Uncle Julio’s: A Case Study in Employee Motivation

5 Min Read By MRM Staff

By turning the typical loyalty model upside down, Uncle Julio’s focused upon internal employees with a unique loyalty membership drive that resulted in an average of 2,000 new members per store and more than 50 percent increase in total membership.

Opened in Dallas in 1986, Uncle Julio’s has grown to 27 restaurants across seven states: Texas, Virginia, Maryland, Illinois, Georgia, Florida, and Tennessee. The restaurants offer savory, made-from-scratch Mexican favorites.

Uncle Julio's designed its new loyalty program to focus on big spending to incentivize both small and large group visits. Rewards are designed to be big and memorable, and to inspire guests to come redeem them with friends who’ll join the party. Upon reaching gold level, members receive an "App Buffet," a reward redeemable for appetizers for up to 15 people during one visit. This encourages large group visits, and corresponding large check totals. Redeeming loyalty rewards causes a ripple effect with guest…