Fast Casual SOS! (Speed of Service!)

Note from the author: To all of you that do not come from the restaurant, but had the courage to get through the pain of reading my first blogs to support me, a HUGE thank you – to me! (haha) Now, you’ve educated yourselves on two of the 100 pains in the restaurant business. Enjoy your summer, because today I will talk about the next painful experience you might encounter – more than often – in one of your many visits to the fast casual restaurant world. I’m not talking about Wendy’s, with 131 seconds average drive-thru service, or McDonald’s, who moved to the 5th spot with 154 seconds total drive-thru experience. (I’m sorry, but heads will surely roll over that slip in the ratings!) I’m talking about the administrative assistant who was given 30 minutes for his or her lunch break and spent 10 minutes on the waiting-to-order line.

Now do you understand why the managers should be unlocked (see Blog Number 1) and instead, spend every effort to move the waiting-to-order line? This is also the reason why attentive service will include A Sense of Urgency!

Speed of Service is the #1 reason for a restaurant to fail the “Mystery Shopper” survey. Across the United States, according to a leading restaurant magazine, only 38% of the guests are satisfied with the speed of their service. Here in the northeast, the number is slightly higher – at 52%. Folks, let’s not make a mistake, over half of our guests have spoken. A faster speed of service is obviously a good opportunity here.

SOS = Speed of Service. But it is actually a red flag for unhappy guests.

One of the major players in the fast casual food industry goes as far as to count speed of service in half-minute intervals, it’s that vital to customer retention. Company’s even measure the time that it took individual cashiers to complete the ordering part of the order, and then how long it takes each order to be prepared. This empowers them to troubleshoot various departments, equipment, etc. What if I told you that we even want to know how long it takes the cashier to JUST make change. As a multi-unit manager, I follow the speed of service reports and point out opportunities to each of my units on a daily basis. Why? Because that administrative assistant may not give you a second chance.

Speed of service ranks VERY high on the executives list of interest – it has always been a cornerstone of the industry. This is an area that can be practically measured and engineered. There are many opportunities to WOW the guest with a fast transaction. Let’s just remember that the word fast in FAST casual is there for a reason.

Warning: Although the quick-serve part of the fast casual industry is about speed, guests are surely smarter than that; they expect two Q’s: Quick and Quality. Quality must be built into every transaction as well, as Panera’s Senior Executive, Neal Yonotsky emphasizes.

Fast casual diners expect to be served in an average of ten minutes from start to end. There is little variation in demographics on this. How important is speed of service? Even full service entities realize that speed of service is a business building opportunity and are edging in on quick serve with new take out options, etc.

Here are some tips to improve your establishment’s sense of urgency:

Correct hiring and intense training.
Host sense-of-urgency meetings, both individually and as a group.
Post speed of service times daily.
Correct scheduling.
Prepare for volume.
Use zone managers.

To your continued success,

Thomas Antonopoulos
Restaurant and Food Industry Strategist
845-238-3355

PS: I would love to hear your ideas on how managers can create and maintain a peaceful experience for those guests who are waiting on line. I will offer some ideas on my Dessert-Before-Lunch technique in my next blog.