I spent a lot of time over the last couple of weeks with a group that concentrates on airports and railway stations and although they have dabbled in food with their own QSR brands, for the first time they have decided to open a market leading concept in a major railway station in a downtown location.

Watching the rush of people disembarking from the trains and rushing to work in the morning both the franchisee and the representative of the franchisor (me) were delighted to see customers turning into the new store and standing in line to place their order.

The first thing I noticed was the clock watching. Normally it takes thirty seconds to a minute for customers to start checking their watches but this was immediate. Place the order, look at the watch. They were all on their way to work and had no time to waste. This was not starting as I had expected and worse was to come.

Although the customer numbers were well above expectations the average check was not, sundry sales were almost non existent and I had to take a close look at how we were marketing the add ons. This particular QSR concept is beverage based and sundries are mainly pastries along with sandwiches, salads, some hot savouries, single serve yogurt etc. Average service times of less than two minutes still did not translate in the customers mind to not being late for work.

The answer. Grab and go. A quick trip to the supermarket for a few wicker baskets, take out a selection of ambient temperature products, wrap them and put them right in front of the cash registers in the wicker baskets and BAM they were gone in minutes.

Adjust your products and placement to your customers needs, be creative in what you do and change things around on a regular basis. If you bring some of your normal products to the front your customers will see them for the first time no matter how long you have had them on the menu. This actually worked and average check rose dramatically. Have a look at your concept and see if you are doing all you can to match your products and the way you display them to the needs of your customers.