I was chatting with a group of U.S. Dataworks, Inc. employees about self-service and my belief that good self-service trumps great personalized service. We agreed this is generally true, though one of my incredibly cerebral programming staff, Eric, noted how many patrons of the grocery stores where he shops should need to qualify before using […]
Category Archives: Retail
Enabling Someone to Do the Right Thing
If you travel as much as I do, you’re bound to be a frequent customer at the dry cleaners. Since my move to Sugar Land, I found a cleaning business conveniently located on my way to work; they are very efficient and have been a delight.However, upon closer inspection, a shirt of mine was damaged […]
Getting Your Tone Right …
Do you remember when Target rolled out its EMV (chip card enabled) machine? I know I do! I especially remember how they emanated an obnoxious noise when it was time to take your card out. It was negative reinforcement; why have such a rude noise associated with the new chip card? In fairness to Target, […]
Great Service is in the Eye of the Beholder
Is good self-service superior to great personal service? In many cases, maybe even most cases it is. I think we get into trouble when we assume we know what a great service is and strive to achieve a service standard that may not be what means good service to the customer. I was in Minneapolis […]