Newly created positions pose challenges for the first to pioneer the role, yet also offer the benefits of the blank page, a canvas on which the shiny-eyed executive paints their dreams upon, in theory. This article is part of a Franchise Times digital-only Q3 series on “Lessons in Leadership.”
Tyler Kraemer became Penn Station East Coast Subs’ first-ever director of franchise services in April.
There was a “clear need” at Penn Station East Coast Subs for a technology and operations role, which just so happened to match Tyler Kraemer’s background perfectly.
Kraemer spent more than 25 years in the restaurant industry with a focus on unit operations and training at brands such as Steak ‘n Shake and Qdoba. He joined Penn Station in 2012 as general manager of the brand’s corporate training location, and after leaving for about seven years for franchise and operations roles at Tom+Chee, returned to Penn Station in April as its first director of franchise services.
“The brands I was working with were early adopters of third-party delivery, cloud-based POS systems, web ordering, loyalty, brand applications, guest feedback and other integrations,” Kraemer said. “I learned a lot in the seven years away from Penn Station.”
After grabbing coffee with Penn Station President Lance Vaught in December 2021, “I think we both realized when we got into our cars that evening that I had just interviewed for the job,” Kraemer recalled.
Penn Station has more than 300 franchise locations in the U.S. and grew systemwide sales 5.2 percent from 2020 to 2021 to $212 million, according to Franchise Times Top 400 research. The sub sandwich shop specializes in the Philly cheesesteak sandwich and was founded in 1985 by Jeff Osterfeld.
Earlier this month, Penn Station also hired Russ Smith as director of franchise sales.
Kraemer will bring his expertise and learnings to his new role, which will focus on supporting store-level operations and franchisee back-office reporting.
In the past three months, Kraemer has spent a “significant amount of time understanding the strengths and opportunities with our current vendor partners” to provide value to franchisees through KPI reporting, webinars and pilot programs designed to build sales, he said.
“These efforts are already showing positive results, not only in sales but franchisee engagement with these services,” Kraemer noted. “We have implemented the use of a project management tool to keep all our franchise services projects and goals on track with transparency to vendors and our internal team.”
This initiative has more than doubled Penn Station’s output on POS development, he added, resulting in impactful change for franchisees as well as the corporate support team.
Despite the explosion of web ordering capabilities and delivery in recent years, Kraemer said their restaurants, especially in well-established markets, still have a considerable amount of sales coming in through phone orders. One of Kraemer’s goals in the next year is to implement a more efficient way to manage the brand’s call-in order business, plus overhaul Penn Station’s web ordering process to improve the guest experience.
The eventual goal is to integrate all of the brand’s third-party solutions to “close the guest loop and utilize our guest data to market better to our guests,” he said.
Making immediate impacts while gaining stakeholder buy in
Founded in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1985 by Jeff Osterfeld, Penn Station East Coast Subs specializes in grilled, made-to-order sandwiches, including Philly cheesesteak sandwiches.
Being the first to pioneer the director of franchise services role at Penn Station has given Kraemer the opportunity to “make an immediate impact in leveraging our vendor partners to drive sales and improve process.”
One of the other advantages, he noted, is being able to show franchisee partners and prospective owners “that we are in tune with how the industry is changing and investing in the future of operations.”
Yet, one of the challenges involved with implementing a new role or department in an organization is the level of skepticism that comes with it, “even in a best-case scenario,” Kraemer said. “Seeking feedback and getting buy in for any proposed change or new ideas from the stakeholders is important. Gaining the buy in builds trust,” which is critical in any business.
Next steps will be deploying the next stage of the brand’s employee hiring and engagement platform, and continuing to have conversations with several potential vendor partners for additional integrations.
“It’s been a busy and rewarding three months,” Kraemer added.
“A big part of my role is to utilize technology to build sales, improve profitability and improve efficiency in our restaurants. How well we can do these things has a direct impact on the ROI of adding this role. So far, we are making great progress toward that already.”
Read more from this digital series:
Zaxby’s Leader Shares How She’s Pioneering a New Role
Unleashed Brands’ First CIO Shares What it Takes to Pioneer a New Role