ketchup packets for small fries and three for large fries. I know that when I go through the drive-thru, I don't want eight packets of ketchup for my fries, but I don't want zero packets either.

Hospitality is a critical element is changing America's perceptions of drive-thru dining. After all, speed and accuracy doesn't matter if guests don't feel that their business is welcomed.

To stand out from your competition, you can do more than just take orders, make the food, hand it to the guests and then move on to the next order. Make your guests feel like you're glad they are there. Give them a smile, a kind voice and a warm greeting.

Put your shining stars in the drive-thru window. After all, it represents as much as two-thirds of your business, so if you can make two-thirds of your guests happ

It's a common scene in the drive-thru of a fast food restaurant. A guest pulls to the window, pays for the meal and then opens the bag – opening and closing wrappers and boxes to make sure the order is correct. The process is considered an inconvenient but necessary step for guests. For operators, it slows down the line and impacts sales in an industry where time especially means money.

Envision a time when guests are so confident in the drive-thru experience that they just take their food from the server, put the bag aside without a glance and drive away with a sense of satisfaction.

The public's general perception is that drive-thru service is typically slow and inaccurate – and it can be a hassle since you don't always get what you order – but it is still better than getting out of the car and going into the restaurant.

With increased demands at work and responsibilities at home, people are busier than ever. This is why they often prefer the drive-thru so they can get their food fast. If guests know that your restaurant is a place where they won't have to look in their bag when their order is handed to them, they'll come back time after time.

SHAQ – Speed, Hospitality, Accuracy and Quality. The key is having an appropriate balance among each element.

Speed and accuracy are crucial because guests want their food fast, and they want it right, but it's important that you don't sacrifice quality and hospitality in the process. There are many competitors along your street that take orders, bag the food and hand it to their guests. To differentiate your restaurant from the crowd, it's better to be very good in all four areas than be exceptional at one, good at another and poor in two areas.

If you solely rely on printers and monitors, it can take longer to make the food and it can lead to errors in filling the orders. It (looking at the monitors) can create confusion among the people working on the orders because they are looking up and down and not fully focusing on the food they are preparing.

A better option is supplying headsets to the kitchen staff so they hear first-hand what the guest is ordering. Or, you can install a microphone at the order taker's station so the kitchen staff can hear the order. Then you can use the monitor and printer to double check for accuracy, but you won't have to count on them. At the same time, you will improve speed as well because the kitchen staff will get a head start on preparing the order, and the food can be waiting at the window when the guest pulls up.

Obviously, it is vital that the contents in the bag are what the guest ordered. To improve accuracy, emphasize techniques where your drive-thru window team members repeat the order when the guest is at the speaker box, and when they hand the food when the guest pulls up.

Once you leave the drive-thru and get down the road, it is frustrating than to discover that you are missing items like forks, napkins, ketchup and other condiments. That gives the guest a perception that you can't get it right – just as they would feel if a sandwich or a drink was not there.

It's beneficial to implement systems to make sure this doesn't happen. For example, give guests one napkin per sandwich, two ketchup packets for small fries and three for large fries. I know that when I go through the drive-thru, I don't want eight packets of ketchup for my fries, but I don't want zero packets either.

Hospitality is a critical element is changing America's perceptions of drive-thru dining. After all, speed and accuracy doesn't matter if guests don't feel that their business is welcomed.

To stand out from your competition, you can do more than just take orders, make the food, hand it to the guests and then move on to the next order. Make your guests feel like you're glad they are there. Give them a smile, a kind voice and a warm greeting.

Put your shining stars in the drive-thru window. After all, it represents as much as two-thirds of your business, so if you can make two-thirds of your guests happy

ing into the restaurant.

With increased demands at work and responsibilities at home, people are busier than ever. This is why they often prefer the drive-thru so they can get their food fast. If guests know that your restaurant is a place where they won't have to look in their bag when their order is handed to them, they'll come back time after time.

SHAQ – Speed, Hospitality, Accuracy and Quality. The key is having an appropriate balance among each element.

Speed and accuracy are crucial because guests want their food fast, and they want it right, but it's important that you don't sacrifice quality and hospitality in the process. There are many competitors along your street that take orders, bag the food and hand it to their guests. To differentiate your restaurant from the crowd, it's better to be very good in all four areas than be exceptional at one, good at another and poor in two areas.

If you solely rely on printers and monitors, it can take longer to make the food and it can lead to errors in filling the orders. It (looking at the monitors) can create confusion among the people working on the orders because they are looking up and down and not fully focusing on the food they are preparing.

A better option is supplying headsets to the kitchen staff so they hear first-hand what the guest is ordering. Or, you can install a microphone at the order taker's station so the kitchen staff can hear the order. Then you can use the monitor and printer to double check for accuracy, but you won't have to count on them. At the same time, you will improve speed as well because the kitchen staff will get a head start on preparing the order, and the food can be waiting at the window when the guest pulls up.

Obviously, it is vital that the contents in the bag are what the guest ordered. To improve accuracy, emphasize techniques where your drive-thru window team members repeat the order when the guest is at the speaker box, and when they hand the food when the guest pulls up.

Once you leave the drive-thru and get down the road, it is frustrating than to discover that you are missing items like forks, napkins, ketchup and other condiments. That gives the guest a perception that you can't get it right – just as they would feel if a sandwich or a drink was not there.

It's beneficial to implement systems to make sure this doesn't happen. For example, give guests one napkin per sandwich, two ketchup packets for small fries and three for large fries. I know that when I go through the drive-thru, I don't want eight packets of ketchup for my fries, but I don't want zero packets either.

Hospitality is a critical element is changing America's perceptions of drive-thru dining. After all, speed and accuracy doesn't matter if guests don't feel that their business is welcomed.

To stand out from your competition, you can do more than just take orders, make the food, hand it to the guests and then move on to the next order. Make your guests feel like you're glad they are there. Give them a smile, a kind voice and a warm greeting.

Put your shining stars in the drive-thru window. After all, it represents as much as two-thirds of your business, so if you can make two-thirds of your guests happ

r to be very good in all four areas than be exceptional at one, good at another and poor in two areas.

If you solely rely on printers and monitors, it can take longer to make the food and it can lead to errors in filling the orders. It (looking at the monitors) can create confusion among the people working on the orders because they are looking up and down and not fully focusing on the food they are preparing.

A better option is supplying headsets to the kitchen staff so they hear first-hand what the guest is ordering. Or, you can install a microphone at the order taker's station so the kitchen staff can hear the order. Then you can use the monitor and printer to double check for accuracy, but you won't have to count on them. At the same time, you will improve speed as well because the kitchen staff will get a head start on preparing the order, and the food can be waiting at the window when the guest pulls up.

Obviously, it is vital that the contents in the bag are what the guest ordered. To improve accuracy, emphasize techniques where your drive-thru window team members repeat the order when the guest is at the speaker box, and when they hand the food when the guest pulls up.

Once you leave the drive-thru and get down the road, it is frustrating than to discover that you are missing items like forks, napkins, ketchup and other condiments. That gives the guest a perception that you can't get it right – just as they would feel if a sandwich or a drink was not there.

It's beneficial to implement systems to make sure this doesn't happen. For example, give guests one napkin per sandwich, two ketchup packets for small fries and three for large fries. I know that when I go through the drive-thru, I don't want eight packets of ketchup for my fries, but I don't want zero packets either.

Hospitality is a critical element is changing America's perceptions of drive-thru dining. After all, speed and accuracy doesn't matter if guests don't feel that their business is welcomed.

To stand out from your competition, you can do more than just take orders, make the food, hand it to the guests and then move on to the next order. Make your guests feel like you're glad they are there. Give them a smile, a kind voice and a warm greeting.

Put your shining stars in the drive-thru window. After all, it represents as much as two-thirds of your business, so if you can make two-thirds of your guests happ

will get a head start on preparing the order, and the food can be waiting at the window when the guest pulls up.

Obviously, it is vital that the contents in the bag are what the guest ordered. To improve accuracy, emphasize techniques where your drive-thru window team members repeat the order when the guest is at the speaker box, and when they hand the food when the guest pulls up.

Once you leave the drive-thru and get down the road, it is frustrating than to discover that you are missing items like forks, napkins, ketchup and other condiments. That gives the guest a perception that you can't get it right – just as they would feel if a sandwich or a drink was not there.

It's beneficial to implement systems to make sure this doesn't happen. For example, give guests one napkin per sandwich, two ketchup packets for small fries and three for large fries. I know that when I go through the drive-thru, I don't want eight packets of ketchup for my fries, but I don't want zero packets either.

Hospitality is a critical element is changing America's perceptions of drive-thru dining. After all, speed and accuracy doesn't matter if guests don't feel that their business is welcomed.

To stand out from your competition, you can do more than just take orders, make the food, hand it to the guests and then move on to the next order. Make your guests feel like you're glad they are there. Give them a smile, a kind voice and a warm greeting.

Put your shining stars in the drive-thru window. After all, it represents as much as two-thirds of your business, so if you can make two-thirds of your guests happ

ketchup packets for small fries and three for large fries. I know that when I go through the drive-thru, I don't want eight packets of ketchup for my fries, but I don't want zero packets either.

Hospitality is a critical element is changing America's perceptions of drive-thru dining. After all, speed and accuracy doesn't matter if guests don't feel that their business is welcomed.

To stand out from your competition, you can do more than just take orders, make the food, hand it to the guests and then move on to the next order. Make your guests feel like you're glad they are there. Give them a smile, a kind voice and a warm greeting.

Put your shining stars in the drive-thru window. After all, it represents as much as two-thirds of your business, so if you can make two-thirds of your guests happy, it will keep them coming back and keep increasing your sales.

If you execute effectively in each area of the SHAQ formula, your guests will be more satisfied and your sales will increase. It won't happen by itself, though. You have to establish a culture where managers and crew members share the vision. This is what it will take to favorably change America 's perception of the drive-thru experience.