“Counting cows” was a backseat
game parents used years ago in rural areas to quell the endless “Are we there
yet?” queries from their children. The
rules were simple: each person took one
side of the car when the journey began. One
point was given for every cow you saw on your side; five points for every
horse, and if a graveyard appeared on your side, you lost all your points and
had to start over again. Active
participation in a simple, competitive game made the car trip seem much
shorter.
Today’s customers have a strong need
for speed. They are as impatient and
restless as a group of “desperados waiting for a train,” to quote the country
music song title made famous by The Highwaymen.
Faxes gave way to e-mails which gave way to text messages from anywhere
at any time. Netflix and FedEx taught us
you could get it next day; Zappos.com surprised us with an order for new shoes
placed on line in the evening arriving at our door step the next morning. The customer’s standard for the speed of
service has continued to hasten with seemingly no end in sight.
But, there is a way to slow the
speed of service. Let your customers
“count cows!” Look for ways to help
customers participate. Like DisneyWorld
entertains guests who are waiting in line to board that special ride, entertain
your customers in an engaging yet appropriate way. Is there a way you can make getting service
seem faster through turning it into a compelling game? How about a clever contest? A social
gathering? How can you manage the
customer’s perception of service pace as you work to improve the reality of service
pace?
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