Here’s my idea of the day – for Starbucks or any other coffee joint.  The idea of this is to help out staff during peak times ensure customer satisfaction.   I’ve noticed that at busy peak times often all the containers of milk and coffee cream empty out.  With the stainless steel thermos casing – there’s no visual clue to let the staff know if the contents have been exhausted.

Well here’s my idea to improve efficiency:  containters would have a built in sensor that would measure weight (or some other permaiter).  Meanwhile at the counter, a dashboard would show the status of all the containers (nothing major just a few lights).  A glance of the eye would allow the staff to quickly see on the status of all their milk containers.  Allowing them to more proactively address any supply issues immediately.

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BAD CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE – So yet another Friday night, 8 PM, the start of the weekend, Ring Ring. “Hello?”. “Hi Stephen Crooks this is Bank of Montreal calling …”.  And this is probably the 4th call I’ve received from Bank of Montreal (or with their trying to pretend they aren’t Canadian acronym: BMO) in the past few months. Do they not get that No means NO?

But here’s the thing – I know why they’re calling: IT WORKS. They’re making money doing this – why else do it?  But my question is “at what cost?”. I know somewhere in their white head office tower theirs a spreadsheet that shows executives the ROI by telemarketing. 2%? 3%. I’m sure it’s low, but lucrative enough.

But at what cost do these conversions come at? Of the 100% of people they contact what % of their customer base develops disdain for the brand? What about people like me who’s on the fence. My only service with the bank is a credit card, with a high interest rate. So they offer me little value. But now I have a negative association with the brand and it makes me more willing to entertain offers (on my terms) with other financial institutions.  Therefore BMO has turned me into a Negative Conversion – def. someone who is positive or neutral towards the brand who due to their own actions turned me against the brand.

SOLUTION: Telemarketing must always be permission based.  I know BMO is using a loophole set-up by the Canadian Government that allows them to call me because I’m an existing client.  But did I ask to be called?  I know how to find them, I’ll call if somethings up.  If they looked at my customer profile they’d know that I call occasionally to see what my balance is.  So use those calls as a method to interact with me – I’m willing at that time.  Maybe make me an offer “Sir, when you’ve completed your banking please press #5 – we have an agent who wants to speak with you”.

Obviously any bank is bottom-line focused. But this obsession with short term profits will come at a cost. I’m a big fan of ING, and watch for many of my glowing articles that I plan to publish and it will help further demonstrate the radically different approaches Canadian and International banks take in dealing with their customers.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Questions Marketing Managers must ask themselves in determining the true Customer Experience ROI:

- Is this the best way to reach our customers?  Not everyone falls into the same bucket – time for a brainstorm.

- For every conversion we obtain – what is the % of Negative conversions we might result in getting from such a campaign?

- How much are our Negative Conversions worth to the company (they could be your crap customers – like me – or those with an extensive portfolio)

- Do sample and conversion testing – what is the response of the Negative Conversions?  Feisty? Passive? Angry?  And how many negative conversions did you create?

Related articles on other Sites:

• BMO quarterly profit up 16% (cbc.ca)
• Big Banks Say Go Elsewhere! (thehiddennews.blogspot.com)

The machine is unique and pioneering in many ways starting with it having only one nozzle and consumers make their drink selection by pressing on the video touch screen display, which they can pick the drink concoction of their choice.  Gone are the days of one tap, one flavour.  Now flavours will be mixed and matched from over 120 flavours.  Similar to print cartridges, flavours will come in hyper contrentrated packages that the machine will pick from.  Each cartridge is 1.35 L and will (I presume) inject the carbinated water stream with extreme precision, with the same carbonated water flushing the system of flavours after each use.

The cartridges will incorporate RFID tags, so loading the machines will be extremely easy to operate.  The technology will also ensure that every order is automatically recorded and sent back to Coke-Cola’s Atlanta head office.  These real-time consumer insights will greatly impact on their marketing decisions, in addition will help the company see emerging trends.

What’s really intriguing about this device is it really plays into the concept of the Long Tail.  The vast majority of drinks sold will always be their top sellers, but as a Coke representative pointed out in a flowchart of daily sales – there is no one flavour that ever goes unsold any day in their test markets.   But even if 80% of sales comes from only 10% of the machines product line-up, will still be a success.  Coke will be better positioned to people who would have skipped on making a purchase from the traditional fountain line-up – or better yet develop customized flavours that only can be produced by a Coke machine.

By having a machine that can generate unique, customer inspired flavours – locks those consumers in for life to Coke only machines.  With North American fountain drink sales in continuous decline for over a decade now, anything that can help revive and hopefully boost sales will surely be welcomed by shareholders.

Well for years I’ve been telling people what Tim Horton’s needed was an in-store express line.  A line for people that will ONLY order coffee or tea during the peak morning rush.  Well a friend of mine has snapped a pick of a Tim Horton’s in Toronto (Sheppard and the 404) showing proof that Tim’s has listened!!  Now lets hope this is a success and spreads to other outlets.

Why is this good?  It speeds up turn-over. I’m sure the major part of the test roll-out is to see how instore sales are impacted.  Would people opt out of a food purchase if they see the express line moving faster?  How will customers react to being told that they can’t order certain items.

But I would contend sales and satisfaction would increase because people will be able to predict waiting times every morning.  As it stands, and I think a great frustration to any customer is not knowing how long it will take to be served.  Therefore instead of getting stuck in a unpredictable line-up they opt to not go to a particular location, or defer to later in the day.  A loss of a sale, is a loss of a sale.

And sorry for the blurry picture! (Not my hands).

Tim Horton's Express