McDonald's Survey: Franchisees Feel Pessimistic About The Fast Food Chain

McDonald's sales in 2015 were not too stellar. To turn it around, McDonald's introduced an all-day breakfast option for its restaurants.

However, an internal survey reveals that most McDonald's franchisees feel pessimistic about the fast food chain's current performance, according to Chicago Tribune. In fact, only 14 percent of McDonald's franchisees in the U.S. think that the fast food chain's strategies are working.

The survey also shows that only 35 percent of McDonald's franchisees feel good about the future success of the fast food giant compared to the 46 percent from the previous year. McDonald's was able to finish the annual survey of about 1,500 franchisees in November 2015.

These unfortunate survey results happened despite a 5.7 percent sales growth during the fourth quarter of 2015. McDonald's can credit their new $2.50 meal in the U.S. for the last quarter sales growth which resulted in an 8.1 percent increase in their stock price -- the biggest stock increase for McDonald's in seven years.

"While we are pleased with the recent positive momentum in the U.S., it will take at least six more months of positive comparable sales and guest count growth to progress through the sustained and prolonged growth phases of our turnaround," Chief Executive Officer Steve Easterbrook said in January. He also stated that they plan to focus on running their restaurants smoothly as well as creating excitement and hype around the brand in order to have more growth in their sales.

Likewise, Lisa McComb, spokeswoman for McDonald's, noted that the survey was conducted before the all-day breakfast option was implemented in the U.S. This might explain why the survey results were very pessimistic despite some growth during the last quarter of 2015. She also said that McDonald's is stronger now than the previous year.

McDonald's is also introducing its new Chicken McGriddle -- chicken and pancakes wrapped in one sandwich, according to Fortune. Hopefully, these new strategies and products will result in a more optimistic outlook for McDonald's franchisees.