On Tap from the Pub

By Tom Field

Executive Summary:

Is uniformity in staffing the most difficult challenge?

Franchising UX

My son-in-law, Evan, forwarded a Reddit thread where someone constructed a list of local fast-food joints in the Roanoke market. There were only two classifications: best and worst. So we got this person’s assessment of the best and worst McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Wendy’s, Burger King, Sonic, Chick Fil A, Bojangles. Although I almost never frequent any fast-food restaurants these days, what’s interesting about this thread is the general consensus and agreement that resulted.

It’s as if all the Reddit reader heads popped up in a bit of astonishment, then nodded, followed by the collective thought, “yeah… I can see that. The McDonald’s at the Civic Center IS terrible compared to the one in Vinton.” And so on.

Sidenote: At least one Reddit reader this session was also thinking: “The worst Chick Fil A is still better than the best of all the other fast food joints.” (Can you guess which

Chick Fil A got the dubious distinction? Hint: it’s not a self-contained restaurant; it’s a tenant location.)

But how can this be, we might ask. These fast-food restaurants are franchises. There is a model of operation involved. The product, branding, services, culture and way of doing business is a structured component under the franchisee’s agreement.

Which got me to thinking. Maybe what needs to be “franchised” the most is the customer service or user experience part of the business. That includes everything from how personnel engage customers to how clean the facility is. All franchise operations claim to do this (at least to some degree) but… well it’s just not sticking. (Except that the “My Pleasure” crew at Chick Fil A might be the closest at hitting the mark.)

Imagine if the golden arches weren’t the only brand embroidered on the shirts. What if there was an ACME UX outfit that all employees had to graduate from prior to working the shop. ACME would teach the basics and train in methods that would step up the game so that customers would notice the difference in treatment, in overall experience. Patronage would likely increase from locals and travelers if they knew a particular fast-food joint had ACME UX prepped staff. When a person buys a franchise, is the quality of his business going to be affected by the neighborhood or community where the restaurant is located? I’m not sure that makes sense. But it does seem like the franchise operations are uniform in pretty much all regards—except staffing. Wouldn’t it be nice if whatever favorite fast-food restaurant you like, in any town, at any place, and any time, was one where you pull out of the drive-thru, thinking…