In the fiercely competitive quick-service restaurant industry, customer experience (CX) and employee experience (EX) are no longer distinct – they’re two sides of the same coin. For a global giant like KFC, with over 20,000 restaurants spanning diverse markets, the challenge of truly understanding and responding to the voices of both customers and team members is monumental. KFC pioneered a global listening program, called ‘KFC Listens’, that places experience management (XM) at the heart of every business decision.
During her recent visit to Australia, Abby Czito, Global Lead, XM Insights and Analytics at KFC, spoke at the Qualtrics X4 event in Sydney. Czito’s presentation detailed KFC’s transformative journey to enhance both customer and employee experiences on a global scale. She explained the core objectives that underpinned KFC’s innovative global listening platform, “Our primary goal was to elevate experiences for customers as well as team members and increase repeat business, not just improve satisfaction scores. We recognised that better scores are a proxy for better experiences, but the focus shifted to identifying actionable insights that drive improvements”.
Moving beyond fragmented legacy systems, KFC is leveraging advanced technology and a data-driven approach to gather actionable insights from billions of customer interactions worldwide, empowering its vast network of employees to deliver consistently exceptional experiences.
Connecting employee experience to customer experience
Each KFC restaurant manager now possesses an unprecedented level of immediate insight into their store’s operations, transforming how they run their business. This isn’t just about reviewing past performance; it’s about having a real-time pulse on everything from customer satisfaction to employee engagement and operational efficiency. The ability to connect employee experience with customer feedback has been critical to the success of the program. Czito provides a compelling example, “Through our employee experience program, we received feedback from restaurant team members about friction points in the order packing process, specifically regarding fries. Simultaneously, we observed customer complaints in the same locations about inaccurate orders. By connecting these two data points, we identified a root cause in employee feedback and implemented a solution that improved order accuracy”.
Given KFC’s diverse global presence, with each market operating under unique structures and managing its own set of franchisees, the team behind the “KFC Listens” program recognised a critical need. They understood that successfully integrating franchisees into a unified experience management initiative would require a significant, dedicated effort and ample time to align resources and gain their full buy-in.
“To drive adoption and participation, we ensured stakeholders from various business units and functions across our global footprint were involved from the program’s inception. This ensured that the program’s design was informed by what would be most helpful to those who would benefit from it. We also conducted focus groups with managers and gathered feedback from leadership teams to ensure a comprehensive approach”.
Immediate, actionable intelligence empowers KFC managers to be proactive leaders. They can quickly identify issues, test solutions, and implement improvements without delay, fostering a culture of continuous improvement right at the restaurant level. It’s a fundamental shift that ensures every KFC location is operating at its best, delivering that consistent experience customers expect.
The insights gleaned from one KFC location are immediately deployable across the entire global business. “My team helps business units worldwide identify opportunities to improve guest and team member experiences and scale best practices. For example, if Australia optimises order accuracy, we can learn from them and apply those learnings globally”.
Giving everyone a seat at the table
“From the very start, when we were designing the program’s structure and blueprint, all the way through to implementation and rollout, we made sure to involve stakeholders from various business units across our global footprint, as well as other functions. This was crucial to ensure that our approach was informed by what would actually be most helpful to the people who would benefit from what they learned”.
The fundamental connection between a positive employee experience and a positive customer experience at KFC is simple: “The customer experience never exceeds the team member experience.” Our team members directly impact every guest experience, so understanding this continuity is crucial for our organisation.
“My advice to other organisations looking to improve their CX and EX initiatives is to give everyone a seat at the table. While a program needs an owner who is accountable for its success, it cannot be a siloed initiative. The goal is to embed experience management as a way of working across the entire business, ensuring all stakeholders are involved from the outset”.
“Implementing a program at scale presents challenges, and we’ve experienced some friction points. However, Qualtrics has been a key partner, providing excellent support to help us innovate and deliver the best experiences to our end-users. We’ve also focused on change management, creating tailored resources to educate and train our teams, ensuring they focus on action rather than just outcomes”.
KFC’s journey is one of continuous evolution. The goal is to move beyond reacting to trends and proactively anticipate what customers want and need, delivering a frictionless and highly personalized experience. By seamlessly linking the customer and team member experience, KFC is not only serving up fried chicken but also cultivating a culture of continuous improvement and putting XM at the heart of its business.
The goal is to move beyond reacting to trends and proactively anticipate what customers want and need, delivering a frictionless and highly personalized experience. By connecting feedback across every touchpoint, providing teams with actionable insights, and leveraging AI, KFC is setting the stage for sustained growth and even deeper customer loyalty in the global quick-service restaurant landscape. The secret sauce, it seems, is in truly listening to everyone.