Results of the 2008 Quick Service Drive-thru Performance Study confirmed that Wendy’s is still the fastest, but that Chick-fil-A is still the overall ‘best.’  Behind Chick-fil-A, the top performers in this year’s study were McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, and Del Taco. 

The 2008 Study included newcomer Culver’s, a Wisconsin-based chain operating nearly 400 restaurants in 17 states.  In the overall rankings Culver’s finished in the middle of the pack at 15^th, anchored by a last place finish in speed of service, but near the top in both order accuracy and menu board appearance. 

Although some changes are apparent in speed of service, a comparison of the top five performers from the 2007 Study reflects only slight differences. Good news/bad news for new Wendy’s owner Triarc: Wendy’s is again the fastest chain at just over 131 seconds per vehicle–-approximately 7 seconds faster than it’s first place time from last year.  There were, however, fewer vehicles in line at Wendy’s drive-thrus this year than last (from 1.68 in 2007 to 1.48 in 2008), which could account for this difference as over the years the Quick Serve Drive-thru Study has consistently demonstrated that for any given chain, more vehicles in line equals longer service times. 

Bojangle’s, which was added to the Study three years ago, finished 2^nd in speed of service, up from 8^th in 2007.  It’s average service time of just over 151 seconds is similar to the 152 seconds Checker’s posted while finishing 2^nd in 2007, and is nearly 40 seconds faster than Bojangle’s average time of 190 seconds last year.  As is the case with Wendy’s, much of this speed improvement may be attributable to fewer customers in line; 1.48 in 2007 to 1.07 this year.  Interestingly, along with Bojangle’s improvement in service speed also came a decline in order accuracy.

Burger King is 2008’s 3^rd place speed of service finisher at 153 seconds per vehicle, up from 6^th place last year when it averaged nearly 180 seconds.  Although Burger King also had a decrease in the average number of vehicles in line, this change was rather slight (1.5 to 1.42) and does not appear to account for all of the nearly 30 second improvement.  Taco Bell improved its average service time from just over 163 seconds in 2007 to less than 155 seconds in 2008, while also increasing the average number of vehicles in line from 1.34 to 1.46. Unfortunately this improvement was not enough to prevent Taco Bell’s slide one place in the rankings, from 3^rd last year to 4^th place this year.  Similarly, McDonald’s dropped one slot to 5^th this year, despite shaving nearly 10 seconds from it’s average service speed, while increasing the average number of vehicles in line from 2.54 in 2007 to 2.69 in 2008. 

Chick-fil-A again had the busiest drive-thru this year, with an average of 3.57 vehicles in line--even more than its average of 3.42 in 2007 (also the busiest drive-thru among all chains in last year’s study).  McDonald’s average of 2.69 vehicles represents the second busiest drive-thru.  There was a significant drop between the top two busiest chains and the 3^rd most-busy chain, which was Culver’s with 1.57.  To illustrate just how large the gap is between the top two - Chick-fil-A and McDonald’s - and the rest of the chains, consider that there is a 2 vehicle difference between Chick-fil-A (busiest) and Culver’s (3^rd busiest), but less than a one vehicle average difference between Culver’s (1.57) and the least-busy drive-thru encountered this year, Long John Silver’s (.77).  To see the impact the number of vehicles in line has on speed of service, consider that Wendy’s average service speed when there were 2 or fewer vehicles in line was 118.8 seconds, as compared to it’s average of 188.9 seconds when there were 3-5 vehicles in line.  And remember, speed of service based on our definition excludes the time the customer waits in line prior to reaching the speaker.

Overall, average service times dropped from nearly 200 seconds last year to slightly over 184 seconds this year.  Although the average number of vehicles in line decreased slightly, from 1.43 in 2007 to 1.38 this year, that change would not account for all of the nearly 16 second improvement.  Nor can the speed improvements be blamed on order accuracy, as this year’s overall order accuracy percentages improved after a slight decrease in 2007 from 2006.  Speed enhancements can be attributed, however, to; continued improvements and refinements in restaurant operations, the use of speed enhancing tools such as internal timers (see QSR magazine Midweek Jolt 6-18-08), and the emergence of faster payment options such as contactless payment card readers, which allow a consumer to simply tap his/her card to an appropriately equipped reader and the sales information begins processing almost immediately. 

Chick-fil-A was the accuracy leader again in 2008, improving the nation’s best mark from 95.2% accuracy in 2007 to 97% this year.  Newcomer Culver’s finished 2^nd, followed closely by Del Taco, Jack in the Box, and Krystal Burger.  As previously noted, Bojangle’s appears to have sacrificed accuracy for speed, as it fell from 3^rd (93.9%) in 2007 to 23^rd at 85.6% in 2008 order accuracy.  It will be interesting to keep an eye on Bojangle’s accuracy over the next few years to see where the operation is on this important criteria, as in 2006 Bojangles had the lowest score in the order accuracy category prior to it’s climb to 3^rd last year.

As is typically the case, there was a lot of movement in the order accuracy rankings this year.  This is attributable to the fact that order accuracy as a whole improved throughout the nation, and because there is such a small difference separating most of the chains that a slight change in performance can result in a big move in the rankings.  Krystal, for example, remained quite consistent in performance from 94.63% accurate in 2007 to 94.55% accurate in 2008, yet fell from 2^nd in 2007 to 5^th this year.   Burger King improved it’s accuracy rate from 92.26% in 2007, which was good for a 5^th place finish in the rankings, to 93.62% this year, yet it fell in the rankings to 8^th.  Big movers in the accuracy category included KFC, moving from 23^rd (86%) in 2007 up to 9^th this year (93.4%), and Jack in the Box, which moved up to 4^th (94.81%) from it’s 17^th place finish last year (88.35%).

The overall higher percentage of accurate orders this year was accomplished through improvement top to bottom.  In addition to Chick-fil-A’s improvement, the 25^th place finisher Church’s was over 2% more accurate than 2007’s 25^th place finisher, A&W.  All but seven chains had accuracy rates of 90% or better this year, as compared to 12 of the 25 chains in 2007 and 17 of 25 in the 2006 Study.  Only two chains had accuracy rates of less than 85% this year.

Beverage fulfillment appears to be the most problematic item regarding order accuracy.  2.76% of researchers who ordered a drink with no ice received drinks with ice, while another .87% received their beverage with no straw, .4% either received an incorrect flavor or size of drink, and another 1.09% did not receive their drink at all.  Compare that to only slightly more than 1% of researchers who had some issue with their main item (which includes unfulfilled or incorrect changes to toppings on sandwiches). 

Worried about eating in the car?  Del Taco was the only chain to fulfill every non-food related item (napkin, straw and correct change) with each order.  McDonald’s and Chick-fil-A were the only other chains to provide a napkin with every order. In addition to Del Taco only Captain D’s and Culver’s provided a straw with every order. 

Perhaps not a coincidence, in addition to being the order accuracy leader, Chick-fil-A also had the best communications with researchers via it’s speaker systems.  Over 97% of researchers reported that communications were “clear and understandable” at Chick-fil-A.  Compare that to the national average of 91.5%, and it’s easy to see where good communication systems can translate into a competitive advantage when it comes to accurate order fulfillment.  To that point, 3 of the top 5 in order accuracy were also in the top 5 of speaker clarity (Chick-fil-A, Krystal, and Del Taco), while McDonald’s and Carl’s Jr. were 6^th and 7^th in accuracy and 5^th and 6^th in speaker clarity respectively.  In addition to providing restaurants with a better opportunity to accurately fulfill and order, clear and understandable communications can also minimize consumer anxiety and frustration at the order point.

Krystal scored well in the menu board category also, with a remarkable 100% of the restaurants visited having menu boards that were considered clean and well maintained.  Overall nearly 96% of the restaurants visited as a part of this Study met that standard. 

So where do you go to get the friendliest service in the country?  Try Carl’s Jr.  At over 34% of the locations visited, Carl’s associates provided service that included a smile, eye contact, and a pleasant demeanor with a “please” and “thank you”.  Surprisingly though, at nearly 20% of the restaurants visited during this Study the associate at the pay window failed to thank the researcher for his/her business.  Furthermore, less than 37% of pay-window associates said “please” when asking for payment, and more than 38% of researchers left the restaurant with an impression that service was not provided in a “pleasant demeanor”. 

These metrics have to be considered a failure in our industry, and likely attributed to store level execution.  I cannot recall a single executive in my entire career that has not had customer service at or near the very top of his/her list of key components to being a successful enterprise.  And it’s not necessarily that owners and managers are unaware of the importance of customer service, but rather that staffing with quality human resources who genuinely buy-into the objectives of the restaurant has become increasingly more challenging. 

Historically labor turns rather quickly in the industry, and jobs in “fast food” are often considered ‘entry level’ employment.  In many aspects the industry has been able to overcome that obstacle through technological advancements when it comes to the operational elements of processing orders, however, store level associates are still the only liaison between the restaurant and the customer, so unless the human resource issue is solved at any given restaurant, service can be a huge challenge.  This dynamic makes the restaurant owner/operator and his/her management team the key ingredients for any brand to stand out from the pack, as the ‘crew’ will typically reflect the personality and commitment of it’s management.