• by Barbie Romero , Yesterday

David Daniels shared insights on creating a frictionless guest journey, anchoring digital investments to customer outcomes, empowering operators, and scaling personalization.

1. After your recent digital transformation, which personalization tactics are you prioritizing most across menus, offers, and messaging?

   Following our app/web re-platforming and foundational martech investments, we’re focused on scaling personalization that meaningfully improves speed, relevance, and confidence in the ordering experience. Our priority is using first-party data and real-time signals to dynamically shape menus, surface the most relevant items and offers, and guide guests through the journey with less friction.

   Across our roadmap, that shows up as smarter menu presentation, behavior-driven recommendations, and context-aware messaging that adapts to how, when, and where guests engage with us. We’re intentionally prioritizing personalization that feels seamless and intuitive experiences that help guests order faster and feel understood, without adding complexity or distraction.

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   What advice do you have for marketers to ensure digital upgrades solve customer problems rather than just adding features?

   Anchor every digital investment to a clear customer outcome. Our roadmap is structured around removing friction, increasing clarity, and driving measurable business impact, not shipping features for the sake of innovation.

   We ask a simple question before moving forward: Does this make the experience easier, faster, or more valuable not only for our guests but also for the operator? Our approach blends technology, insight, and enablement to create experiences that perform in the real world. When technology is working well, it fades into the background and allows the experience itself to shine.

3. What is a mistake marketers should avoid when launching new digital experiences to teams or franchisees?

   Treating digital transformation as a rollout instead of a partnership. New capabilities only succeed when operators understand how they improve execution, drive sales, or reduce operational complexity.

   We’ve learned that clear storytelling around the “why,” paired with enablement and feedback loops, is just as important as the technology itself. Digital initiatives gain traction when teams see them as tools that empower their day-to-day operations, not mandates handed down from corporate.

4. What should marketers be doing now to stay ahead of evolving digital customer expectations?

   Build for learning velocity. Customer expectations are evolving too quickly for static strategies, which is why our approach emphasizes testing, experimentation, and continuous optimization.

   By closely monitoring behavioral signals across channels and partnering deeply with technology and operations, marketers can identify where friction exists and respond in near real time. The brands that win aren’t the ones with the most features; they’re the ones that learn fastest and adapt with purpose.

5. What is your go-to Potbelly order?

   Our new Southwest Avo Chicken Wrap and a bag of Zapp’s Hot Pepper Chips on the side!