Lessons from McDonald's

What’s McDonald's Secret? Consistency & Repeatability

McDonald's is a master at scaling their operations. The key is consistency. This is their process:

1. Create the recipe
2. Perfect a process that is consistent and repeatable
3. Scale! All across the world...

Think about this: the chefs who create these recipes have trained in their craft for years, sometimes decades -- but the crew that prepares the fries will be trained within three days! Now, that’s mastery of scale.  

How Consistent Are Your Operations?

When you think about scaling your own operations, are you able to identify areas which would benefit from this idea of consistency? For example, do you nurture your leads consistently?

• Do your prospects always receive a follow up? (From our surveys, we know 45.8% of 3rd party manager prospects do not receive any follow up.)
• Do your prospects receive nurturing emails that inform them about the neighborhood, the amenities or the features of your community? (From our surveys, we know only 12.5% of the 3rd party manager prospects receive nurturing emails.)
• Do your prospects receive a reminder on the night before the tour? (From our surveys, we know only 12.5% of the 3rd party managers sent a reminder.)

As another example, is your resident renewal program consistent?

• Do your residents receive an offer to renew when their lease is up?
• Do your residents receive a friendly notice reminder?
• Do your residents receive a helpful move-out checklist, if they don’t choose to renew?

How to Scale Multifamily Operations

Multifamily operations can be designed for scale and agility. The trick is to start with a consistent process. Just like McDonald's, you would:

1. Define your Operations ("create the recipe")
2. Program your Operations (“perfect a consistent and repeatable process”)
3. Scale! All across your properties...

Your Turn. Why do you think Multifamily is struggling to define operations?

Upcoming. We are taking a look at how scaling can solve Multifamily's biggest problems.