100 Ways to Improve Your Drive Thru

[Ill_Used_Heroine]

I just saw this on another forum and I know that we have a lot of people here work the drive thru. Any thoughts on this?

http://www.qsrmagazine.com/ordering/...thru?page=show

[Nurian]

Sounds like an REMF trying to pretend he knows better than anyone else.

20 Clean the windshields of waiting cars. No one does this, which is precisely why you should.

And how in the name of Helio's flaming ball is the crew supposed to do this in a rush? Are you going to pay for the extra supplies and a guy whose job is just this?

6 People love their dogs, and distributing canine treats (although not alongside human food) can be a simple effort to distinguish your operation.

Seriously? No, just..no.

81 Customers respond favorably to outside order takers, a more personal system that serves as a line-busting technique during peak hours.

Where does this joker live??

[Merriweather]

Quoth Ill_Used_Heroine

I just saw this on another forum and I know that we have a lot of people here work the drive thru. Any thoughts on this?

http://www.qsrmagazine.com/ordering/...thru?page=show

Ok, I've never myself worked drive thru, but d*mn, even I can see the problems all over the place on this one. So, from more of a customer-sided reference, here's my take (will try to hit a few highlights, not all 100, LOL).

#1 can't be done. You can provide the items the normal person would need, but there's bound to be SC's who expect you to know they want taco sauce for their fries, or ketchup for their milkshakes

#5 Ok, politelness is good, but eye contact? I'm trying to find money to pay, put change away, keep control of my vehicle, I really don't care about whether you look me in the eye or not. And "sincere" smiles? From what I've seen, fast food employees are mostly overworked & underpaid & have to put up with way too much, and then you want them to give not just a smile but a "sincere" smile? My aren't you special.

#6 is great, but ain't gonna work. My Yorkie knew the gas station & McDs that kept treats and was ready and waiting when we pulled in - but of course, while practically everyone loved it, one SC at McD's saw the worker hand out a treat (and they always handed it to the driver, NOT to the dog directly) and complained, so of course, management had to put a stop to it (one complaining customer vs. loads of appreciative ones, and we know who wins that round).

#7 - see # 1

#10 fine and dandy, but they still have to actually pull up to them - can't change SC's who stop 10 feet before the speaker and can't understand why you can't hear them.

#12 - ask quickly, and they'll yell at you cause they haven't made up their mind

#14 - allow them more time, and get yelled at when you don't sense by telepathy that they're ready, or ask again after 7 cars are behind them and get yelled at cause they still aren't ready - you can't win on this one

#20 - you have GOT to be kidding me


#21 - this one made me laugh. Go thru your own drive-thru to see how measures up? Like employees are going to react the same to their own manager in a controlled order like they would if coping with real life? Reminds me of a mayor years ago in San Francisco - made a big deal of how safe one particular area, known for it's high crime level, really was - and proceeded to "prove" it by walking thru it at night unscathed - with a frickin' camera crew & reporters in tow Yeah, wonder why he didn't get mugged?

Did you noitce they listed things such as positions of ordering posts and whether or not to serve breakfast as "customer service" - like an employee can do any of that to make a difference. Then under management, we get off into fantasyland, like incentives & higher wages. And all the upscale technology section - guess one can dream.

#75 - this is an article on improving drive-thru, not in store service. So how on earth would having wi-fi make things better for a drive-thru customer, unless they plan to sit in the order lane and check their email (oops, sorry, forgot where I was, nothing would surprise me).

#76 - anyone can spot that flaw, depending on an SC actually reading something is asking for disaster.

#94 ok, we all eat & drive, everyone does it now and then when they have to - but actively encourage It? Police are gonna love that one.

#95 - drive-thru only specials Any happy drive-thru customers will be more than negated by all the people inside whining & complaining about not being able to get that special too.

[Bandit]

29 Go off site. With a singular focus on sales and accuracy, outsourced order-taking staffers receive thorough training, including upselling and add-on sales strategies.

Outsource the order-takers?

If they are anything like any telco, cableco, or my help(less) desk, they'll outsource to a country that is more renown for curry and very thick and almost unintelligible accents.

B

[bhskittykatt]

I've never worked a drive-thru, but...

1, 2, and 7 are all saying more or less the same thing.

6. I found out my local DQ gives out free cups of cream for doggies. And a local drive-in joint sells "puppie patties" which are plain hamburger patties. My dog loves drive-thru and drive-in treats.

11. I like the drive-thru since I usually go there after the gym and I'm sweaty and stinky and prefer to keep that all in the car. However, if they have a drive-thru, then they're already offering the breakfast menu there (at least in my experience). However, I'm not going to expect a non-breakfast restaurant to open early for breakfast.

15. Good advice, actually.

20. A nice thought, but really not that feasible.

44. I like these, since I can toss my cup from the last drive-thru trip to make room for a new drink. Oh God, I'm bad, aren't I?

70. Really? I've never worked a drive-thru, but from the glimpses I see, the person taking my order is usually punching in my order, filling an order ahead of me, prepping drinks, and doing a gazillion other things. They're not going to have time to have a nice little sit-down video-chat with me when I want to order! Again, nice thought, but not feasible.

96. This. I want this. Especially because Hubs sucks at making up his mind. It seems that whenever they remodel a drive-thru here locally, they take out the "pre-menu menu". I like to browse while I wait in line. This is something good that needs to be added, not removed!

[Becks]

Some of these are common sense/already industry standard, and the rest are a -a-thon.

[SpaceCore]

Okay, when you're making a list, don't give yourself a goal for how long it will be.
If you say "It NEEDS to be 100!" you're going to repeat yourself. And if you're bad at making lists you'll repeat yourself at number 7.

I was going to ask who this list is supposed to be for, because around me the only drive throughs are the major chains, and they're constantly making changes and improvements to their system. Then I realized, it's perfect for sucky customers. They'll read it and say "Yeah! They should totally do that! Now I have something else to complain about!"

Quoth Bandit

Outsource the order-takers?

These are actually very real. I know when I'm ordering at some Mcdonalds in my area (New England), I'm talking to someone in an office in Kentucky somewhere.

[Kiwi]

15 Using “what” questions encourages upselling. For example, “What would you like to drink with your cheeseburger?” The alternative, “Would you like a drink today?” fails to invite a drink purchase in the same way.

This one kills me the most I HATE it when staff are foreced to upsell to me. If someone asked me that I would then have to waste both of our times clarifying that I DIDN'T order a drink!

[mikoyan29]

Quoth Bandit

Outsource the order-takers?

If they are anything like any telco, cableco, or my help(less) desk, they'll outsource to a country that is more renown for curry and very thick and almost unintelligible accents.

B

I think McDonald's was trying that in some places. But doesn't that run contrary to having the order takers outside?

[fma_fanatic]

#14 - Just asking for drive thru rage. I can see lots of bad things happening because the person behind mr/ms take their sweet time takes forever to make a decision

#75 - White Castle does this already. Thought I'm not sure of they will allow you to pick it up at the drive thru or if you have to go inside.

#88 - While this may be a good idea, I suspect that it might be abused. People would go to the drive thrus at peak times knowing they'll get a free drink, and if they don't get it, they'll bitch up a storm. Besides, most places that do this already usually hand out the drinks. At least they do at the places I go when I'm asked to pull forward and wait.