Jeff Hetsel’s journey in the restaurant industry began in 1982 when, at just 14 years old, he started working in local restaurants in Plano, like Bennigan’s, Chili’s, Jason’s Deli and Black Eyed Pea. While at Plano High School, he discovered the commercial food majors studies program, sparking his passion for the restaurant business.
In the early '90s, Hetsel aimed for a career in fine dining, but his path changed after meeting Cicis Pizza Founder Joe Croce and was hired as a manager of the Dallas location in 1992. He then moved to Atlanta in 1996 to launch JMC Restaurant Distribution for Cicis and expanded the brand into 12 states. Today, Hetsel is Cicis' president, overseeing JMC and two franchise locations. With 40 years in the industry, he remains committed to strong team culture and exceptional guest experiences.
Through his decades of experience, Hetsel has embraced ten key leadership lessons that continue to guide him through challenges and opportunities. Local Profile recently talked to Hetsel about his role. Here are Hetsels ten lessons learned:
1. Value Your Team: Mentors Matter
At Cicis we invest in hiring, developing and retaining talent. This occurs not just corporately but at the store level. We have had many occasions where people start as a dishwasher and now own multiple restaurants. We believe in training, cross-training and growing our Teams to make them as successful as possible. I was blessed to have several unbelievable mentors, including the founder of Cicis, Joe Croce.
2. Love Your Guests
We love our guests; we have a jump-the-counter mentality and are willing to do whatever it takes to make sure our guests have a great dining experience and get any pizza they want at a value they love. Our number one job is to deliver on our brand promise.
3. Lead with Passion
For the past 33 years I have been with the Cicis family. I am passionate about this brand and what we have done over the course of its 40-year tenure. When I share my story with people it is my goal that they can feel inspired to reach for their own goals and lead this brand into the future.
4. Drive Sales, Cut Costs
This is truly my mantra, if we are not driving sales and working on cutting costs, what are we doing? These two leading principles drive almost all decisions within the business. We are able to apply strategic thinking and thoughts and make sure that all initiatives go down one of these two paths. It has helped my team prioritize projects and ensure we are doing the right thing for the restaurants we serve. We do all of this without sacrificing quality and service to our guests.
5. Consistency Builds Brand Trust
We are The Best Pizza Value Anywhere (TPBVA). This has been our value statement early on and still holds true to this day. We spread this message across every platform, and we aim to bring our guests a consistent experience. One that they can value from generation to generation. We are not only consistent in our messaging, but we are also consistent behind the scenes. We make sure our training materials, products and customer service retain consistency. This builds brand reputation while ensuring our guests have a consistent experience.
6. Never Stop Learning and Leave Everything Better Than You Found It
I am one of those people who is a lifelong learner. I work to stay informed on current issues, read books, listen to podcasts and digest information in a way I can leverage it to help our business grow. My goal is to leave everyone, and everything better than I found it, I want to help people grow and succeed. I want to make sure that people around me in business and personal are able to thrive.
7. What’s Faster Than a Buffet?
What is faster than a buffet? Nothing. From the time our guest pays, until the time they are eating it is instantaneous. All the salad, soup, pizza, pasta, desserts you can have. If you don’t see your favorite pizza we will make it, as many slices as you ask for. Speed allows our guests to get a quality product, get in and get on with the many things they have going on in their lives.
8. Culture Shapes Performance
A strong, positive culture within Cicis is key to attracting top talent, increase engagement in the stores and fosters growth at the store level.
9. Change is Inevitable
The business landscape and how people spend money is constantly changing. We work to embrace change, pivot when necessary and stay ahead of the curve. While our processes may change, the value and quality we bring to our guests remains a constant.
10. Sometimes You Have to Slow Down to Speed Up
There are times teams can begin to work on too many projects all at once and everyone wants everything, all at once. This is not good for the team, nor the restaurants that must implement some of these things. Sometimes you need to take a step back and really look at an issue, how best to solve it and make sure you are impacting the restaurants as little as possible as to not disrupt operations and the overall mission to serve the highest quality food, with exceptional service in a clean environment.“
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