Starting this week and running through Sept. 20, guests can check out the cameras, take pictures and print them using an HP Photosmart 245 photo printer installed at the hotels Following up on the original Hotel Room as Showroom article, Yahoo Reports that Fairmont Hotels and HP are partnering to offer guests digital camera rental …
Author Archives: Garrick van Buren
Taking Ownership
Clients, customers, collegues don’t care why there’s a problem. They just want it fixed and to move on. To do that, each person approached with a client issue needs to take ownership of problem and feel they have the authority to deliver a satisfactory solution quickly. Take this Ritz Carlton experience for example: At exactly …
On-Board Wi-Fi
The last place for wireless to penetrate may actually be where the money is – according to this Forbes article: Boeing plans to charge $30 for flights longer than six hours, $19.95 for flights of four to six hours, $14.95 for shorter flights and $9.95 for a 30-minute trial. Continuous access from Munich to LA …
McDonald’s Learns From Best Buy
In the Star Tribune’s recent “Best Buy Copes with Costs” article, they report that Best Buy’s customer-centric format roll-out (and here) has been scaled back 40%. The customer centricity strategy has its costs. Operating expenses as a percentage of revenue were 2.2 percent higher at the test stores, the company said. But the test stores’ …
The 30 Second Rule
If it takes you or your collegues longer than 30 seconds to find a piece of information, then your workplace organization needs drastic improvement. I recently attended Minnesota Technology’s overview on Lean for the Office. The 30 second rule is a great yardstick to measure your day against. Extend the principal a bit..if no one …
You Expect What You Pay For
Recently – a collegue recounted his experience selling a fully-capable product with a price less than half its competitors. “After the presentation, the customer turned to the sales representative and asked, ‘What’s wrong with it?’” This, more than 78 years after J. Walter Thompson’s research for Pond’s Cold Cream proved that price and quality are …
Do As Little As Possible
How little can I do to successfully reach this goal? Continually asking youreself that questions is the best ways to minimize rework, reach goals quickly, guarantee sustainable solutions, and design for wear. This approach creates a functional prototype quickly, keeps stress levels down, and keeps product teams lean. Johanna Rothman has an excellent post highlighting …
Shopping Goes High-Tech
Wal-Mart’s aggressive efforts to implement RFID makes the news frequently, and you’ve probably noticed an increase in the number of stores offering self-checkout (Home Depot, Rainbow Foods, K-mart, among others). A number of other stores are experimenting other technologies poised to changed the shopping experience. The Salisbury Post has an excellent article on Bloom, the …
Hotel Room as Showroom
Hotels are now leveraging their experience comforting weary travelers and giving their guests the opportunity to take the hotel experience home. Marginal Revolution points to a Forbes article documenting the Regency in Manhattan’s addition of price tags to their bath mats, pillows, and bath robes. In a related development, Selelect Comfort recently announced a partnership …
Defining On-Stage & Off-Stage
On-stage; where employees are likely to bump into customer. Off-stage; where they are not. It’s one of my favorite ideas from The Experience Economy is that of on-stage and off-stage. Preventing off-stage behavior from occuring on-stage is the key to a good customer experience. My wife has a recent example of where the two collided …