Speeding Up the Drive Thru

Another McDonald's focus point, according to business media, is that drive-thru times are getting . McDonald's, once one of the fastest places to get your lunch, has become one of the slowest.
Other fast food -- and notsofast food -- places have the same problem.

In the case of McDonald's, the "blame" has been put on an increasingly complex menu.
Increasingly complex orders by the customer are also a part of the problem. When McDonald's was the Speed King of lunch, it was before Burger King's "special orders don't upset us" campaign that turned many places' efficiency inside out and upside down. (And did anyone even ask those on the front lines if this was true?) In those days, you couldn't customize your sandwich the  way it's done now. In most places, you could take standard toppings off, but were often unable to add different ones.

Maybe it's time to go back to that philosophy for drive-thru orders.

I have seen, in other places, a few ideas implemented. They seem to be effective.

1) One car, one order.

2) No orders over 25$ (or 20$, or whatever is a reasonable expenditure for under 3 minutes prep, pay, and pick up times. That number can be arbitrary or can be determined by the prices and staff available. Although I have never seen it done based on time. (ie, no 20$ orders between 11 am and 1 pm, or after midnight.) It's a consideration.

3) No orders consisting of more than 10 (or 15 or 20) sandwiches, or even total number of items ordered, possibly excluding drinks from the count.

4) a limited number of changes made to menu items, as mentioned above.

5) drinks available at the pay window, for DTs with a pay window and a pick up window. Drink only orders are a big thing and take up space in lines and at windows when they can be simply handed out with the customer's change and receipt. These are among my favorite drive thrus.

Another consideration would be some kind of cell phone damper around the speakers (and cash registers inside) People pull up to the speaker and proceed to call the family or friends and read the entire menu board.
Or they just call to chit chat while they are waiting to be waited on and become too involved in personal conversation to order promptly. And, oh yes, by the way, your order taker and sometimes the entire store, including other customers, can hear every word you're saying. It's really not a good time or place for discussing your sex life or your co-workers (who may be waiting for lunch inside.)

Anyway, customer service personnel the world over would love to see such a device used. It's time consuming and confusing to take an order from someone engaged in a whole other conversation. And it sure slows things down at the drive thru, or anywhere during lunch hour.

After that, we get into fantasy equipment. Remember, I said FANTASY. These are not for real, nor should they be. They are just sometimes nice to think about.

A giant ejector spring would be nice for cars that pull up and then do not say anything when greeted and asked for their order.

A  great big timer -- one the next car in line can see -- for customers who "need a minute" or "just a sec". The timer could activate when the person inside is ready. At least that way the next guy knows the delay wasn't from inside the store.

A recorder that plays back exactly what the customer said so they could hear how funny they aren't. Or how difficult it is to hear what they are saying over the giggles and shrieks of their passengers, radios, and cellphones. Not to mention how much personal stuff they are sharing with godonlyknows who and how many.

Anyway, these are my thoughts on increasing the speed at the drive thru. Some of the ideas are serious, some are not. Some have been done in some places, others have not (to my knowledge) been tried.

If you are a customer -- and who isn't, at least occasionally -- and you think any of these or other ideas have merit, let your local store know what you would like to see and why. Customer suggestions are the strongest motivation for many changes.

Don't Disrespect Your Customer

There has been a lot in the news and on social media about McDonald's iosing customers and losing economic growth. This information mostly concerns a specific demographic -- those around 25 years old.

McD has made some surprising efforts to try and solve this problem, to reach out to this group, to come up with solutions. (One solution is/was simplifying the menu but offering more options. Yeah.)

The following is my opinion, and opinion only.

If McDonald's wishes to retain the business of the 25 year olds -- quit treating them like they are either 16 year old employees without a clue, or the 7 year old consumers they once were. This is disrespecting the customer.

Giving them only one suggestion for a drink is infantizing.  "does-ums want some cokey-coke wiss zat?" Even parenting manuals advise offering a choice. "Would you like a coke or some coffee with that?" is a much more adult interaction.

Contradicting this is the updated healthy choice happy meal option. To order a Happy Meal now, one (customer or cashier) must read through the equivalent of a preflight check list.
Which entree?
Which size entree?
Which side? (There are four choices.)
What drink?
And, when there's a choice of toys, which toy?

Some of this can be shortened by the one choice suggestion -- and did you want apple slices with that? Would you like a chocolate milk with that? --  it can leave the customer wondering about the choices not  being offered.

Again, a subtle show of disrespect.

Each customer and each order should be treated individually, not by recitation.

Suggestive selling is a part of any restaurant experience. Yet there are restaurants that allow a customer to say, "That's all." and not insist on offering something more. Let the order placing and order taking be done individually. If the customer seems insistent that "That's all" then don't insist on insisting an addition.

Who wouldn't prefer to go to a place where they are actually listened to?

Respecting the customer will bring more return visits than forceful selling of a serving of pie (that the customer has already indicated is not wanted.)
And, often, if the customer comes around, they will decide on a little more.
Or they may just decide to come back another time, because your place really does care about their experience.

The following is speculation on my part.

Another problem that McDonald's may have with this demographic is that many of them have worked for the business.

It is most likely that most of them worked for franchise stores, as they are the most prevalent. The franchise stores often do not treat their employees according to McDonald's corporation standards. And if there is an HR (human resources) problem, the corporation does not offer back-up to the employees. They tell them to contact their HR department. Many franchises are small, three or four stores, and the only HR is the bosses/owners that are already at the heart of the problem. If someone has tried to complain to corporation, they are getting desperate. It isn't easy to get through to them for general HR problems. (There are hotlines for specific unresolved conflicts.) To be told you must return to the source of the problem for a solution is (also) disrespectful.

If the 25ers haven't worked there, they have friends or relatives who have. It seems likely to me that these customers may be choosing not to go somewhere that has treated someone (they care about) badly.

In many cases, it may be as simple as that.


I have no suggestions to offer as solutions (except allow the order taker to sometimes decide if a suggestive sell is inappropriate).
I am reporting my observations and experiences, and those of people I have known.

I hope that McDonald's is considering these factors as well as menu choices, locations, and the many, many other facets there are to running a business of that size.

If they are, if they do, then it's possible for everyone to win.