With long lines in the drive-thru not showing signs of abating you may want to consider (or reconsider) adding delivery to your drive-thru repertoire. Here are four ways to make it work.
1. Keep remote ordering simple. Make it easy to order via PCs, smart phone apps and social media with smart design and easy to read menus. Be sure to provide options for customizing orders.
2. Support...
Drive-thru equipment repairs can cost a lot of money, especially if you don’t maintain your equipment properly. These tips will help you save money while still getting top quality repairs.
Teach employees how to handle headsets and other equipment with care.
Clean your equipment on a regular basis.
Don’t store headsets near water; always put them in a dry place.
Remember...
Teamwork in the drive-thru is vital to providing fast service and a good customer experience, especially with the ongoing labor shortage. The fewer employees you have, the more important it is to train your team to work together.
Teach respect. Explain how respect creates a bond that supports teamwork. Constantly model it to your crewmembers.
Cross-train all crewmembers. Cross-training...
Today’s digital menuboards offer more than just menu information. With the new technologies they have become sophisticated selling tools that can increase sales and profits. Try these techniques for capturing customer attention and raising their average ticket total.
First, design your menuboard for profitability. Make the items that best support your revenue, average ticket sales, and...
Few things are more upsetting than having downtime of a vital drive-thru part, such as a headset or timer system, because it stops working. The time it takes to ship it, have it repaired and returned to your drive-thru can reduce operational efficiency and drive up service times.
CE knows how important it is to minimize drive-thru part downtime, so we offer an Advance Exchange Program that...
Have you thought about getting a dependable but low-cost way to communicate with customers in your drive-thru? What about a reliable backup for your wireless headset system? A cabled intercom provides a cost-effective solution for both.
Granted, a cabled intercom can’t compare with the latest drive-thru technologies, but they are better than they used to be. The newer ones include noise...
Lines keep getting longer in drive-thru lanes, yet customers still want fast service. Here are some simple but effective ways for lowering your service times.
Install menuboards before customers get to the order point. Giving them more time to browse the menu will lead to quicker orders.
Encourage remote ordering and provide a dedicated lane for those customers.
Equip line busters with...
The big trend in the drive-thru seems to be auto voice ordering with artificial intelligence (AI), but it’s not the only way to simplify drive-thru ordering. Using hand-held devices can also reduce service times and lower order mistakes. These devices:
Are fast, portable, and flexible. Handheld POS devices, such as mobile tablets, get orders to the kitchen faster and can accept payment...
Preventing germs and diseases from being transmitted to crewmembers and guests is important in the drive-thru. But sometimes it does occur, usually due to spoiled food, unclean food preparation areas, and failure of crewmembers to practice good personal hygiene.
What you may not know is that it can also happen with contaminated headset earplugs, which can cause ear infection due to...
Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly being used to take orders in drive thrus. Why? Because it takes orders quickly and accurately and allows the human order taker to get involved in other tasks without making guests wait. But if you still use human order takers and the headset breaks down, you’re in trouble unless you have a standby headset. After all, headsets are the most important...