Thinking About Incentives
August 20, 2008
While standing in the checkout line the other day at the supermarket
Being ignored - as usual — by the checkout person
Because she was busy talking with the bagger
Who’d just had his braces removed,
I wondered what happened to the pleasant encounters
Between customer and checkout person that used to occur
In the past.
And, I wondered…
Wouldn’t it be a competitive advantage for the supermarket
To create a pleasant interactive experience for a customer
While checking out at the end of a shopping trip –
Since that sort of positive experience might boost customer loyalty?
Of course, the store could address this problem right now by having a strict policy against ignoring the customer during checkout.
Or it could have a manager police the checkout aisles for impermissible co-worker chats.
But, for some reason, these approaches seem to be out of favor.
So, I wondered…
What could be done to develop a system that would ENCOURAGE the checkout person to talk with me?
Mind you, it’s not that I don’t have friends.
I’m not DESPERATE to talk with the checkout person.
It’s just that it feels strange and awkward to be treated as if I were INVISIBLE
When I’m actually the principal person engaged in the buying transaction.
After all,
It’s my credit card that zips through the card reader to pay the bill.
So, here’s what I’ve come up with.
It a sort of incentive system that would
Put power in the hands of the customer –
To bring about a more pleasant checkout experience.
Don’t laugh.
I’m thinking that the store should give each customer a certain number of “Bonus Points” upon arriving at the store.
Customers could award these Bonus Points on the spot to employees to acknowledge helpful behavior.
Employees could redeem them for rewards.
I would certainly give a few points to any checkout person who engaged me in pleasant conversation.
This would be a win-win for everybody.
The checkout people would get to use their Bonus Points to get something valuable to them.
The customers would get talked to, and have a more pleasant experience overall, and
The company would have happier customers who were more connected to the store with the prospect of greater profitability.
ASK YOURSELF: Are there ways in which my company or organization can create intelligent incentives that would be a win-win for all concerned?
Finding Creative Solutions
August 14, 2008
One thought haunts me.
And it deals with a seemingly mundane subject.
Why did it take us so long to put wheels and a pull-handle on luggage?
Now that we have it, it seems obvious.
Easy to maneuver.
No weight to carry.
No awkward steering (as there was when we dragged a suitcase on four wheels by a leash).
It seems like such a simple modification.
And it is.
Yet, there was a time when nobody had thought about it.
Simply put, the human mind had not “gone there before”
So, for years we either carried our heavy luggage or dragged it along.
Why care at all about this?
Because there may be similar discoveries to be made in your business or work life.
Things that would immensely simplify your operations or bring you a better bottom line.
The trick is to keep an open mind and be curious.
ASK YOURSELF: What new discovery or revolutionary shortcut is before my eyes right now?
