讓銷售額飛

????在斯金納的領導下，麥當勞取得了巨大的成功，目前能對其構成挑戰的對手屈指可數，比如沃爾瑪（Wal-Mart）。如何才能讓一個龐大的商業帝國實現持續增長呢？在118個國家（波斯尼亞剛剛成為其中一員）的麥當勞餐廳里，每天用餐的人數達到6,400萬人，為麥當勞帶來的收入甚至超過了星巴克（Starbucks）、肯德基（KFC）、必勝客（Pizza Hut）和塔可鐘（Taco Bell）的收入總額。市場調查公司Technomic的調查數據顯示，從2008年到2010年，在美國快餐與快速休閑餐飲行業總體銷售額增長量中，麥當勞所占比例高達90%。在過去99個月中，公司的同店銷售額每個月都在增加。而要想讓這些數字逐年持續增長，則更加困難。

????快餐業本是周期性行業，這就使得麥當勞的銷售數據更引人注目。但斯金納卻認為，麥當勞不會隨著季節或經濟動蕩而出現大幅度的上升或下跌。他經常告訴股東和分析人士，經濟低迷時，消費者確實會降級消費，但這并不是麥當勞成功的決定因素；他說，即便消費者的錢包鼓起來，他們依然會到麥當勞消費。

????為了刺激顧客的消費額度，提高他們消費頻率，斯金納帶領麥當勞致力于建立快餐行業所謂的“平臺”，而不是曇花一現的產品。【比如：雞肉是平臺；麥樂雞（McNuggets）是產品。】飲品平臺麥咖啡（McCafé）是麥當勞在過去35年中規模最大的一次產品上線，其中包括咖啡和冰沙，能為每家連鎖店增加125,000美元的銷售額。麥當勞已經徹底放棄了過去那些失敗的產品【有沒有嘗過豪華瘦身漢堡（McLean）與招牌漢堡（Arch Deluxe）？】，并在開發新產品方面贏得了消費者的認可，這些新產品是十年前的消費者聞所未聞的，比如燕麥粥。麥當勞餐廳遍布世界各地，這更有利于在全球范圍內共享優秀的商業創意。麥咖啡便是源自澳大利亞，而且，另外一款澳洲主食Chicken McBites目前正在美國進行試賣。

????盡管麥當勞菜單上有100多種產品，但斯金納比公司任何人都明白，麥當勞的根本還在于漢堡。在二十世紀九十年代末和本世紀初，麥當勞開始收購多家公司的股份，比如墨西哥連鎖餐廳Chipotle。這些投資雖然使公司愈加多樣化，但它們對公司收入的貢獻率基本可以忽略不計。斯金納成為麥當勞CEO后，便把它們全部賣掉，保證公司對核心競爭力的關注。前高管埃內坎表示：“漢堡做好了，就覺得自己也可以做做披薩或者汽車租賃，或者開IT公司或銷售專有技術。”麥當勞就曾犯過這樣的錯誤——公司曾在瑞士開設了多家金拱門酒店（Golden Arch hotels）。“吉姆總是要求我們回到同一個問題。‘這些對漢堡業務會產生什么影響？會起到促進作用嗎？如果沒有什么用，那就別再提它了。’”

????現在，麥當勞在產品決策上比以往任何時候都要出色，這是斯金納規章制度成功的一個佐證。每一款能擺上消費者餐桌的新產品都需要強有力的商業實證做支撐，需要檢驗它們的盈利能力，需要投入的資本，以及如何在全國推廣。麥當勞大約有40款產品正在籌備當中，其中一些產品，比如安格斯漢堡（Angus Burger）可能要在4年之后才能上市。符合公司商業實證要求的產品有90%的機會在全國推出。在測試階段，公司甚至會嘗試不同的價位，來確保新產品既能夠增加銷售額，又不會拖成熟產品的后腿。

Keeping the streak going

????Under Skinner, McDonald's has become so successful that it now has a challenge only a few companies, such as Wal-Mart (WMT), face. How do you continue to grow a behemoth? Every day 64 million people in 118 countries (Bosnia was just added to the list) eat at its restaurants, which generate revenue that trumps Starbucks (SBUX), KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell (YUM) combined. From 2008 through 2010, McDonald's was responsible for 90% of the sales growth of the U.S. fast-food and fast-casual industry, according to research firm Technomic. Every month that the company ups its same-store-sales figures, which it has done for the past 99, the harder it is to lap its numbers year to year.

????The fact that fast food is a somewhat cyclical business makes McDonald's sales streak all the more impressive. But Skinner doesn't think McDonald's should experience serious ups and downs based on seasons or swings in the economy. He's constantly telling shareholders and analysts that the company's success doesn't hinge on consumers trading down when times are tough; when customers have more to spend, they'll spend it at McDonald's, he says.

????To entice consumers to buy more -- and more often -- McDonald's under Skinner has pursued what the fast-food industry calls "platforms" rather than one-hit wonders. (Chicken is a platform; McNuggets are the product.) McCafé, McDonald's beverage platform featuring coffee drinks and smoothies, has added about $125,000 in sales per store and is the company's biggest launch in 35 years. As McDonald's has put its major flops of the past far behind (ever try the McLean or the Arch Deluxe?), the company has gained permission from consumers to branch out into products you'd never expect to see on the menu board a decade ago -- oatmeal, for example. Geographical divisions have even gotten better at sharing ideas around the globe. McCafé originated in Australia, and now Chicken McBites, another Aussie staple, is being tested in the U.S.

????Despite having more than 100 items on the menu, Skinner, perhaps more than anyone else at McDonald's, has never lost sight of the fact that the company's roots go back to the burger business. In the late 1990s and early 2000s McDonald's started acquiring stakes in brands like Chipotle (CMG). Those investments diversified the company but barely caused a blip in earnings. When Skinner became CEO, he sold them all off in their entirety in order to keep the focus on the core. "Because you're good with hamburgers, you think you can do pizzas or rental cars or an IT business or sell your know-how," says former executive Hennequin. McDonald's has been guilty of this too -- it once opened Golden Arch hotels in Switzerland. "Jim is always the guy that takes us back to 'What difference is this going to make for the hamburger business? Is that going to help? If that's not going to help, forget it.'"

????Today McDonald's is better than ever at figuring out what will or won't work on the menu board, a testament to the discipline Skinner has instituted. Every new item that ends up on customers' trays has to have a strong business case that examines its profitability, the capital it requires, and how it can be built out nationally. McDonald's has about 40 products at different stages in the pipeline, and some, like the Angus Burger, can take over four years to hit the market. Products that meet the company's business-case requirements have a 90% chance of going national. During the testing phase, the company may even try out different prices by market to ensure a new launch is adding incremental sales rather than stealing share from an existing item.