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Think Outside Your Constraints

March 12, 2007 By Joe Rawlinson

Surely your business, factory, or staff can only handle a certain transaction volume. At some point, you’ll reach the physical limits of how many customers you can process at one location.

When will that time come? That may be hard to say. However, that limit will be preceeded by some really busy times.

During these busy times, you can (and should) still deliver quality service to your customers.

Break from the Norm

The last time I went through the drive-thru at fast food restaurant Chick-fil-a, it was during the lunch rush. Cars formed a long and winding snake all through the parking lot.

As I waited my turn, I saw a few Chick-fil-a employees walking down the line of cars. The first girl reached my car, well before I got to the menu board and ordering intercom.

She asked what I would like. I asked if they still had my favorite chicken sandwich. She confirmed that they did, took my order and wrote down some shorthand on a piece of paper. After handing me the paper, she pointed me on to the next employee who was waiting up ahead.

I pulled up to the next girl who took my paper and read my order out loud, translating the short hand so I could confirm that is what I wanted.

She paused for a second and then gave me my total price. It had the appearance that she pulled that number out of her head. In reality, she had a microphone hidden under her jacket and was communicating with the people inside. Very clever.

This Chick-fil-a location was about as busy as physically possible. However, the management had decided to help speed things along by thinking outside their normal operations. Traditionally, cars pull up to the menu and then take a few minutes to decide what to order. In this situation, management put employees outside and helped buffer the decision delay by walking down the line.

Be Flexible & Creative

Chick-fil-a ditched the computer and gave pens and paper to employees who had memorized the menu. A non-traditional solution to the problem at hand.

Just because your company may be squeezed into a physical location or certain time constraints doesn’t mean you can’t be creative in problem solving.

Think outside your constraints. Be creative. It is fine to go low-tech to solve your problems. High-tech or low-tech, doing what it takes to keep your customers happy will keep them coming back for more.

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