When an external customer walks into a McDonald restaurant, straight away their main needs and expectations is to firstly walk into an attractive well maintained and clean environment, to have a fresh tasting meal delivered to them politely from a well organized employee, who should prepare the meal quickly but carefully, making sure no mistakes are made. Each and every employee has the resources they need to serve the customers so they can be prepared as each customer approaches. Restaurants are adequately staffed to allow for a good customer experience as well as to provide schedule flexibility, work-life balance and time for training.
When serving the customers, employees should act in ways which make the customers feel as though they are happy with the service and would continue to do business with the organisation. Therefore the employees are trained to use appropriate communication techniques to make the customer feel comfortable, welcome and satisfied with the service. This means that every customer should receive respect, patience, friendliness, and good quality products. On behave of McDonalds (2004), claims that “At McDonald’s, we know that people are our most valuable resource. We aim to be the best employer in each community around the world where we do business.”
How the organisation recognizes its customer’s requirement
McDonalds is well known as a fast food restaurant, therefore the meals are expected to be delivered to each customer in a fast, efficient way, but in the same time, the meals need to be prepared cautiously to make sure no mistakes are made and to also make sure that the meal is fresh and of great quality. Another issue concerned with the service is the ‘customer rush’ this is when many customers all approach at once. This usually occurs during lunch time, straight after school hours, and around dinner time. When there is a ‘customer rush’, the store should be adequately staffed to allow employees to be prepared and deal with the large group of people as quick as they can. The organisation becomes aware of the requirements from previous circumstances when customers complain that their food is not fresh, or if they have been waiting a long time for their meal to be prepared.
All McDonald’s restaurants have possession of a particular McDonalds owned clock which works as a timer and helps in the process to distinguish how long the burgers have been sitting for. This process prevents the burgers from going past the stage where they are not fresh anymore. The fry station in which the fries are made also has a separate timer which goes of when the fries are no longer fresh. From time to time, accidents may happen and the timers may not be used efficiently. This is when the food gets cold, and customers begin to complain. When a customer complains of their food being cold or not fresh, they should be treated with extra consideration, get an apology and then have their meal replaced. The only way this problem can be resolved is for workers to make sure they keep an eye on the timers, and if there are no fresh burgers when a customer is served, they should be seated and have they’re meal taken to them within a few minutes.
If a customer feels that they repeatedly receive food which is not fresh enough, and they do not mind waiting a few extra minutes, they can ask for a fresh burger. Then, they will be asked to be seated while their meal is being made. Another circumstance may be if a customer is allergic to something in a meal, or don’t want a particular ingredient in their food such as pickles in their burgers or salt on their fries. All they need to do is make the person who is serving them aware of this. This is called a grill, and their meal will be freshly made as of above.
All the staff of McDonalds are trained to deal with the customers in a pleasant manner. Any suggestions from customers on how the service, environment, etc. can be improved would be taken positively and the matter would be discussed with the management because McDonalds wants all customers to be happy. Some McDonalds restaurants have suggestion boxes where customers can give their thoughts of any improvement which can be made for customer service delivery. The suggestions from customers are a great help to the management, as the customers are the ones who the store is trying to impress.
Within time, business technology can assist with the service at McDonalds by creating higher technology cash register, which may help with interpreting the order and assistance with the cash. The quicker the meal is ordered the quicker the meal can be delivered. Business technology could also assist with serving the customers on drive through.
“Our People Promise is more than words. McDonald's and its independent owner/operators have made a commitment to our employees that we strive to achieve with our actions every day” McDonalds.com (2004). To deliver the People Promise, there are in place, five people principles which promote customer service strategies. They include Respect and recognition, Values and Leadership Behaviors, Competitive Pay and Benefits, Learning Developing and Personal Growth and Resourced to get the job done.
The delivery of a quality service is essential to a successful business. “For McDonald's to achieve our goal of being the world's best quick service restaurant experience, we must have the best experience for all McDonald's employees.” This quotes that the quality of the McDonalds business revolves around the employees actions. Another main issue is that there is always a clean surrounding of each restaurant, to make everyone feel comfortable to dine in.
The main customer objective is when food is not fresh. To fulfill this objective, budget recourses which may help with the solution could include a buzzer or alarm to indicate that the food is off. Stronger heat may help so that the burgers, and fries stay hot, but this brings danger to the employees with the high risks of burns. The company can look further towards these issues to come to a resolution to the complaints.
Conclusion
The company of McDonalds is a largely known and popular business. The reoccurrence of so many customers indicates that it is successful. But there can never be enough of pleasing customers, because the more pleased customers become, the more business the store will get, this is from word of mouth. Therefore if a customer has a bad experience, the company’s earnings may slightly drop. McDonalds is cautious of the way they handle customers, the environment, and the quality of their food. They are also aware of customer complaints or suggestions of improving the service, food, etc. This helps a lot to improve the business which is becoming more and more popular everyday.
Bibliography
- http//:www.Mcdonalds.com.au
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Burbury E, 2003, Deliver and Monitor a Service to Customers, Software publication Pty. Ltd., Sydney.
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McDonalds Pty Ltd, 2001, Crew Member Handbook.
- http//:www.Mcdonalds.com (world wide)
