This is a test : The Walnut Street Chick-fil-A is one of 25 in the company testing a hand-held drive-through device.
Posted on Sunday, May 11, 2008
ROGERS - Don't be surprised if a Chick-fil-A employee walks up to your car window the next time you're waiting in a lunch- or dinnerrush line at the drive through at 4001 W. Walnut St. near the Scottsdale Center.
The chain has already been awarded best in drive-through by Quick-Service Restaurant Magazine four of the past five years. Scott Clark, owner of the Walnut Street restaurant, said his is one of just 25 Chick-fil-As in the nation testing a new hand-held wireless device aimed at clearly positioning the chain as the fastest hand anywhere.
The brass at Chick-fil-A approached the owners of the company's busiest drive throughs about putting a new valet ordering system to the test. Clark was among those who accepted and, for the past two weeks, his restaurant has put the device to work. During peak business times, the Chick-fil-A on Walnut Street turns off its traditional drive through menu and speaker system. An employee begins goes from vehicle to vehicle. The employee talks one-on-one with each customer, enters the orders into the device and the items automatically appear on monitors on the kitchen line. The wireless unit also has the ability to accept credit card payments which, according to Clark, has kept even the longest drive through lines moving at almost lightning speed.
"There's been a tremendous reception for this," Clark said. "It's quite an investment and Chick-fil-A is just testing them out now, but I can't see why this device wouldn't quickly find its way into a lot more of our restaurants across the country. We've had 150-plus cars through our drive through in one hour. Think about that. That's a matter of seconds per car."
But it's not just about speed. It's about the one-on-one service.
"The fact a customer gets to talk face to face with someone has been big," Clark said. "The wireless device helps ensure order accuracy and speeds the process up to help customers get on with their day. But anything we can do to show our customers they're being cared for - I'm for it."
Clark has been known to go as far as to bring umbrellas out to the cars of his dine-in customers on rainy days, so those who frequent his Walnut Street or Pleasant Crossing Chick-fil-A restaurants are probably not surprised he was among the first to test the new handheld drive-through device. Chick-fil-A did not comment on how long the test period would last.
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