses want to know so they can give it

to other employees. Ball, who is general manager of the Burger King

at 4800 W. Broad St. in Richmond, Va. has a gift for working with

people, employees and customers alike, a gift that few others in the

company also have.

Ball is "the most enthusiastic person I've ever seen and so customer

focused," says company business manager Dan Pesarchick, who has

worked with her for the 14 years she has been at Burger King. "It's

unbelievable the energy and excitement and friendliness she

exudes."

Ball's ability to talk to people and make them feel good could be one

reason why her store has consistently exceeded sales expectations

year after year.

When the company took over the store about nine years ago, it was

bringing in about $650,000 in sales. Today it is pulling in $1.2 million.

And it has posted positive sales growth for three years in a row, even

as competition has sprung up around it.

The most obvious sign of Ball's success is her election, five times, to

the 6-year-old King's Court. Only about 30 out of 600 general

managers throughout the country are elected each year to be on the

court. Membership is based on a number of criteria, including sales

growth, profit and percentage of turnover for the prior year. Burger

King has 11,350 outlets worldwide.

The standards are "rigorous to become that person," says Dave

Gagnon, senior vice president of company operations for Burger King

Corp. "If she's done that five times, that's pretty amazing stuff."

In November, when Ball was picked for the court for the fifth time, she

received a diamond-studded Rolex watch while she was visiting the

company headquarters, in Miami. That was before she was whisked

away on a cruise to the Caribbean — her fifth one. Two years ago

when she won, the company leased for her a Corvette, which could

be seen in the parking lot of her store.

To Ball the formula for success is simple: Treat people like you want

to be treated. Whether she is greeting guests at the drive-thru,

working the cash register out front or making fries in the back, Ball

subscribes to that school of thought.

The biggest thing an employee can bring to Burger King is customer

service, she says.

"If you don't have that, you don't have anything," the 47-year-old Ball

says. At a time when there are so many other places customers can

go, "you have to give them a reason to come back to Burger King,"

she says.

How she does that is what's harder to grasp. Ball says she takes an

interest in people and lets them know that they matter. That might

mean bringing in birthday cakes on patrons' birthdays or talking to

someone who looks as if they need some conversation. She has a

reputation in Richmond. A couple of years ago a story about her

caring personality appeared in the Richmond-Times Dispatch.

"She's something different," Pesarchick says. "I've never seen that

before. I've seen people with enthusiasm, but the combination of

enthusiasm, friendliness and willingness to help people, I wish I could

put my finger on it. She's unique."

Ball's positive attitude pays off time and again. She has been known

to receive roses and chocolates from patrons whose days she has

made. Some years ago a trainer from Circuit City, which is based in

Richmond, used Ball as an example of proper customer service in

training employees.

Pesarchick recalls how a few years ago his daughter patronized the

drive-thru. When she came home, she asked her dad how Ball knew

her. She told her dad that Ball had acted like her best friend.

Pesarchick told her that Ball did not know her. It is just the way she is.

"It's hard to explain," Pesarchick says. "You have to be around her."

For Ball, treating people well is second nature. She says she learned

the importance of that approach from her parents and grandparents.

She grew up on a farm outside Richmond with three brothers and a

sister. There she learned the importance of hard work and church

attendance. Her parents also taught her that everyone has some

good in them.

"As we got older and we grew up, that was instilled in us," she says.

When she was hired at Burger King, she participated in a training

program that emphasized the traits she had learned in her lifetime.

"No matter who you come into contact with, you treat them the right

way," she says.

That person could be an elderly patron, since many elderly people

frequent the store, or it could be a longtime employee.

Barbara Goodwin, who has known Ball for 12 years, recently came

back to work for Ball. She calls Ball "a beautiful person."

At Ball's store the customer is always first, but that doesn't mean Ball

does not speak for employees.

"I just love the way she handles people," Goodwin says. "She's a

diamond in the rough. That's all I can say."

Goodwin, who is in training to be a manager at Ball's store, says Ball

has been known to lend patrons 50 cents to make a purchase. She

also tells people she is sorry they have to wait, even though they

have only waited a few seconds.

"She's just a unique person in herself," Goodwin says. "She's just one

of those people who are caring, which is rare."

She adds: "She strives to go that extra mile, whatever it takes for the

customer, whatever it takes to motivate that person to move on. She

instills in us the incentive to do the right thing."

And knowing someone cares is sometimes all a patron needs.

Goodwin recalls a time when Ball was working at the drive-thru and a

woman came by with a troubled expression on her face. Ball asked

her why she looked so sad. The woman told Ball what was on her

mind, and Ball listened. The exchange only took three or four

minutes, but the woman was so pleased that she returned with

flowers for Ball.

"If you listen to what people say about her at the drive-thru," Goodwin

says, "you find out that they love it because she loves the people."

Ball purposely works the drive-thru at lunch for that reason. She says

65 percent to 70 percent of her customers come through the

drive-thru.

But friendliness is only part of Ball's customer-service strategy. Ball,

who served in the Army after high school, knows that good customer

service also requires speed and efficiency. Her employees at the

drive-thru are the fastest in Richmond. Only one minute and 35

seconds elapse from the time customers order to the time they get to

the window. Ball's staff also works hard to meet sales goals as well

as cleanliness standards.

Ball's staff is made up of 26 employees and a handful of managers.

Her employees are willing to stay late, if necessary. And when a new

hire arrives, Ball says her employees oftentimes help train by telling

the person when he or she is doing something wrong or could have

worked harder for a guest. Turnover at Ball's restaurant was under

100 percent in 2003.

Ball's staff also is willing to help her when there is a problem. She

recalls one time when there was a lockdown at the nearby jail, and

three employees who worked at the store on a work-release program

could not come in that day. She made a few phone calls and located

some employees who agreed to work for the restaurant.

"That's how we work," Ball says.

Ball says one reason why she is a good leader is that she leaves her

problems at the door. Every day she comes into the store upbeat and

tries to make her employees feel good. She also lets them come into

her office and talk to her if they are having a bad day. She always

thanks them for doing a good job when they are done for the day.

"Make them feel like they're important, too," She says. "You've got to

make them feel . . . they've done a good job."

Ball also has taken her treat-people-well philosophy out to the

schools, where she and her staff talk to underprivileged children. She

is also a member of the Hotchkiss Community Center, which shelters

abandoned and abused children. Every month children come in to eat

at her restaurant.

All of those relationship tools add up to a successful operation, says

Mandy Mauricio, a company business manager.

"The one thing that comes to mind when you mention Janice is

emotion," Mauricio says. "She's never angry, she's always happy,

never has anything negative to say — the most upbeat person I've

ever met."

 

What the boss says:

Janice Ball's financial success as a general manager is a testimony

to her abilities to build great teams, says Dave Gagnon, senior vice

president of company operations for Miami-based Burger King Corp.

"It's about people, leadership, creating a family in every restaurant,"

he says. "That's what she does."

Ball has learned the formula for success: putting customers first and

delivering good food fast in a clean and safe environment, Gagnon

says. "She does it better than anybody in our system today," he says.

Ball follows the Burger King philosophy of serving a great Whopper,

but she also believes in serving it quickly and with a smile.

"That's really the energy that Janice brings to the game, the energy

that she has in her restaurant among her team, so everyone is not

just doing a job but an excellent job," he says.

Even though Ball has spent her 14 years in Richmond, Va., Gagnon

believes she could work anywhere.

"Folks that have figured out how to lead people and understand what

people are looking for can operate anywhere," he says