End of the Wake Forest football season

Thousands and thousands of small 8" pizzas were sold between August and November this year at BB&T Field for the home football games for Wake Forest University. By far the best selling games for Domino's was the game against Virginia Tech and the game against Notre Dame. The season started out on a hot day in early September, when Wake hosted N.C. State. We sold a lot of pizzas that day and it can always be hectic the first time because the workers are sometimes unfamiliar with the setting and there is an uncertainty in the air of how smooth things will go, and is there enough dough, cheese, boxes, employees, etc. The next game was kind of a let down, first because of the time, 6:30, which is good for the start of the game, as far as people eating pizza, but bad in the sense that halftime falls around 8:00, which is kind of late for some people to eat. Also, Wake was playing Gardner-Webb, a lower division team that did not draw a lot of interest from students and fans. The third game of the season witnessed the Deacs take on Florida State for their most impressive victory of the season, sending the Seminoles back to Tallahassee on a sour note. Pizza sales that day were strong. Then came the big game against Virginia Tech on a Saturday night. Pizza sales were through the roof that night, with the coliseum crew pumping out almost 600 8" pizzas that night, although the Deacs lost to the Hokies in a close game. After two weeks on the road, the Deacs faced off against Notre Dame, probably the most highly anticipated game in a long time in Winston-Salem. Although the Deacons played well, they came up short in the end. This was another night game, and sales of Domino's Pizza were amazing. Once again, the coliseum crew cranked out over 500 pizzas, with many more being made inside the stadium as well as the North Point store bringing some over. After a road game at Clemson, Wake welcomed Maryland to town, and won to give them their 6th win of the season, making them bowl eligible. Being a middle of the afternoon game, pizza sales were down a little, and the coliseum put out about 350 pizzas. For the last home game of the season, the Vanderbilt Commodores from Nashville, TN came into town, and managed to run over the Deacs for a blowout victory by more than 30 points. Another mid afternoon games resulted in slower sales like the previous week, with the coliseum gang putting out a little over 300 pizzas. In the end, many fans were treated to a hot Domino's Pizza on cold days, hot days, and mild days, at all times of the day. Many thanks goes out to the Domino's employees who set up, fed the team, worked the stands, sold in the stands, delivered pizza, made pizza, and the people who managed the entire operation. The local Domino's franchise in Winston-Salem will continue to operate at the Lawrence Joel Coliseum during Wake Forest's basketball season and for special events.

When problems show their face, let Jill set the pace

Nothing is more stressful than walking into work on a day you are expected to make over 500 pizzas, and you arrive only to notice the ovens have been dismantled and put back together the day before, and not put together right. This just so happened at a recent football game. There is a three-layer oven at the "store" where we make pizza for Wake Forest home football games, and while the bottom oven was working fine, the middle and top decided not to cooperate. The problem arose when I noticed the conveyor belt was not turning. It just so happens that a crucial piece had been improperly installed after the ovens were cleaned. At first, Jill and I thought we had solved the problem, but as the conveyors kept turning, the knobs would slip off and stop the conveyor belt. Jill sent for some tape and that seemed to work, but as we started cranking out pizzas, the knob would come undone and not turn the conveyor any longer, resulting in a few burnt pizzas. Jill managed to get the belts working again and they remained in working order for the rest of the game. I was very impressed with the way the whole situation was handled by Jill and she did not let this stressful moment get the best of her and she was able to make the most of a bad situation and the pizza production was not slowed at all. Great job Jill working under pressure and staying calm, you proved your managerial skills and handled the situation extremely well. No panic button was needed and by the number of pizzas made no one would have ever known there was a problem. Tar Tiger pizza set the record for sales at the Wake-VT game and we all hope the same continues at the next game. If any problems show their ugly face at the next game, Jill will set the pace and fix them.

Special times at Special Events for Domino's Pizza

You may think of Domino's as a place where you can go pick up your favorite pizza, or the place you call when you want a pizza delivered. But if you happen to venture out to a Wake Forest football game, basketball game, a Winston-Salem State football game, a concert at the Lawrence Joel coliseum, or even catch a race at Bowman Gray stadium, Domino's Pizza will be there to meet your needs. One of the biggest and most hectic special events for Domino's in the Winston-Salem area are the Wake Forest football games, usually taking almost 25 employees to make service efficient. Many Saturdays during the fall, three hours before the game starts, you can find Domino's employees starting to make the small pizzas that will be sold as the gates open. At the time of this blog, Wake has had two home games, winning both. The first game against N.C. State was a mid-afternoon game and very hot. The second game versus Gardner Webb was at night and fairly chilly. There were thousands of people at both games, and the Gardner Webb game we sold a lot of pizza, mostly due to the colder weather. One of the ways Domino's can provide so many pizzas at the game is by using the kitchen at the coliseum, which has a three-layer over, allowing for more pizzas to be made at a time. For the first game against NC State, the coliseum crew poured out over 400 pizzas in about three hours, while doing over 300 at the Gardner Webb game. Special events can be very fun for Domino's employees, a chance to work outside from a store environment dealing with phone calls and customers alot. So next time your in the Winston-Salem area, attending a Wake Forest ballgame, Dash game, or a race, remember to look for the Domino's sign.

Why I Love My Job

One of the best things about my job is the ridiculous customer stories. You might read some of them and say..."do people really say/do that?" The answer is yes, yes they do. And I love it. Know why? Because these wonderful, clueless people make my days interesting and unique. I will start sharing these customer stories with you for your entertainment. I may also invite guest bloggers also in the pizza world to share some of their thoughts/stories with you. Today's customer story: dark meat guy. The following conversation really took place.

Me: "Thank you for choosing Domino's pizza, how can i help you?"
Guy: "yeah i'd like to get an order of wings please."
Me: "sure no problem. What flavor would you like?"
Guy: "mild...and can i get all flat pieces? I'm allergic to dark meat."
Me: long pause while i tried to process this information. Mainly because A) both wings and drummettes are dark meat. B) how can you be allergic to just dark meat? wouldn't you be allergic to chicken in general? just sayin'.
Guy: "yeah i gotta have just the flat wing pieces. Otherwise i swell up like a hot air balloon."
Me: trying to contain my desire to laugh hysterically.."I'll see what I can do for you sir,have a good night."

Really? Allergic to dark meat? My theory is he just wanted a good excuse to get all flats since we usually don't honor such a request because its just not practical. And just when i thought i'd heard everything....

Pizza Ordering 101

I am daily flabbergasted at the sheer numbers of people who do not know proper etiquette when ordering food over the phone. Luckily for all of you, i will now teach you these things so you can become an expert. No thank you is necessary, i assure you i do this purely for selfish reasons. ;)

1. Know What You Want

okay, so i understand that you may not know exactly what is on the menu. Or what the specials are. So, what i recommend is calling up, asking for the specials, ask what questions you need to ask and then say "Thanks, we're gonna decide what we want and call you back." Here's another tip: all the big chains have menus online. But please, for any reason, do not do the following:

Me: How can i help you?
Customer: What are your specials?
Me: (recites specials)
Customer: Alright can you hold on? (and then to people in the room) "HEY, WHAT YA'LL WANT?" (and yes, this is always yelled...right into my ear)
Me: crickets chirp
Customer: what did you say that first one was again?
Me: (repeats 1st special)
Customer: Wait...you said how much again?
Me: (repeats 1st special again)
Customer: okay hold on (and then, you guessed it, to the people in the room) "HEY, WHAT YA'LL WANT?"
Customer: (a bunch of laughing in the background, talking about anything besides pizza, etc etc) "HEY, WE GOTTA DECIDE...THIS LADY IS WAITING ON THE PHONE"
Customer: okay, so we can get XYZ?
Me: Absolutely, what do you want on your 1st pizza?
Customer: pepperoni and sausage.
Me: okay, what do you want on your second one?
Customer: wait, do you have chicken? let me get chicken and sausage on that first one.
Me: okay, chicken and sausage
Customer: wait...do you have beef? maybe i want hamburger and chicken on that 1st one....
Me: facepalm
Customer: (turns to the people in the room again) "HEY, WHAT YOU WANT ON YOUR PIZZA?"
Me: looking for the nearest pair of scissors to stab myself with


So i know this sounds extreme, but i promise you i get atleast two calls a day almost exactly like this. promise. Most of the time, however, its more like just the first couple of lines. So, lesson number 1 is....know what you want.

2. Know Where You Live

You would be amazed at how many people A) don't know their phone number, and B) don't know where they are. seriously. you always get those who are from out of town who don't know what their nearest cross-street is or what part of town they are in, and i totally get that. But there are an astonishing amount of people who legit don't know their address. Rule # 1: if you are going to order something to be delivered to you, you are going to need to know your location. I don't care if you are visiting from out of town, just moved in, whatever....i do not have a remote sensor that picks up your call via GPS and transmits your coordinates to me. someone somewhere knows the address. Some people literally expect me just to know where they are calling from. Please have this information at the ready before you make the call. pretty please. I'll never forget this call...still one of my favorites:

Me: How can i help you?
Customer: I need a delivery
Me: no problem, what's your address?
Customer: Winston-Salem
Me: (wait a moment to see if there is more coming with that statement.....nope)
Me: Okay....where in winston-salem?
Customer: um......

yeah. no further comments.

3. Understanding the Delivery Charge

everyone charges for delivery these days. everyone. so please, do not rant on and on about how you swear you called last week and we did not charge for delivery. hello....have you seen gas prices lately? or the cost of food? or the cost of insurance? All of these things contribute to our costs as a business. really people, come on....

4. Tip Your Driver

This is very important. if you are going to order for delivery, you absolutely MUST tip. Sure, there are the excuses....don't have enough money, doesn't the driver get the delivery charge (no they don't), don't have enough money. Here's my thing....if you have enough money to order pizza and have it delivered to your house (which we all know isn't cheap. its a convenient luxury people, not your inherent right as a person on this earth) then you have enough money to break off a few dollars for the driver. if this is to much to ask, then maybe its best that you get your lazy self into the car and hit up the value menu. for reals. What is an appropriate tip? well that depends. If you are getting just one or two pizzas and even maybe a side or drink...you know, something for just the family....then $3 to $5 is good...with $3 being decent and $5 a happy driver. The driver will truly appreciate anything more than that of course. If you are ordering a big order...say over 5 pizzas...then you need to up it accordingly. I hate to see the hard work that goes into an order that costs $200 only to see my driver come away with a 5. or nothing. Just remember...these guys and gals work for tips. not to mention they put miles and wear and tear on their cars to bring you dinner. So treat 'em right, and they'll treat you right as well (which they should do anyway, but you get my drift)

5. We Are Human

Last, but certainly not least, remember that we are only human. Yes, we get most, if not all, of our orders out flaw-free and on time every day. But sometimes mistakes happen. Somebody accidentally put mushrooms on your pizza but you wanted black olives? No problem. Just call the store and we will send another one right out to you. probably with something extra...like a drink or dessert...too. If you are okay eating it, we will refund your money then. Whatever it is...we will work with you. Please do not call up to the store screaming at me because we made a mistake. i realize its an inconvenience, and that it shouldn't have happened. but yelling does no good for anyone. And we pump out 100's of pizzas an hour sometimes. so every once in a while something gets mixed up. Do not exclaim to me that mistakes are unacceptable and will not be tolerated (this has happened to me, those exact words). Do not assume that i am uneducated because i work in a pizza place (also an accusation i hear). I run a pizza place lady. its not easy work, trust me. nor is it for the faint of mind. and my people? everyone needs jobs. for many here, they are in school or this is their second job. so please, leave out the insults.

An Extravaganzza Pizza: The Ins and Outs

At Domino's Pizza, an Extravaganzza feast is the pizza with almost everything on it, commonly called a supreme in other pizza joints. Domino's puts Pepperoni, Ham, Sausage, Beef, Green Peppers, Onions, Mushrooms, Black Olives, and extra cheese on it as the toppings. Many customers love this pizza, but when making one, it is very important to evenly proportion the toppings, since there are so many on the pizza. For a one topping pizza, well made, you can glance at it and tell it looks the same, but on an Extravaganzza, putting black olives on half the pizza or dropping 5 slices of ham on one slice and two on another is very noticeable, and shows inconsistency. Using scales to weigh the toppings is the easiest way to make sure an Extravaganzza is correctly fixed and will keep the customers ordering over and over. With this many toppings going on a single pizza, it doesn't take much of each topping to make the pizza look great. The pizza pictured here is a medium hand tossed Extravaganzza, and I will point out the flaws in this one, as well as what was done right. Also to note, this pizza has not been cut yet and has not had the garlic oil applied to the crust. The first thing to look at is the crust and the size compared to the box. There should be roughly 1 inch of space left between the box and the crust, and this one is right at 12". Just by glancing at this pizza, there are a few noticeable problems. First of all, the extra cheese looks to be too heavily applied in the middle, since you can't see any toppings in the center, and you can see a lot of beef and sausage on the right side, with very light cheese. Also, you may notice a problem with the black olives. The olives are not proportioned correctly, overly topped at the bottom left portion of the pizza, with hardly any in the middle or upper right. With this pizza, assuming the customer ate every slice, you would get one or two olives on one slice and 10 or so on another, changing the taste of each slice. The last thing that's not correct about this pizza is the mushrooms. It appears this time the mushrooms are correctly spread out, but there's not enough of them, and if the customer happens to enjoy mushrooms, this would not be good. Overall, this pizza would be great to 99% of the customers and is no problem, an easy sale.

Sauce prepping 101

Recently at some of the local Domino's Pizza stores in the Piedmont region of North Carolina, a switch was made from ready to use (RTU) sauce to concentrated sauce. It seems this is an easy cost saving measure, but apparently, mixing water and sauce is not as easy as it appears. For those outside the Domino's world, a typical sauce bucket held 3 bags of RTU sauce, while the concentrated sauce only requires two bags per bucket, therefore saving money. When prepping the concentrated sauce, we were given an exact measuring cup, sauce strainer, (for squeezing every last drop out of the bag) and a whisk to stir the sauce. I had the privilege of working the opening shift the day after the commissary truck delivered the concentrated sauce. Following the easy instructions, making concentrated sauce is quite easy. Many people make the mistake of emptying the sauce into the bucket first, but the best way is to pour the exact amount of water needed into the sauce bucket first, which makes stirring easier. While stirring the sauce and water, it is important to use the whisk and a spatula, so you get an easy and smooth mix. Another key to making good sauce is to not mix too long or not long enough. Many people think about one minute is enough, but three is a good number. The sauce needs to be thick enough to hold it's own, and not runny and soupy. The best trick to making perfect pizza sauce from concentrate is to re-stir or mix after about 15 minutes of it sitting still, further adding to the thickness and getting rid of any water that has emerged at the top of the bucket. I have unfortunately witnessed sauce prepping gone bad, so hopefully this will help any Domino's employee in the future. I have added a picture at the top of a perfectly made bucket of sauce.