The drive thru is experiencing much higher traffic than ever before with sales far above the industry average of 60 to 70 percent. As a result, many brands are looking for new ways to inspire and engage their crews and optimize productivity in order to ensure guests continue to receive the quick, convenient, and personable service they’ve come to expect.
One simple way to improve store-level productivity is to refresh the drive-thru operation through gamification, which makes serving customers fun and engaging for crews and store managers. By appealing to humans’ competitive nature, Nitro Gamification connects teams in a new way, helping improve efficiency and, ultimately, resulting in a great customer experience.
“Everyone likes getting awards and recognition,” says Paul Foley, president of HME Hospitality and Specialty Communications. “Gamification appeals to our natural competitive instincts, and when you gamify the drive thru like we do with ZOOM Nitro, people start to look forward to coming to work and having fun.”
HME drew on nearly 40 years of experience and partnership with the quick-service industry to design ZOOM Nitro Gamification. The platform uses game psychology to create competition in-store and across a brand. Store operators are using ZOOM Nitro Gamification to schedule multi-store contests and reward their teams’ accomplishments. For example, the top-performing store during the lunch daypart at the end of the predetermined contest period receives a prize, like a team pizza party or possibly gift cards. By incentivizing drive-thru performance, crew members are more excited to work together and are motivated to improve speed of service, increase car counts, and give customers great service.
“Nitro Gamification creates new opportunities for employees to connect,” Foley says. “The interaction between store managers and crew increases when everyone is working together toward a common goal, resulting in a greater sense of belonging and teamwork.”
Additionally, the “Smack Talk” feature allows stores to send competitive messages to each other through the Leaderboard to further build up excitement and add to the fun.
HME prides itself on delivering solutions that accommodate the unique needs of restaurants. ZOOM Nitro Gamification, for example, gives operators the ability to group stores as desired. Popular groupings include by lane configuration, traffic volume, and location. This flexibility helps to level the playing field and further motivates crews, as it makes beating the competition more attainable.
And with design, manufacturing, sales, and support staff all working together under one roof, HME can streamline every aspect of equipment ownership so restaurants can focus on doing what they do best: serving their customers.
“From helping our customers with employee engagement to improving speed of service and order accuracy, we strive to make each customer our priority,” Foley says. “If you haven’t partnered with us yet, we’d love the opportunity to earn your business.”
To learn more about how HME can help make your drive-thru more engaging, visit its website.
