Is McDonalds as Bad as the Rants would have you believe?

Delivering a perfect customer experience is a tall order ... but keep in mind that this, by my definition, is not requiring perfection but instead requires a level of value that turns customers into advocates for your business.

And yet, given the ability we all have to rant out disappointing personal experiences with various vendors, just one disgruntled customer can do a lot of damage -- especially if that person is a radio announcer like Wyatt Cox. He has a program where he tries to help businesses by letting customers tell their own stories on the air.

Wyatt, or more precisely, his wife had a bad experience at McDonalds. And his story of the experience is indeed one that would have upset me too. But there is a twist to this story.

First, Wyatt's personal story:

As we waited, the shift manager was taking orders. My wife flinched, saying the last time she was there he mixed up her order. I ordered my wife’s fish filet sandwich with lettuce, onions, and tomato with fries and my cheeseburger plain. He then proceeded to thoroughly confuse the order. I patiently untangled his mess, paid for the order, and received no thank you, no acknowledgement at all! Five minutes went by, then ten minutes. There were no other orders, and I was wondering if the steer had to be killed and the fish caught, when our order finally came up. My double cheeseburger was fine. After all, how can you mess that up.? My wife’s order, though, was a different story. The French fries contained a pound of salt, the filet was not golden brown, but dark brown and could have been used as a brick, and the tomato was vintage 2002 The shift manager argued, bickered, and eventually and grudgingly gave my wife a refund. We then went to Smiths, bought a frozen dinner, and went home.

Enter the Associated Press

Second, some research that was apparently unearthed by Associated Press when they got their hands on an internal McDonalds franchise memorandum ... and carried on Wyatt's blog.

It seems that McDonalds emailed a report to it's franchisees entitled “Loud and Clear; The Voice Of The Customer”. Among the report's findings, compiled from the more than half a million complaints lodged at McDonald's customer contact center last year: Customer complaints were up at both company owned and franchise locations; 20.1 per 100,000 guests at company stores, 12 per 100,000 guests at franchisees. Tops on the complaint list was "transactional accuracy"-wrong items, missing items, badly prepared items, mischarging and the like. This category accounted for roughly a quarter of the complaints. About 15 percent of the complaints were for "rude and unprofessional service", with "speed of service" coming in third  with about 7 percent. Calls of praise or appreciation totaled 5 to 7 percent according to the report. For a retail business that's a high number; based on my recent negative experiences with McDonald's it should be considered nothing short of a miracle. McDonald's Bill Whitman wouldn't comment much on the document to the Associated Press reporter other than to label this an internal document and to state while customer feedback isn't "always what we like to hear, it's information we need to do a better job".

Setting a Higher Standard

First of all, I think there's some truth in Wyatt's conclusion -- too many service providers don't really care a hoot about their customers or they have the mistaken impression that customers like to be mistreated. America should stand for more than poor or mediocre service. We should lead the world in delivering great value to customers -- but then so should businesses in every country. I write this blog to encourage more managers to do whatever they can to deliver a perfect customer experience. In my mind this is the most important aspect of marketing. Get the experience wrong and all the money we spend acquiring customers is wasted away as they walk out the door looking for a vendor who is willing to give them the value they seek.

But is McDonalds doing such a bad job that they are getting hammered here?

Of the customers who called the McDonalds contact center, only 20.1 out of 100,000 calls were negative. That's just .002% compared to 5-7% who called with compliments. Yes, I know that many customers who had bad experiences went out sulking, disgruntled and mad. I've been there ... on more than one occasion I get my hamburgers with onions even though I order NO ONIONS. And I have never called the McDonalds contact center. But the metrics that come in through the McDonalds contact center are not that bad.

The Wrong Response

Which leaves me wondering why McDonalds' spokesperson Bill Whitman did not take a more positive position when responding to a radio announcer looking for comment. Sure, Mr. Whitman should never be happy even if just one customer got bad service. But 5% were positive compared to .002% who were negative. That might not perfection, but all in all it seems to me that McDonalds is doing a pretty good job.

Comments

[Dale Wolf]

Elaine,

Thanks for sharing this marketing strategy ... I'd say this is a great example of a company (in this case, McDonalds) listening to the marketplace and taking positive action to reverse a bad situation. Very clever!

[Elaine Olsson]

Has anyone seen or heard of the new marketing strategy McDonalds has started -- targeting specifically to moms? They have taken a handful of average moms who have a range of kids from toddlers to teens, and Corporate has actually taken them "behind the scenes" in how they make their French fries. The moms went through the process from the fields of where potatoes were picked, to plants where they were sliced and prepared, to their final destinations of individul McDonalds restaurants. The moms were very impressed with the process and actually are quite convincing to other moms (like myself), and they are promoting that McDonalds CARES and that they DO produce quality food for the entire family. I have also questioned "what goes on behind the scenes", but I think this marketing approach can go far and offer better customer service in the short- and long run --- from the TOP, Down.

Elaine Olsson

[Dr. John G. Malone]

I visit my local McDonalds restaurant located at 989 E PRICE in
KELLER, TX 76248 approx three times a week. My children love the Happy Meals and I enjoy the assortment of hamburgers and tasty chicken sandwiches for a quick lunch. However, more-than-likely I will never visit this particular establishment again. My last experience at this restaurant (today at 12:45pm on 2 SEPT) left me sick and disgusted and wondering what “really” goes on behind the scenes at a McDonalds. The McNugget Happymeal that I ordered for my 2-year-old daughter was half eaten. Although it was nicely packaged and wrapped-up; it was clear to myself and the Assist Manager on duty that all four chicken nuggets had been nibbled on, were half consumed and served to us. I’m actually writing this complaint through the McDonalds web site because the restaurant Assist Manager on Duty is “very sorry but doesn’t have a comment box or section for complaints.” I am very concerned about sanitation and hygiene and cleanliness of this particular McDonalds. This has left me wondering about my choice, my family’s choice, my friends’ and communities’ choice in the quality of food preparation in the local McDonalds –John Malone, M.D.

[Dr. John G. Malone]

I visit my local McDonalds restaurant located at 989 E PRICE in
KELLER, TX 76248 approx three times a week. My children love the Happy Meals and I enjoy the assortment of hamburgers and tasty chicken sandwiches for a quick lunch. However, more-than-likely I will never visit this particular establishment again. My last experience at this restaurant (today at 12:45pm on 2 SEPT) left me sick and disgusted and wondering what “really” goes on behind the scenes at a McDonalds. The McNugget Happymeal that I ordered for my 2-year-old daughter was half eaten. Although it was nicely packaged and wrapped-up; it was clear to myself and the Assist Manager on duty that all four chicken nuggets had been nibbled on, were half consumed and served to us. I’m actually writing this complaint through the McDonalds web site because the restaurant Assist Manager on Duty is “very sorry but doesn’t have a comment box or section for complaints.” I am very concerned about sanitation and hygiene and cleanliness of this particular McDonalds. This has left me wondering about my choice, my family’s choice, my friends’ and communities’ choice in the quality of food preparation in the local McDonalds –John Malone, M.D.

[Syntellect]

As Mike pointed out, if someone has a positive or even neutral experience, as most people do, then they aren't going to take time out of their day to call in and tell the company what a great job they're doing.

[Mike]

I find it funny that you think those numbers ar accurate. 20 out 100,000 call are negative? Having managed a few call centers and having somebody I know that worked for McDonalds center the numbers there are more likely 8 out 10 calls are going to be negative. People just don't usually take time out of their day to call to make a positive comment.

[Ben]

As Magnus points out, your analysis is fundamentally flawed!

Guests to the store to not equate to calls to the contact centre as your yourself point out!

[Chris Bucholtz]

Notice that there were around 20 complaints per 100,000 at company-owned stores, but only around 12 per 100,000 at franchise outlets? What might that suggest about McDonalds' corporate-wide emphasis on customer service?

Chris Bucholtz, editor, Inside CRM

[Magnus]

I think there is an error in the analysis. In the original quote it says '20.1 per 100,000 GUESTS at company stores', i.e., whether they are calling or not. That's NOT the same as '20.1 out of every 100,000 CALLS'.

[Rudy Vidal]

Dale,
thanks forthe great post. The underlying intention behind customer service is the source of all good things. We will never be able to satisfy every customer, however, to the extent that we accept "ONE" dissatisfied customer as innevitable, we loose. As managers of the customer experience we need to have the intention to satisfy 100% of our customers, and accept that our jobs will never be done.
There is something we can do every day, that will make things a little better for our customers.
Cx is the standard !

Thanks for all your work and your sharing of the philosophy.

Rudy Vidal

[Graham Hill]

Dale

Whilst I sympathise with McDonalds being an easy target, I don't have any sympathies for any company so complacent in today's customer-centric world.

Perhaps Mr Whitman is the wrong man in the wrong job. Or perhaps he should be sent to Toyota for a month so that he can breath in the Toyota Way and see how never being satisfied with the status quo has made Toyota into one of the best companies anywhere.

Graham Hill
Independent CRM Consultant
Interim CRM Manager