Mystery Shopper Report for McDonalds Analytical Essay

Executive Summary

This paper will report on the experiences based on the services at the McDonald’s Restaurant. The main focus is on the quality of the services as well as the customer’s satisfaction on the same. The paper will include a brief introduction to the subject matter and give a narration of the experiences at the McDonald’s in terms of a documented diary.

The diary will give details as to what really happened at McDonald’s and, more importantly, give the observations pertaining to food services and how customers reacted to the same.

Further on, relevant analysis and recommendations will be given to restaurant businesses in terms of how to always ensure satisfaction of their customers.

Finally, a conclusion will be made, as well as references in order to sum up the research.

Introduction

Just as Richard Gerson (1993, p. 48) affirms, “…everyone loves to enjoy the various delicacies offered in classy restaurants.” This is true. However, does this guarantee us satisfaction every time one visits such places? Three words answer: most certainly not.

Some classy restaurants are renowned for their quality services in terms of good food, staff etiquette and even reasonable pricing. On the other hand, some deliveries in restaurants result in an unsatisfied bunch of customers.

Customer’s satisfaction is crucial in any organizational success. Dru Scott (1991) actually says the following concerning the same, “Company Managers should consider it (customer satisfaction) as the other half of their job – it is that important” (p. 18).

In close regards to Mattila and Enz’s work (2001), there is a great need to look into this very same concept of service delivery, more so, how it can contribute to the customer’s satisfaction, or otherwise.

Brief Background

Being an international student who lives in the Western suburbs, there was a great potential for research project to be conducted into the very topic of discussion. Why is this? One may ask. Well, it is very simple. The setting provides a perfect scenario for the project to be carried out, as most of the residents in the Western suburbs are fond of visiting their favorite restaurants for meals and/or takeouts.

More importantly, McDonald’s is one of the busiest restaurants with customers flooding in every now and then to enjoy the delicious food served in the restaurant. It is a little wonder, therefore, that this study was based on the very same restaurant.

Now, this study includes a diary documentation of the experiences from visiting McDonald’s over a considerable duration of time. From the experiences, a relevant analysis was made pertaining to the issues of organizational service delivery and how it directly translates to customer’s satisfaction or dissatisfaction.

The Pre-Purchase Stage

Before the actual exercise took place, a few expectations had already been made pertaining to the services, prices and observations to be made, once the research started.

Visits were to be made during breakfast, lunch and dinner so that all three meals could be assessed, as well as the customer’s attitudes to the same.

Also, with the help of directories, the research should cover at least three different branches of McDonald’s so as to help in an accurate generalization of the services in the entire organization.

All in all, the most important thing would be to assess the quality of food and services in McDonald’s and, more importantly, rate the customer satisfaction in regards to the same.

Diary of the visits to McDonalds

Day 1: April 21^th 2013. 06:00 Hrs

Today was my first day of research at McDonald’s; I woke up early so that I could be in the restaurant early enough to assess their breakfast services. Well, I think I woke up a bit too early since I was the third customer (literally) to order.

I noted that the restaurant had already been cleaned up in the early morning. The atmosphere was fresh and relaxing that greatly benefited and contributed to a customer’s good mood and this is a very good way for a customer to begin his or her day.

At around 07:00 am, more customers started flooding in and the place was quickly getting full with couples, people heading to work and even students stepping in to grab a quick breakfast starting a new day with.

So far, customers seemed content, happy, and relaxed. After enjoying two cups of hot coffee and three cupcakes, I left the restaurant at around 10:55 am to compile notes for this particular day.

Day 2: April 23^rd 2013. 13:00Hrs

On this particular day, my main focus was to experience McDonald’s lunch services. I arrived at the restaurant at exactly 1:00 pm. I was shocked to find a long queue all the way to the door entrance. As I took a note of this, I overheard two individuals lamenting on the slow services since they had queued for over twenty minutes – this was a sign of customer’s dissatisfaction.

As I also noted this down, I spotted a McDonald’s staff member standing just outside trying to mobilize the queue; I gently approached her and asked whether the situation is always that way during the lunch hours. She affirmed that lunch hours are the most hectic for them as many people flood in the place expecting to be served. However, the stress is reduced as time progresses; breakfast and dinner are far way manageable.

After waiting for fifteen more minutes, I gave up on ever being served and headed home to document all these events.

Day 3: April 28^th 2013. 12:00Hrs

On this rainy day, I attempted to visit McDonald’s during a lunch hour again. This time, I arrived a bit earlier than the last time. Luckily, the queue was not so long and I was glad to be served after roughly ten minutes waiting.

However, there was only one problem – cold food! I immediately returned the cold burger for warming. The young man who served me was apologetic for the incidence and quickly warmed the burger using the microwave. Though the serving of a cold burger was unfortunate, I did like the fact that the staff reacted appropriately, giving an apology and acting accordingly – this professional etiquette was indeed commendable.

Day 4 and 5: April 29^th and 30^th 2013. 19:00Hrs and 21:00Hrs (respectively)

These last two days finalized my research exercise at McDonald’s. My main goal was to assess the situation during dinner; this time, I visited a different branch all together.

The place was packed and, at some point, I felt like my space was being violated. I documented on the need for the personal space on the setting or layout of the restaurant.

However, I did tremendously enjoy my dinner. The food was great, including the mere presentation of the same.

I was glad to have finished my exercise on a very positive note. My conclusion was that majority of McDonald’s customers are indeed satisfied with the services accorded to them; otherwise, they would not be flooding in the different branches of the restaurant. On the other hand, the management needed to polish up on the nitty-gritty poor areas such as the annoying queuing and making sure the food is warm for consumption.

Analysis and recommendations for Restaurant Businesses

The ambience of McDonald’s plays a great role in the increased profits as they always ensure their chains of restaurants are well kept, organized and very clean. This makes the customers have a positive view of the services being offered. The overall analysis in regards to McDonald’s is as follows:

• Delicious and high quality fast food.
• Good presentation as well as packaging of delicacies.
• Long queues, especially over lunch hour and dinner.
• Overcrowding for those dining in the restaurant.
• Long hours of service.
• Despite the flaws (which are normal for any restaurant whatsoever) in McDonald’s, the quality of service is commendably high, thus translating to satisfied customers.

The following would therefore be the recommendations – not only for McDonald’s, but for other restaurant businesses as well:

According to Rich and Orr (2012, p. 46), the location where the business is established should be conveniently accessible and facilitate easy delivery of services. If it is put into account, a business will do tremendously well” (p.47).

McDonald’s has excelled in this as almost all of their establishments are located in easily accessible locations like in busy town centers. This ensures an achievement of a wider market and a constant flow of customers.

Moreover, the price set should be competitive to that of competitors. McDonald’s thrives from price leadership where it offers its products at much lower prices than its competitors do; hence, people prefer purchasing their products. As Fornell Claes et al depict in their work, promotions go a long way in enhancing the public image of any business.

For instance, it was evident that McDonald’s has perfected this strategy through its promotion of ‘buy two hamburgers, get one free’. The process of purchasing the products and services is vital. For example, McDonald’s offers a poor customer’s experience due to the long queues present which in turn result in the time wastage. This can be resolved through employing more staff and reducing procedure followed (Fornell 2011.

As Kotler and Keller (2005, p.54) affirm, organizations should implement several strategies in a bid to achieve customer’s satisfaction since they are the most important asset of any enterprise. Secondly, employees should be well trained and competent on their jobs.

They should have positive attitude, which translates to happy customers since they have received the best service. Thirdly, creativity and innovation should be encouraged among workers so that they are more productive and have better ways of delivery of services.

Lastly, McDonald’s management should encourage workers to come up with better ways of handling the high customer base that causes overcrowding and queuing. Just like Michael Johnson et al (2003, p. 45) depict in their literature, quality should be highly emphasized in a production of all goods and services being offered.

Effective communication with customers eliminates occurrence of negative situations that could hamper customer relations, Lovelock and Wirtzt (2007, p. 67) recommend that clients should always receive prompt and courteous services. Complaints should be encouraged so that customers can express their dissatisfaction, thus have their problems resolved. All these would foster customer’s satisfaction.

Conclusion

Indeed, customer’s satisfaction is important not only for securing business profits, but also to ensure a sustainability of business growth and good customers’ relations all through. McDonald’s is doing great as far as service delivery and customer satisfaction are concerned; the restaurant is one of the best fast food joints which are doing great in delivering delicious dishes to its customers and/or consumers.

However, this does not mean that McDonald’s is perfect and without flaws; just like other high class restaurants, McDonald’s has some correction areas which include long durations of keeping clients waiting, sometimes (maybe due to pressure), the food served may not be up to purr with the expected levels; a good example is that of being served a cold burger as discussed in the diary, earlier in this paper.

All in all, McDonald’s is doing great so far. It is very important for the management to aim at ensuring all the areas of flaw are looked at, and more importantly that such areas are amended accordingly to reach the desired levels and thus enhance profits for McDonald’s as a complete entity; this way, McDonald’s can ensure many more years of good relations with its clearly loyal pool of customers.

List of References

Mattila, A & Enz, C 2001, The Role of Emotions in Service Encounters, Sage Publications, New York.

Dru, S 1991, Customer Satisfaction: The Other Half of Your Job, Simon & Schuster Inc., New York.

Fornell, C 2001, “The science of satisfaction”, Harvard Business Review, vol. 79, no. 3.

Fornell, C, Rust, R & Dekimpe, M 2010, “The effect of customer satisfaction on customer spending growth”, Journal of Marketing Research, vol. 47 no.1.

Rich, J & Lucille Orr 2012, Enhanced Customer Satisfaction, Routledge, London.

Johnson, M & Nilsson, L 2003, “The importance of reliability and customization from goods to service”, Quality Management Journal, vol. 10 no. 1.

Kotler, P & Keller KL 2005, Marketing Management, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Lervik-Olson, L & Johnson, M 2003, “Service equity, satisfaction and loyalty”, Journal of Service Research, vol. 5, no. 3.

Lovelock, CH & Wirtzt, J 2007, Services Marketing: People, Technology & Strategy, Prentice Hall, New Jersey.

Gerson, R 1993, Measuring Customer Satisfaction, McGraw-Hill, New York.