By David Larson
Raleigh, NC – I don’t remember exactly when, but at some point, Chick-fil-A became my go-to fast-food place, due to their quality, efficiency, staff performance, and overall experience. And it seems I’m not alone, as the Atlanta-based chicken restaurant just topped the list for highest customer satisfaction among fast-food chains in the United States for its 11th consecutive year.
On the flip side, if someone were to ask you what place symbolizes the worst of customer service, efficiency, and overall experience, a fair number would certainly choose the DMV. Considering the state auditor, Dave Boliek, just released a scathing report on the failures of our state’s DMV, now is a great time to consider what the DMV might learn from Chick-fil-A’s success.
Efficiency
Above all, improving wait times should be a priority. Boliek’s report said that “the average wait time was 1 hour 15 minutes from check-in, up 15.5% since 2019.” We’ve all seen the lines stretching around the block at our local DMV office and said a little prayer for the poor souls doomed to brave the elements and the paperwork.
But the wait times at Chick-fil-A are hardly ever an issue. If they hit a rush period, multiple polite smiling workers approach the cars methodically and get the name, order, and payment before you even get to the window. And if an order is not ready by the time you get to the window, maybe if it was larger or more complicated than others, they will send you into a car-waiting zone away from the main line. This all is meant to keep things moving.
The DMV could easily do the same. Someone could come around and take down everyone’s information and purpose for their visit to triage and expedite things.
Leaning on new tech
This leads to my next point. In Boliek’s audit, he said the DMV is using technology that is “frozen in time” from another era. Taking the latest tablet smart device out to the people in line would not be possible with what they currently have.
In addition to the mobile devices like tablets, it would certainly save space in line if much of the traffic could be diverted to the website for simpler tasks. But is the website optimized for that traffic? It’s clear that investing in new tech, and training staff how to use it, is key to improving efficiency.
Pleasant, hard-working staff
Of course there are many pleasant, hard-working staffers in government bureaucracies. I’ve seen them. But there’s also a reason that the stereotype for those manning the desks at the post office, county clerks office, and the DMV are of grumpy paper-pushers who wish you would just go away and stop trying to make them do their job.
Have you ever come across someone like that at Chick-fil-A? Never. They make sure to smile and let you know that it’s their “pleasure” to have had the opportunity to hand you your bag of food.
And this makes a difference. When people think about one of these places, they remember the scowls and unnecessary hurdles. When they think of the other, they think of the smiles and great service. Like I said, there are pleasant, hard-working staffers at the DMV, but there aren’t enough. Improving recruitment and retention through increased pay and improved culture and processes may motivate current workers and allow more-selective hiring of future ones.
Convenience
When you begin to plan a trip to the DMV, a little pit begins to form in the bottom of your stomach. You start to think, “How can I take the least amount of my vacation day to get this done?” Or maybe, “Is it possible to just slip in and out during my lunch break without my boss noticing?”
But you know it’s not going to go as planned. You’ve seen the lines as you drive by the local office. So, you think, “I’ll just go across town to that other one. Nobody will be over there. Brilliant.” But apparently, about half of DMV customers have the same idea. In Boliek’s audit, he found that “47.5% of transactions occur outside customers’ closest office.”
You never have to do this for Chick-fil-A. They just happen to be in all those places where you are likely to get hungry — the mall food court, along the highway when you’re driving home, at airports. And in the auditor’s recommendations, he suggested that the DMV do the same, including putting pop-up offices in places like the mall.
Accuracy
And lastly, Chick-fil-A was also the most accurate fast-food restaurant, according to a recent study from Intouch Insight, at 92%. Accuracy comes from all we’ve already talked about above — happy, high-quality employees; state-of-the-art technology; and being attentive to customers.
Efficiency isn’t just about how fast you can get people in and out. It’s also about being accurate when doing so. Every time someone is sent back home to get a paper by one employee, then told by another that is wasn’t necessary; or told to wait in one line, only to learn that you didn’t really need to be in that line afterall, inaccuracy has created inefficiency.
It’s highly unlikely you’re ever going to get people to look forward to going to the DMV in the same way they look forward to eating a chicken sandwich. But, at the very least, the DMV can be a bit more efficient, make processes more user friendly, utilize the latest technology, and invest a bit more in staff.
David Larson is managing editor of Carolina Journal.