Count me among the ones who drove past McDonald’s to a competitor.  Unhealthy, fattening food.  Sterile restaurants.  And aggressive counter people pushing us to “Super-Size” everything.  No thank you.

However, in this morning’s New York Times SundayBusiness section a very interesting article appeared.  McDonald’s has now delivered 55 consecutive months of increases in global same-store sales.  In a horrid stock year, McDonald’s is one of only two in the Dow Jones to eke out a gain — with a 6% increase.

How did McDonald’s turn itself around?  I believe there are lessons here for every CEO.  It can be summed up in a change in culture from the numbers to the people, from short term results to customer experiences, and from a focus on market share to a focus on product.

It seems so easy in hindsight.   The changes seem so logical.  But we also ought to remember what went wrong in the first place — a short term focus on financial results and market share.  This lead to “Would you like to super-size that, Sir?” and over expansion of restaurants.  Ditto for Starbucks.

Instead as the Times article stated, “McDonald’s reinvented itself by putting quality ahead of expansion.”  Bob Goldin, EVP at Technomic, a food industry consulting firm, says McDonald’s “executes the basics flawlessly.”

If we look at the changes made, it seems so simple and logical, but in the relentless pressure for results, we often lose focus on what really matters.  In McDonald’s case, the changes included:

• 60% of revenue comes through the drive-in window, so focus on speeding the process.
• Customers prefer bottles, so put milk in bottles rather than cartons.
• Chicken is considered to be healthy, so offer more chicken sandwiches.
• It refocused on drinks — now longer just an add-on to meals

We also need to look at management style.  Jim Skinner, 64, is the son of an Iowa bricklayer and lacks a college degree.  (Boy, there is lesson there for hiring managers!)  He is also quick to credit the company plan (Called “Plan to Win”) and to give credit to his colleagues.    He credits “alignment of the organization.”  ”Right people in the right place.”   Empower your managers and give them a long leash to produce results.

Another central theme is patience.  Change takes time.  This turnaround in McDonald’s took six years.

Stay tuned for further management lessons.

Let’s talk.  I’d love to discuss my ideas with you.  (516) 284-4930 or JeffLOgden@gmail.com.

Good luck and good selling.

For companies looking for best practices in b2b lead generation who wish to improve the way they acquire new customers, Find New Customers is the place to go.  CSO Insights says companies need to improve the way they generate leads and implement processes for business to business lead generation.

Jeff Ogden, the Fearless Competitor, is a demand generation expert and sales leader, as well as the President of Find New Customers, a lead generation company, who helps businesses create lead generation campaigns and continually publishes the best lead generation ideas, so his readers can determine the best lead generation strategy to find new customers.  He can be reached at (516) 284-4930 or mailto:jogden@findnewcustomers.net.