A few weeks ago, I wrote about the Domino's Tracker - an application that appears on your computer screen when you order a pizza from the Domino's web site.
The Tracker allowed me to see exactly when my pizza was going into the oven, and exactly when it would come out of the oven. By watching the Tracker, I knew exactly when I should leave home to pick up my pizza. No guessing and no waiting around.
Domino's is sharing information with its customers, for the customers' benefit.
UPS, USPS, FedEx and other shipping services do essentially the same thing, via tracking numbers. Each time the bar code on the package is scanned during the shipping process; time-stamped information is captured about the whereabouts of a customer's package.
When the shippers make this information accessible to the customer, it's making the customers' lives easier. For example, if my package requires a signature, and I can see that it left the shipping hub in Springfield, MA at 10:07am and it's now noon, I know that I still have plenty of time to run some errands, and be home in plenty of time to sign for the package.
Domino's FedEx, UPS and USPS improve the customer experience by sharing information on line.
Not all companies are this forward-thinking, when it comes to the customer experience. As I type this, I have no dial tone on my office phone. I called my phone service provider, FairPoint Communications, and they said that they'll send a repairman out to trouble shoot the line. The Customer Service Rep told me that the repairman will be here before 6pm this evening. (I spoke to her at 9:45am).
Me: "Wow, that's a time span of over eight hours - can you be a little more specific?"
She: "No, I'm sorry sir, but the driver has other stops to make, and we have no way of knowing how long those other calls will take."
Me: "OK, I understand. But does the driver normally call his next stop, when he's en route?"
She: "No."
Me: "Well, can you have him/her do that please?"
She: "I can add a note to the ticket, but that's no guarantee that he'll be able to call beforehand."
Excellent irony! A phone service provider that could improve the customer experience with a simple phone call, but doesn't do it!
So, FairPoint... how about taking a page from Domino's and USPS, UPS and FedEx...
You have the technology and information to know the whereabouts of your drivers. How about sharing that information with your customers as we patiently wait in our homes, not knowing if the repairman will arrive in 10 minutes, or 10 hours?
How about creating a little application like Domino's did, integrated with GPS and Google Maps, so that we can see on our computer screen exactly where the repairman is, and allow us to live a normal day, knowing more precisely when to return home, to meet the repairman?
If you're a business, think about the information that you use to manage your internal operations. What information would be useful to your customers, and improve their experience, why not share it?
Most companies have more ways than they realize, to improve the customer experience, right inside their own four walls. It just takes a little creative thinking, through the eyes and the mind of the customer, to identify that information, and how it could be useful.
If NORAD can track Santa around the globe, why don't more service providers share more information with more customers?