I’m a big fan of Fast Company (both online and off). When I travel, the magazine is always in my briefcase. If they offered an App for my iPhone (like The New York Times App) I would be a faithful subscriber. You get my drift …
So I was catching up on my Fast Company news and came across this recent post – I also borrowed the title I liked it so much – Would You Like Fries With That Outsourcing? Here’s a brief blurb from the post by Shawn Graham:
I was in the drive-thru of a national fast food chain the other day. As I placed my order, something seemed out of sorts. Was it their menu choices? No…that wasn’t it. The prices? Nope. Initially, I was surprised by thoroughness of the person taking my order. Not only was I asked if I wanted to order fries with my drink (something that usually doesn’t happen with any degree of regularity), but the person even asked me if I wanted lemon in the sweet tea (I didn’t even know you could get a lemon). When I pulled around to the ever popular “second drive-thru window,” (you know the one that only allows enough space for 2.5 cars to fit thus pretty much negating the benefit of having two drive thru windows?) I commented on her thoroughness. “Oh, we’re routing our drive thru orders through somewhere else…I think North Dakota” she responded.
I have no idea what restaurant he is referring to but have to assume it’s a franchise (chain restaurant with a drive-thru). And I have mixed feelings on the effectiveness of outsourcing a task like a drive thru window. What if the person changes their mind when they drive around to pay? Do you have to reconnect with the North Dakota call center?
