No matter how good the food, drive-thru patrons patronize can get turned off by an unattractive landscape. Start with these basic outdoor designs to make your lot and your restaurant look first class.
Clear signage. This is especially important if you have more than one lane. Make sure your signage clearly indicates the purpose of each lane.
Plenty of navigation space. Cars range...
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...
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...
Drive-thru operators know what their customers want, and they focus on them to provide a good experience. Fast service times in the lane. Food that comes out hot, fresh and accurate. Easy to read menuboards, and a lot more. But sometimes they forget their guests also care about the people part of the business. Here are some tips to get customers feeling like you care and appreciate...
Have you heard about the NEXEO | HDX™ drive-thru platform from HME? It’s a world-class drive-thru audio solution designed to help drive-thru and restaurant operators achieve greater efficiency at every customer touchpoint. CE Repairs is proud to say that we now stock, sell and repair this ground-breaking headset.
Of course, CE Repairs is known primarily for its fast, professional...
When a timer, headset or other drive-thru part breaks down and needs repairs, the go-to option for most managers is to put it in a box and send it to a reliable repair shop. Of course it costs time and money, but it’s better to get the repairs done right by the experts.
But not all non-functioning parts need professional repairs. You could save the time and money by fixing the part...