The Setup
Recently I was involved in a conversation with a co-worker relating to the customer experience at Subway. The premise was that Subway communicates to the customer the status of their order at every step of the sales process.
Have you ever noticed how slowly Subway sandwiches are made? As each order is taken and prepared, the customer gawks into the glass prep area and watches as each pickle is precariously placed, by an expert sandwich maker, onto a parmesan toasted bun.
Sandwiches are prepared one at a time. One customer, one cash transaction at time.
On a unit production and volume comparison, Subway’s assembly line cannot compare to the mass preparation techniques of McD’s/others. Subway utilizes a serial production system while Big Macs pumped out, en mass, in parallel, efficiently, dozens at a time. They even pour your drink at McD’s.
I believe that Subway has nailed the customer formula because of three things: Transparency of the work, the proximity to the customer and the behaviour of others waiting in line.
I absolutely agree with the conclusions of the last paragraph, and it is comparable to software development. In a successful software developer’s life, you have to be in constant contact with your customer. Proximity is another important attribute to make those softer, subtler human connections.
Back to the Subway example: Absolutely every detail of the product is in plan view. At each step, the customer knows:
- what is happening with the order right now
- whether the order being produced to the customer's standards
- how long it will be until the goods are received.
The important part: the customer is always informed, and has the latest information that they need.
I think about the last time I bought something from an online vendor (eBay, Amazon, Chapters, etc.) The best vendors will show the status of your order, and give you/make available feedback on your order. I know *I* love seeing my shipment journey its way over to me. I sometimes check a few times a day. Now where are my OCD pills…?
The Takeaway
Give your customers feedback. Make it the feedback that you would expect as a consumer. Keep the updates fresh.
Make your development plans transparent. Doing this will build trust between you and customers/managers and your peers. Post it at your workspace/cubicle/office door. Keep it updated! Take the manual route by printing/posting your dev plan (from Excel or what-have-you). Take the digital route by posting it on a blog, wiki, SharePoint, email, or any other way that you can.
How do *YOU* keep your customers informed? Do you have any success stories?