Send in the clowns

Ahh, the angst of leaving the drive-thu only to discover that they got your order wrong. (Could be worse… you could be getting a delivery from the Chinese place when you open the bag to see that they forgot your soup). But we won’t ponder whether to get your money back or wait another ½ hour for the delivery to bring it. Instead, I’m thinking about today’s McDonalds drive-thru adventure. Like the Chinese restaurant proverb says, best to take it the ordering process slowly, i.e. order like you’re speaking to a first grader: One, that’s ONE… Egg role. Okay? TWO orders of spare ribs…. That’s two orders of spare ribs… etc. (And please read it back to me). But today at McDonalds (corner of Commercial Blvd. and Powerline Road in Ft. Lauderdale), an order of four coffees and one chicken sandwich turned into lesson in the theoretical viability of string theory for the woman behind the glass. Me: Two medium coffees with cream and sugar. Her: What size? Me: Medium… coffees. Her: Anything in them? Me: Yes, cream and sugar. Her: What size? Me: Let me start at the beginning. Her: One coffee? Me: Arrgghhh. Having done some extensive consulting in FFHR’s (Fast Food Hamburger Restaurants), I’m always intrigued not by these kinds of breakdowns in QSR, but more by the extremely rare sighting of stellar service. Which reminds me of the young man named Chet who once worked the Burger King drive-thru on Alton Road in Miami Beach. Working furiously without any help to keep the flow of cars and orders moving, I quickly asked him how hard under-staffed restaurants like his undermined his speed of service and accuracy. His answer… “Better when it’s just me… they get in my way.” Note to Oak Brook. Forget the warm body syndrome. Interview guides and PI’s, used for even non-exempt drive-thru positions can have a huge impact on revenue: One right hire equals two string theory experts.

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