Even through a successful run during the recession with adding high end and lower end food options, McDonald’s customers felt that the customer service slipped. McDonald’s is “pushing franchisees to improve staffing and service amid mounting complaints about rude employees.”
But most of us might think that it stops there. Just tell your minimum wage staff to $9.25 hourly supervisors to smile more, look at the customer, and assure them that their #3 and apple pie are on their way.
The companies who are extremely successful, whether it’s $1billion or $100,000 in revenues per year, go beyond that and study their process of the customer experience from beginning to end. McDonald’s has done this and the biggest strategic change to improving service – change the way you order.
After you’re done ordering your food, you use to step aside aimless, wondering if the same person who took your order will be the one to fulfill and serve you, or will it be some frantic manager or another server???
McDonald’s is changing that guessing game where now customers will order in line, receive a slip, and then be directed to move to an area that the servers and manager will have the sole purpose to fulfill your order and serve you.
Psychologically this should make a customer feel like they’re waiting less going from one ordering line and mentally tallying their cue time to another waiting line with a new mental cue time. Two 3-5 minute wait periods seems different than one 8-10 minute wait period. This is Services Marketing 101.
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