Shouldn’t it just be “please pull around?”

At one point, an idea took root, and it changed the structure, staffing, and procedure of fast food business. The idea rang of some hollow notion about efficiency and customer service. “If we just had one person dedicated to the transaction, then we could dedicate a person manning another window to man the order fulfillment.” Or whatever…

Maybe it was a good idea. Maybe it wasn’t. Regardless of the merit, it was certainly sticky enough for competitors around the country to alter their business process and incorporate the second window into their operation.

The problem with the second window is that most sit vacant. I have even seen some that serve as storage. Most restaurants can only afford to staff the transactional window during peak hours, if they can at all. They didn’t believe that the use of the second window was beneficial enough to the business and the proposition of food fulfillment to man it all of the time. They didn’t implement. So now after you place your order you hear the friendly but unnecessary “Please Pull Around…To The Second Window.”

We all have aspects of our businesses that seemed like a good idea at one time or another—a competitor may have released a new feature, and our business decided that we needed to do the same. Or, perhaps, we have heard that it was a good idea to have CRM (customer relationship management) software. But often we make half hearted attempts at implementing the great ideas.  

If the idea is worth implementing, it is worth implementing well. If it is not a great idea, then figure out where you’re going to store your second window.