On the heels of this year’s Blogher conference, I am spending a week in the Chicago area catching up with customers and family alike. (I grew up here, way back in the early Pleistocene.)
Was driving to the airport yesterday, and on the way pulled into Portillo’s for a good ol’ Chicago style hot dog. However, upon pulling into the lot, I realized that there was a line of about 10 cars in the drive-thru ahead of us. Yet, undeterred, I pulled into line. Yes, we might miss a flight, but there is research to do here!
The first thing I noticed pulling into the line was that they had turned off the automatic squawk-box ordering system, and instead had put three human beings into the line, all with headsets and walkie-talkies. As we pulled up to the first gentleman, he asked us for our order. Having not seen the menu yet, I didn’t know the answer, and said so. He deftly handed me a paper menu, and said, "No problem, just tell the next person."
We pulled up to the next person, a woman, who was about three car lengths up in the queue. She took our order, radioed it in, and handed us a claim check. (Number 87, to be precise.) We then pulled ahead to the third person, who was taking cash, wearing one of those old-style coin belts with which one can clink out coin change with ridiculous efficiency. She told us our total, took our money, made the change, and sent us rolling up to the window, where our food was already waiting.
Total time in line: MAYBE four minutes. Tops.
As we were pulling up to the cashier, I asked her if they always used this seemingly "inefficient" 3-person lineup during rush times. She said yes.
Even though it appears inefficient at first blush, the process was absolutely flawless and unbelievably fast. I would wager they do a substantially greater amount of business in their drive-thru than, say, the nearby large fast-food chain, with the standard one- or two-person drive-thru configuration.
Portillo’s website says their motto is: "The best food and the best service!" I can concur, they are two-for-two. Pass the mustard.
Related: By, the way, never, never, never order ketchup on a Chicago style hot dog, lest they say "Behold, this creature that walks like a man. It wants ketchup on its hot dog!"
image: city of buena park
It’s always great to be surprised with great service.
Of course in Atlanta we have “The Varsity” which dispenses with the silly notion of the drive-thru:
http://www.thevarsity.com/history.php
Identifying cars by number has always been an integral part of the Varsity Drive-In system. “Curb men” would sing and dance their way to fame. The most famous of our car hops was a man named Flossy Mae, who sang the menu to customers for over 50 years. Well known TV and Movie star Nipsy Russell also got his start at The Varsity as car hop #46.
“What’ll ya have? What’ll ya have? What’ll ya have? Have your order in your mind and your money in your hand!”
Christopher,
I work in an office located one block away from the Portillo’s in downtown Chicago. On days when it’s not overbearingly hot, I sometimes will stand and watch this amazing operation take place. Even when it’s been busy (and this is the flagship, so it’s ALWAYS busy), I’ve never seen it take more than 7-8 minutes for someone to get their order. *That’s* service, and as your blog post demonstrates, a perfect catalyst for terrific word of mouth.
When I worked at the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA), I can’t tell you how many times I was asked “How do you get great word of mouth?” The answer was deceptively simple: Provide great customer service. Rinse and repeat.
There’s even research to back this up. A 2006 study from Verde Group found:
* On average, people will tell four other people about their negative experience while shopping.
* Almost half of shoppers would avoid stores because of someone else’s negative experience.
(link to the study)
http://tinyurl.com/35dr4z
Next time you’re in Chicago, call me. Your next Italian Beef (wet, no peppers) is on me.
Cheers,
Michael
________________________________
Michael E. Rubin
Manager of Emerging Media
Arment Dietrich, Inc.
Call me — 847-370-3421.
Tell a friend — fight destructive spin! http://www.spinsucks.com
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patrick … great stuff. and THANK YOU for solving a mystery for me. on outKast’s speakerboxx, there’s a throwaway adlib in one of the tunes (i think it’s on the big boi disc) where they say “flossy mae” — never had a clue what they were referring to. now, varsity-ATL-outkast-flossymae, it all starts to make sense. cheers.
michael — you’re on!