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It’s a simple formula — the colder the hot food, the less happy the customer is. And that isn’t good for business.
There’s a simple fix.
Get your food delivery gig drivers to do what they should be doing — which is using thermal bags to keep hot food hot, and cold food cold.
These are basic tools of the trade.
If you just apply a little pressure, you will probably succeed in raising the bar when it comes to delivery standards.
And there is a good reason why drivers should adhere to your request, and that is because it is good for business. For you and for them.
To make the message sticky, there is a reward in it for them… which is bright new ideas they can use to be more successful in their food delivery activities. And then you point to the website listed on the flyer.
Print this.
Position it in your food pick-up area.
And tell them you are implementing a new policy, which is that you require thermal bags. This flyer is your notice to them.
Tell them to snap a photo of the flyer, and tell them that website (on the flyer) has information they can use to be more successful.
This file contains an 8½ x 11 version and an 11 x 17 inch version of the flyer.
My recommendation is to order your print(s) online from your nearest Kinko’s/Fedex store. The default setting when ordering is 32 pound laser paper. This prints exceptionally well on their equipment. Very crisp. Good colors. Creates a quality impression. And you probably only need one copy.
Suggestions for improvement:
If your food containers are not leak-proof, please at least tell the driver to keep the bag level, or fix your leaky food items situation. Leaking food creates a bad presentation to your customer, and can weaken the bag it is carried in, which can set all parties up for a disappointing transaction.
The drivers are relying on your team not to sabotage the order with inadequate food packaging.
Cramming a lot of food into one paper bag is RISKY for drivers. If you know a bag is heavy, please double-bag it to reduce the chance of the bottom falling out. This absolutely happens — sometimes at the exact moment the food is handed to the customer. It’s not a good situation.
Why mix hot and cold food items together in the same bag? I see this a lot. It says to me that the restaurant really doesn’t care about the customer experience.
Orders should be ready for pick-up when the driver arrives, and within 2 minutes of arrival at the latest. If you are not meeting this standard, see if you can adjust the app settings so that drivers are not summoned to your store too early, (which impacts their effective hourly rate).
When restaurant management doesn’t care about the driver getting a fair deal, which includes zero to minimal wait-time at the business, this lack of care plays a part in flushing out experienced drivers who are the most likely not to screw-up the orders.
The big picture is… How your business treats drivers can have an impact in the app marketplace ecosystem that can boomerang back to you in the form of helping or hurting your business results.
Example: There are several restaurants in my area that are lousy at having orders ready to go when the drivers arrive. As experienced drivers get burned over and over again by long waits, they eventually realize these restaurants are bad partners and the experienced drivers begin declining all delivery opportunities involving these restaurants.
So the pool of drivers that provide delivery support to these restaurants changes for the worse, and then the chances of delivery issues rises, which can negatively impact customer satisfaction and your probability of getting repeat orders from affected customers.
To sum it up: It’s good for business to be a good restaurant partner with drivers.