Article

The key to customer experience is removing 'cones'

Every business that is using technology to serve its customers, whether it is a kiosk, mobile phone or digital signage, is involved in the "everywhere commerce" ecosystem. Brands are meeting customers on every device. However, they need make sure they remove 'cones' something that blocks or inconveniences the customer.

Brandon Overstreet uses a cone to demonstrate what a brand does when it undermines the customer experience. Photo by Willie Lawless.

April 2, 2019 by Elliot Maras — Editor, Kiosk Marketplace & Vending Times

Every business that is using technology to serve its customers, whether it is a kiosk, mobile phone or digital signage, is involved in the "everywhere commerce" ecosystem. Brands are meeting customers on every device, at every touchpoint, to provide a seamless and "buzz-worthy" experience.

Exciting, no doubt, but challenging in many ways. Brandon Overstreet, a brand loyalty innovator for Touchpoint Restaurant Innovations, which provides a cloud-based platform to support customer experiences in restaurants, offered an overview of the challenges brands have to address to succeed in "everywhere commerce" during a presentation at the Restaurant Franchise & Innovation Summit in Louisville.

Overstreet tailored his remarks to restaurants, the vertical he focuses on, but his message about maintaining a seamless customer experience across all customer touchpoints applies to a wide range of industries.

Big players set the bar high

"Big companies are setting the standards for us," he said, citing Apple, Amazon and Tesla as companies that have taken the lead in defining what perfect everywhere commerce should be.

These technology leaders have set the bar high for all customer experiences, Overstreet said, making it difficult for many companies to shine in consumers' eyes.

Overstreet held up an orange construction cone to symbolize the challenge brands face when something causes the customer to be inconvenienced.

Restaurants, for example, often have different technology systems that have to work together in order to meet customer expectations. When a technology doesn't work in a restaurant, the customer experience falls short, similar to the way a cone in a roadway prevents people from continuing on their path, he said.

Overstreet said that the franchise promise that brands are making with customers today must provide:

• Industry standard technology.
• Easy and effective local marketing.
• A consistent and memorable customer experience.

Amazon, when serving customers, does not allow cones to interrupt the customer experience, he said.

How to get rid of the cones

To avoid having to place cones in the customer's path, Overstreet said brands need to listen to what customers, associates and franchisees say is causing pain points.

"Push to get five-star reviews at all touchpoints," he said. "Are you getting five-star reviews at all touchpoints?"

Overstreet pointed to Ryan Smolkin, one of the keynote presenters at the conference, as a "walking five-star review." Smolkin — founder and CEO of Smoke's Poutinerie, the Ajax, Ontario based restaurant franchise chain — wowed the audience by playing air guitar and singing to hard rock music in his presentation to show how he pounds his message of "global domination" across all touchpoints all the time. 

One metric for the restaurant industry to work on, Overstreet said, is the current 6-8 percent loyalty app downloads. He said that figure should be 50 percent. Anything less signifies that the restaurant is placing cones in the customer's way.

"There's something that's keeping the customers from opting into that program," he said. "The technology is out there, but you have to push yourself to say, 'I can.' Remove the cones in your business."

He told his listeners to take a cone back to work with them and display it to the team the first time a team member says, "We can't do that."

"What are we saying our customer experience won't do?" he asked.

Overstreet suggested brands work with technology providers that will identify cones, remove cones and commit to building a "cone-free" experience.

About Elliot Maras

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Elliot Maras is the editor of Kiosk Marketplace and Vending Times. He brings three decades covering unattended retail and commercial foodservice.