CUSTOMERS AT WORK

Sarah MethvinLauren Doerr

Customers doing the work

Some stores are making customers do more work. Southwest Airlines offers self check-ins. Dell inc. provides web enabled tools allowing customers to configure

their systems. Bank of America encourages customers to manage their accounts

online. HealthCheck USA supplies customers with special kits to perform

their own genetic testing.

Companies save money by having customers do more Airlines estimate that they save $3.52 every time a customer

buys a ticket online and $2.70 when a customer conducts self check-in

Software companies, banks and some cable providers can save more than $9 when customers manage services and receive support with self-service websites, instead of by speaking with someone.

Saving money

Roles that Customers Play

Transactionals- Use self checkout, eat at buffets, like to do things for themselves

Traditionals- the Home Depot shopper, favor do-it-yourself in terms of home improvement

Conventionals-Acquire tangible products that allow them to perform tasks. i.e. a stove for gourmet cooking

Intentionals- Coproduction experiences i.e. Nike iD, Build-A-Bear, Subway

Radicals- take coproduction to extremes i.e. the man who modified his Prius to get 80 mpg

Customers getting frustrated

If customers can’t perform, they may not come back to your business.

Jupiter Research estimates that 91% of customers with a bad experience on a self serve website will not come back.

Customers must be coached and trained http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpdn-4Nen

gQ&feature=related “No Soup for you”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svSGKJFSl-8&feature=related

It’s a gamble

Customers will either gain store loyalty by doing the work, or the company may lose their sales altogether. If a customer can learn the techniques and system of a

company, they will feel comfortable and in control of their shopping experience, and will come back.

Happy customers may also attract and help new customers. If customers have bad experiences, they will get frustrated

and find other companies or stores that they feel more comfortable at.

The coproduction-experience model

You can understand the coproduction experience of your customers and improve their experience, through four key tactics: Vision

• Find the goals and objectives, actions they expect to execute.• Companies must help customers shape their needs and meet their goals.

Access• Access reflects the resources companies supply so that customers can

perform. Incentive

• These can be powerful motivators for convincing them to try new items or stop bad behavior. Reward programs are the typical incentives for many companies.

Expertise• This is the knowledge/skills customers must retain to execute work required.

The Vision

Customers are encouraged to develop a vision of how to use products, when then articulates goals and tasks.

Feedback- Psychologist Albert Bandura and Daniel Cervone,

found goals are better met and maintained when customers were given feedback as close as possible to their performance

Companies must assist customers in forming their goals

The Access

Resources that companies provide for customer performance.

Have you ever met someone who received a bad subway sandwich?-Probably not, because they guide the maker through the process.

The Incentive Positive or Negative motives to

encourage specific behavior. Reward-

Customer success stories online Cash rewards for online bill pay

Disincentives- Overdraft charges Carnival Cruises punishing smokers

The Expertise

Knowledge or Skills obtained by customers in order to execute coproduction experiences Home Depot offering do-it-yourself clinics Web-based information and tutorials are becoming

more and more common.

Resources

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpdn-4NengQ&feature=related

http://www.wou.edu/~eltonm/Marketing%20Strategy/Customers%20at%20work.pdf

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