What Customer Success Leaders Could Learn From 2 Million McDonald’s Employees

In a recent feature by The New York Post, McDonald's unveiled a major overhaul to its iconic burgers, offering a lesson in execution that the Customer Success (CS) community can't afford to overlook. The core challenge faced by McDonald's is a familiar one for CS leaders — they possess a wealth of knowledge about their industry, but success ultimately hinges on flawless execution through employees on the front line. The relevant part of the story is not the change, it’s how it was executed!?

See the story here: NY Post - McDonald's Giving its Burgers a Makeover

In my role, I assist CS leaders in constructing processes that not only capture structured data but also furnish credible reporting for their companies. The goal is to establish consistent, repeatable customer value at scale, addressing the often-overlooked but all-too-common tactical process gaps that lead to missing customer data and lost opportunities.?

10 Steps to Implement Processes CSMs Will Follow?

It just doesn't work that way.

Too often, CS leaders demand results without investing the necessary time to identify the processes and repeatable steps required to execute them. It's akin to instructing the 40,000+ McDonald's locations worldwide to improve customer satisfaction without providing instructions or techniques. It just doesn’t work that way.

Consider this hypothetical scenario for McDonald's, telling their 2 million franchise employees that they need to improve these outputs without telling them how:

1. Serve juicier burgers
2. Enhance Big Mac flavor
3. Serve burgers hot
4. Maintain a consistent sesame seed ratio
5. Ensure cheese melts perfectly
6. Achieve juicier onions
7. Utilize fresher ingredients

Imagine how the definition of “fresh”, “Hot” or "Juicy" might differ across 2 million employees.?Only one item requires a change in raw ingredients, 6 of the 7 are process improvements that may not even be noticed by frontline staff. Instead of asking for the outcome, McDonalds took some time to better understand the process and define how it could best be executed across their 2 Million franchise employees that improved results the same way for everyone.

Below is how they are achieving the better outcomes above :

1. Grilling six patties instead of eight produces juicier burgers
2. Adding more sauce to Big Macs with a specialized tool
3. Slice buns with a thicker bottom layer for heat retention
4. Randomly scattering sesame seeds for a homier look
5. Remove cheeses from the refrigerator in advance for optimal melting
6. Rehydrating onions post-purchase for added juiciness
7. Storing lettuce and pickles in smaller containers for freshness

The takeaway? McDonald's didn't just instruct employees to "use fresher lettuce" or "serve burgers hotter."? Instead, they made execution easier for the frontline staff, minimizing the change management, and ultimately enhancing the customer experience. In the end, it boils down to tactical execution on the front line.

Forecasting Upsells, Retention or Expansion moves from impossible to manageable

Applying this to CS, if you want your Customer Success Managers (CSMs) to sell more, don’t ask them to sell more or change the commission plan. Instead, refine their approach by developing targeted "needs-based" questions, creating a standardized recording system for the answers, and building reports that facilitate follow-up conversations based on the newly discovered customer needs. It's about capturing information uniformly and ensuring everyone on the team is capturing the data for all of their customers. This can't be done if it's not captured in the same place in the same way.

Forecasting upsells, retention, or expansion moves from impossible to manageable when the CS leaders are armed with reporting across the entire customer base that stems from standardized data. Success isn’t about asking for more sales but in systematically gathering insights and acting upon them. It’s our job as CS leaders to identify those insights and how best to capture them.

Real data, used by real companies, to get real results

For those grappling with forecasting or reporting challenges, our 90-day CS Accelerator offers leadership training, mentoring, and development for CS leaders of all experience levels. We provide the tactical processes and infrastructure that deliver a tangible return on investment, underscoring the value Customer Success brings to both customers and the organization. Real data used by real companies to get real results.??

About the author: Daniel Hoesing is the creator of the Predictive Customer Behavior Index? a comprehensive set of 175 standards, indexed to the size and growth trajectory of a SaaS or subscription based company. The Index is used to create and implement Customer Success capabilities, data management, reporting, and best practices. Daniel also specializes in leadership development using the 90 day CS Accelerator - a leadership training, mentoring and development program that enhances leadership capabilities through the effective use of data and operational execution.

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