Hire the American Dream: How to Build Your Minimum Wage Workforce Into A High-Performance, Customer-Focused Team

Praise for Hire the American Dream

“I learned early on that Dave Melton had cracked the code(about hiring and retaining great people) in his Manhattan franchise.His employees, who are all immigrants to the United States, areextremely loyal and are committed to customer service.”
—From the Foreword by David A. Brandon, Chairman and CEO, Domino’s Pizza, Inc.

“This is a must-read book for anyone managing or interested in starting a business, especially in the role of a franchisee. It’s loaded with keen insights and best practices for interviewing, hiring, and motivating employees in a very challenging business environment. Dave Melton’s story is truly inspirational.”
—Jack Whipple, President, National Council of Chain Restaurants

“Hire the American Dream provides valuable lessons from the trenches. The school of hard knocks has taught Dave Melton a lot. You’ll benefit fromhis experiences—you’ll learn about creating incentives, enhancing customerservice, connecting on a personal level, giving feedback, and building world-class teams. Take his ideas and run with them. You’ll build more successful teams.”
—Robert D. Reid, Dean, College of Business, James Madison University

“Dave Melton shares his time-tested approach to creatingrestaurants that are brimming with energy. And it all begins withDave’s amazing passion for developing the future owners ofDomino’s Pizza stores. If you care this much about developing leaders,you and your business will be richly rewarded for years to come.”
—Cheryl Bachelder, CEO, AFC Enterprises, Inc.

“Hire the American Dream really gets to the heart of selecting,training, motivating, and ultimately retaining a world-class team whowill care as much about your business as you do and deliver exceptionalcustomer service that can help any business grow.”
—Stuart Mathis, President, Mail Boxes Etc., Inc.

“This book is filled with great commonsense approaches to customer service and leadership training with an easily understood message thatevery organization needs to hear. In these days when management thoughtis presented in complicated models, there is something refreshing about leadership principles taught by a guy who simply loves to make pizza. This book is for everyone who wants to be a better leader.”
—Marshall Cook, Executive Producer, Multi Image Group

Learn how to get the best from yourminimum-wage workers—from one of America’s top fast-food managers

Managing minimum-wage workers can be a frustrating job. Employees quit with no notice, they can be rude to customers, and sometimes they steal from you. Often, they just don’t care. If you have trouble finding and motivating high-performing frontline workers, you need to meet Dave Melton—the celebrated operator of four Domino’s Pizza franchises in New York City—and learn his secrets. In an industry in which high turnover is the rule, Dave has a waiting list of prospective candidates eager to start working for him at minimum wage—and a frontline supervisory staff that has had zero turnover for years at a time.

Melton’s Domino’s stores have thrived in the world’s toughest pizza market because of the inspiring way he manages his workforce. His employees, many of whom are recent immigrants in their very first job, have learned how to be part of a team, make customers happy, and achieve the American Dream by working hard and being rewarded for it. In fact, some of Melton’s workers who started delivering pizzas by bicycle for minimum wage are now millionaire owners of their own successful Domino’s franchises. Many others have worked their way up to middle-class manager positions with $70,000 incomes.

The key to Melton’s success lies in his infectious enthusiasm and encouragement of employees, his willingness to help them succeed and grow professionally, and his eagerness to reward them for hard work. One grateful employee even named his son after Melton! His commitment to employees and inspiring vision leads to workers who are devoted to him, to his business, and to his customers—and that leads to astounding success.

Hire the American Dream explains Melton’s principles for inspiring, motivating, and promoting employees—because the best way a leader can develop and retain great employees is to help them become leaders, too. This is more than just a book on supervising or teaching business fundamentals to frontline employees. Melton shows you how to use his proven tactics to develop enthusiasm, excitement, and eagerness in your own workforce. And the inspiring stories of his employees serve as proof that the American Dream is alive and well.