Pizza Patron President Reveals Recipe for Success

Pizza Patron's new president, Guillermo Estrada, sits down for an interview with PizzaMarketplace.com reporter Jennifer Litz to reveal his recipe for success in managing the franchised pizza chain. Pizza Patron, a pizza chain that targets the Latin community, was recently mentioned by food consultant Technomic as an example of differentiation in its ethnic consumer focus that is helping pull it ahead of the pizza chain pack during tough times.

How do the franchisees give you feedback that allows you to tweak your formula?

... The definition of "patron" is "benevolent leader of the community," so we want to be behind that, provide quality and service. Be there at every single event, every school activity and church activity, within [the confines of] the business. Our franchisees believe that. Those little events [that most businesses wouldn’t attend] -- Pizza Patron is right there. And we have open communication with franchisees on a daily basis by e-mail, by phone, by corporate visits; we’re in every single market at least four times a year.

 

You have continued to do well despite the economic downturn, growing to more than 90 stories from a bit over 20 when you joined. What's the secret to prospering in times like these?

 

We have a specific niche, and we're focused on what we do. We continue making pizzas, that's what we know and continue to do. We're going back to training on operations, customer service, also back to review the business model itself, and looking at prices over several weeks or months. Everything's going back to basics.