For as long as I can remember, we have been getting calls and emails for the Sonic Drive-In Restaurants.  Early on it was because we had a toll free number (888-530-0370) and they did not.  Now it just seems that there is not enough of a distinction between fried potatoes, slushes and chili dogs and branded marketing items to help increase visibility for clients, their services and events.  It forced us to create the following graph.



People call to ask about starting a franchise.  They call to find out where the nearest location is (in relation to Sonic Promos, the answer is West Virginia...figures).  We get calls with complaints about burgers (lots of those) and complaints about customer service (lots of missing teeth, sanitation issues and poor grammar).

We always laugh about how much money we could make if we could figure out some way to turn these people into clients.  And then we get emails like the one below that remind us why we do nothing:

Subject:
your hamburgers

Message:
they way you cut up the lettice and onions small the way you do causes it to fall out of the bun and into my lap. so i can't drive and eat one of your burgers. they are so messy and hard to eat because of that. i have heard others complain about the same thing. for that reason i avoid sonic hamburgers unless i have time to take my time and be very carful but even then the lettice onions and tomatoe fall out of the bun. i would eat more of your burgers if it wasn't for that.

So what is the message here?  If only there were one.  The truth is that we have been dealing with this for 13 years.  If it hasn't stopped now, it won't ever stop.  Now if only we could figure out how to imprint on the bun...

What do you get when you take a little creativity, a couple of dollars and the knowledge about what your co-workers like and don't like?? 

How about a new job with a nice promotion....

My cousin was interviewing for a new job and wanted to make a nice impression.  She decided to bring him a bag of coffee.  However, knowing that her interviewer did not like coffee, she "secretly" replaced the coffee with jelly beans and added custom information to the pouch with her name and some fun info on the contents of the package.

Needless to say, she got the job.

It is amazing what some branding, thought and candy can do for you when placed in the right hands.  Next time, she can order 500 and give them to all of her new accounts.

Over the years I have had the pleasure of having my kids, children of my staff and even children of clients come to visit and check out all of the goodies that we have on display.  When my kids were really little, they were happy to see all of the stress balls and anything that looked dangerous or could cause a mess. 

Now as they have moved into their mid-singles (6 and 4) they have begun to realize more about what we do and what we can do.  The occupational hazard to that is that they are now telling camp and schoolmates that "my dad can make anything I want."  Well yes, we can.  But how do you explain to a six-year-old about minimums and overseas production.  He just wants a yo-yo for crying out loud.  But hey, I would not change it for the world.  To have your child take interest in your work, ask questions and sometimes make false claims to schoolmates is really a blessing. 

It's a good thing I did not become a surgeon or logger.

Many people have heard about the great internship program that Sonic has offered since 2006.  High school students have come through our doors and gained a great deal of insight into the inner workings of a small business.  Now the program has been taken to a new level.  Chaka Khan, our chow-lab and 10 year veteran of Sonic has her own intern.  These pictures were recently taken of the mentor and her new assistant, Reddick Bowe Wow Wow.  Going solely by Reddick, our new addition has worked through a great deal of cardboard, stress toys and a few golf balls.  Welcome to the team.  Keep the office clean.