5 Business Lessons We Can Learn from McDonalds
Posted by Melanie Howell on Tue, Aug 30, 2011
Fortune magazine recently published an article, 'Why McDonald's wins in any economy?' highlighting the business' annual growth rate of 5%, since hiring their CEO, Jim Skinner in 2004. Intrigued by the numbers, I read the article and would like to share some lessons and tips we can take-away from McDonalds to implement at our businesses today:
Even hash-browns are subject to review - The article kicks off with Jim Skinner, CEO of McDonalds inspecting the kitchen at one of his restaurants in Illinois. Managing 33,000 stores nationwide, McDonalds is focusing its time on planning and developing a strong accountability system throughout the business. Do you have a quality management system at your business that allows you to review and improve upon existing business processes, no matter big or small?
Back to basics turnaround strategy - Instead of focusing on expansion through new customer acquisition and new locations, McDonalds is focusing on increasing sales at existing stores. To entice customers to buy more, the business is focusing on platforms instead of 'one hit wonders'. What is your business doing to entice customers to buy more? What marketing plans do you have in place to cross-sell and up-sell to your existing and hopefully loyal customer base? Do you have a sales management system to analyze the results of your sales and marketing campaigns and adjust your future campaigns accordingly?
Keep the focus on the core - While McDonalds has more than 100 items on the menu, Skinner always goes back to the question, "What difference is this going to make for the hamburger business?" Each item on the menu must meet the McDonald's business case requirements before making it on the customer tray. What is the core focus of your business? Are you using a business analytics tool to give you complete visibility into your company’s performance by highlighting KPI’s and other measures of success on a regular basis?
Zeal for satisfying customers - The article highlights a story of McDonald's conducting extensive customer testing to find out which coffee-cup lids their customers preferred. The unanimous customer's choice was different than Skinner's preference of the old lids. Instead of overruling the masses, he now keeps a stash of the old-lids on hand, for his coffee. Does your business have a prospect/customer needs evaluation system in place to identify your customer needs or is the novel idea buried away in your business plan? A CRM system allows you to record all your customer interactions, marketing campaigns etc in one place, while allowing visibility across multiple departments at your business.
We talk about hospitality, we talk about friendly relationships, but we live in a world of speed today - "Growth these days is about scaling and executing", says Skinner. Skinner emphasizes that headquarters can cook up any idea they want, but if the idea overly complicates your processes, it won't fly. Do you have business technology in place to make sure you maximize the profitability of your business processes? I heard someone put it very eloquently, 'effectively and efficiently translates to quicker results.' Do you have a trusted business technology consultant, who is dedicated to supporting the existing needs of your business, while making sure the business management software you use is scalable for the future?
Based on your experience, what business lessons would you add to this list? To talk to a team of trusted business technology consultants who have a wealth of ERP technology experience and understand industry requirements contact WAC Consulting Group today!