Order Accuracy

Instructor: Tim Tassopoulos, Senior Vice President of Operations, Chick-fil-A

Credentials: America’s Best Drive-Thru 2008 & Perennial Accuracy Leader

Performance reflects the amount of focus our operators put on the drive-thru generally and order accuracy specifically. We don’t have an additional technology, like an extra camera or anything you’d add to the system other than just trying to connect the order with what’s in the bag. It’s a matter of focus and discipline. It’s a matter of attentiveness on the part of the team member.

We don’t do anything special or unique. It’s literally a matter of focusing on the fundamentals. Vince Lombardi: “This is a football.” John Wooden: “This is how you start the season, by putting on your shoes and socks correctly.” It’s that sort of repetition, daily reminders, and encouragement.

If you don’t have a team member interested in doing a great job then all the management and leadership practices in the world are rendered ineffective. We actually try to put [at the window] the team members who will be best at drive-thru, which is different from saying “the best team members.” You’re looking for team members who have a natural bend toward that combination of speed, accuracy, and hospitality.

It starts with the operator. Performance at the drive-thru ultimately is a reflection of their commitment to it. And that’s cascaded out to their leadership and their team members. Operators use an almost unlimited number of ideas that they learn from other high-performing operators, as well as suggestions from their team members, to bring attention to the fundamentals. Some set goals. Some have incentives. Some use recognition. The involvement of the operator’s team is more important than any particular idea. It’s the principle of involvement that drives the commitment versus the power of the idea itself.

We know what customers want because we are customers ourselves. We want to be greeted quickly. We want to be greeted hospitably. We want great-tasting food. We want to leave the drive-thru window in a timely fashion with great confidence that not only is the food going to taste great, but that I have everything that I ordered. If those fundamentals aren’t executed upon, then my drive-thru experience will be disappointing.

We are looking for any opportunity for an individual interaction between a team member and a customer, for a team member to go above and beyond for that customer so they might identify an individual need of the customer, be it a mom with kids, an older customer, perhaps a customer that has a large order. We encourage our operators to encourage their team members to look for those opportunities, to take advantage of that opportunity to provide special assistance to that type of customer.

An elder customer may need you to speak a little slower to make sure they’ve connected with you and are hearing what you’re saying. The mom with kids may need an extra second to put her change away. You would want to pay attention to that. That’s the kind of awareness that really makes a difference.