Through the Eyes of the Customer

How a Simpler Experience can be a Better Experience for the Customer

Sometimes, less experience is a better experience.

As customers, we want things to be easy.  When we buy a product or service, we're ultimately purchasing the value that we receive by using that product or service.  That means not having  to go through a lot of steps or procedures to get to that point of value.

Later today, I'll be flying to Chicago.  And whenever I fly, I like to be checked in before I arrive at the airport.  That means fewer steps at the airport; an easier process.  So like a lot of travelers, before leaving my home or office, I'll log into my computer or smart phone, go to the airline's website, go through the on-line check-in process, and print my boarding pass.  It's a lot easier than waiting in line at the airport, but it's still something that I need to remember to do; it requires initiative.

Yesterday afternoon, about 24 hours before today's scheduled flight, I was sitting on a sofa at home, when my cell phone rang.  It was an automated agent from United Airlines, offering to check me in for today's flight.  I answered a couple quick questions, and I was checked in.  I never left the comfort or convenience of my sofa.  I didn't have to remember to check in.  I didn't have

The point is this:

Find ways to make life easier for your customer, by reducing the number of steps that the customer must go through, to get to the value that they're ultimately buying. Checking-in before you get on the airplane adds no value; but  it's something that has to happen.  United made my life easier, by removing steps between the purchase, and the value received.

How many steps does your customer need to endure, before  they get to the point of receiving value from your product?  Which of those steps can you remove, or at least make a lot easier for your customer? 

Thanks to minimalwall for painting a picture of simple.

How QR Codes are Used in a 200-Year-Old Mansion

It’s fascinating to see how people lived two hundred years ago.

The McLellan House in Portland, Maine was originally built by a shipping magnate in 1801.  Through the efforts of the Portland Museum or Art, the McLellan House has been preserved as a wonderful place to learn about 19^th century architecture and design.  It's also a great place to learn how QR codes can deliver a better customer experience. 

This past Friday night, my wife and I joined some friends in touring the house, and this was far more than a walk through.   While there were no tour guides within the house, we came away from the tour having enjoyed a complete room-by-room learning experience.

What made the experience so fulfilling was the way that QR codes were placed surreptiously throughout the building; in many rooms and hallways, and on artifacts inside this stately mansion.  The QR codes are used in an innovative way to enrich each patron’s experience, by delivering short contextual videos throughout the tour.  Among them are a video of a master woodworker restoring the flying staircase (shown at left),  and the creation of a painted floor cloth.

Like most consumers, I’ve become accustomed to seeing QR codes printed in magazine advertisements, as a direct link to a webpage, and as a way to draw the reader  farther into lead qualification, or a sales process.

The Portland Museum of Art uses QR codes in an entirely different way; not to sell, but to serve; to serve their patrons with a richer, higher quality experience while touring an exhibit.  This is in fact something that any business can do; using QR codes to deepen customer touch-points in a way to enrich the customers’ experience, and ultimately build customer loyalty.

So, how can you put QR codes to work in your business, in ways that will delight your customers, so that they tell more people about you?  Think of the various high-traffic  touch-points between your company and your customers, and then think about how live videos might enhance that touch-point.

For example, if you sell products that require assembly, consider printing a QR code on the front page of the assembly instructions.  Your customer can take a picture of the code with his smart phone, and be brought directly to an on-line video that shows the customer how to assemble the product.  That would be a lot easier for the customer to follow, than small-font text, wouldn’t it?

Check out this list to learn about some of the cool ways that others have used QR codes.  Then think how you can do something similar for your customers.  

If QR codes can tell the story of a 200-year old building, just think how they can create a rich history for your business.