The study used mystery shoppers to evaluate 13 major quick-service restaurant brands.
Mystery shoppers expressed nearly complete satisfaction, at 99%, when drive-thru service was friendly. This satisfaction fell to 83% with neutral service and plummeted to 27% when service was perceived as unfriendly.
The study analyzed a total of 2,145 trips, with 165 mystery shopping outings to each brand.
The study shows that consumers’ satisfaction hinges significantly on their perception of service friendliness and speed.
When mystery shoppers felt that the order arrived quicker than expected, nearly two-thirds said they were very likely to recommend the brand, and 97% reported that they were satisfied with the experience. However, when service was slower than expected, only 13% were very likely to recommend the brand and 82% were satisfied.
According to Isabelle Zdatny, head of thought leadership at Qualtrics XM Institute, a bit of warmth can make a transactional experience feel special. “That does not require a long conversation,” Zdatny said. “A genuine greeting, acknowledgment or brief moment of recognition can happen in seconds, but it signals that the customer is being treated as a person rather than the next order in the queue.”
Recognition can take the form of personalization, which can increase customer satisfaction. The research found that customer satisfaction rose from 93% to 98% when the experience was personalized in some way, such as recognizing the customer as a loyalty member or having their name written on the order container.
Taco Bell’s Chief Digital and Technology Officer, Dane Mathews, discussed plans to recognize and celebrate loyalty members’ birthdays on its drive-thru screens.
Friendly experiences contribute to consumers feeling like they’re getting value for their money. On trips where the value felt excellent or good, nearly 9 in 10 of them reported that the service felt friendly, highlighting the importance of friendliness in the drive-thru experience.
