Anyone who has ever ordered from a fast food joint would agree that the accuracy and speed of the order-taking agent is a critical indicator of the restaurant’s customer service. The very name of “fast food” seems to elevate customers’ expectations about their service all the more. Any delay or mistake is viewed negatively and badly affects their reputation.
To increase the speed and efficiency of their order-taking service, some fast food restaurants decided to give outsourcing a try. So if you are a fast food business owner thinking of outsourcing this aspect of your operation, keep on reading. These popular fast food chains outsourced their order-taking service and got the results they were hoping for:
1. McDonald’s. The world’s largest burger fast food chain began conducting trial runs of outsourcing their drive-through order-taking service in 2006. Their 40 branches from the states of Illinois, Missouri, Mississippi and Wyoming were the first to experience having outsourced order-takers from California. According to McDonald’s officials, they decided to outsource their order-taking in order to lower the mistakes occurring at the drive-through lane. McDonald’s Chief Financial Officer Matthew Paull shared that majority of the customer complaints they receive are from their drive-through customers who receive wrong orders. Their trial results proved to be positive, and McDonalds has since expanded this tactic to other branches.
2. Burger King. Burger King also gave outsourcing a try for its drive-through order-taking service at the same time as its competitors. The world’s second largest hamburger fast food chain hired a remote call center in order to improve the satisfaction of their drive-through customers and increase the speed and accuracy of the orders taken at the drive-through lane.
3. Wendy’s. The world’s third largest burger fast food chain started outsourcing their drive-through order-taking in the same year as McDonald’s. Their customers from California, Florida and Washington, D.C., were being served by order-taking agents from New Hampshire. Wendy’s franchisees were impressed with the initial trial results that they planned to include more restaurants in this system.
4. Jack in the Box. For the purpose of giving their store-based employees more time and greater focus to serve customers, handle orders and payments, this American fast food chain tried outsourcing their drive-through’s order-taking operation to a call center. They conducted the trial in the middle of 2008 for a few branches in Charlotte, North Carolina. According to Jack in the Box spokeswoman Kathleen Anthony, the orders are handled by call center based in Texas, but some may be processed by call centers located outside of the country.
5. Hardee’s & Carl’s Jr. These two, almost identical fast food restaurants owned by CKE Restaurants Holdings, Inc. expressed their interest to outsource their order-taking service to remote call centers as early as 2006. Their goal was better customer service. CKE’s head of technology operations Jeff Chasney said their drive-through store employees are burdened with multi-tasking, resulting in order-taking mistakes. CKE planned to roll out their outsourced order-taking service to more branches after the first five Carl’s Jr. branches in California have completed their run.
These fast food giants have decided to give outsourcing a try in the interest of greater store efficiency and speed, ultimately resulting to a better customer service experience. They have proven that outsourcing your order-taking operations is not only feasible but also beneficial for both their employees and their customers. Talk to an outsourcing provider today.