Human ExchangePoints Matter, Even With Crepes

Human ExchangePoints can make even crepes irrelevant

Last week I had a crepe for the first time.  If you don’t know a crepe is a very thin pancake rolled around various ingredients, either cheese and meat or some kind of fruit.  It can be quite delicious and the little shop I visited in Kingston last week was no exception.  But no matter how good your product is, one little lapse in service can ruin it all.

Jaime Les Crepes is a small shop right next to the Kingston Ferry, where about 80% of its customers come from, and the whole shop can’t be more than the size of a small kitchen lending to it the distinct feel of a European shop.  I liked it immediately.  I enjoyed it even more when on the first day I was helped by Kattie, a two year crepe veteran.  Kattie made the crepes, held a conversation with multiple customers, and rang up the orders all by herself.  I was in and out in about 5 minutes or so.  She was very personable, completely competent, and left me wanting to come back the next day.

The difference the next morning was night and day.  I walked into the shop to see two younger girls at the counter, both seemingly in a bad mood, trying to work around each other in a cramped space.  The whole mood inside the small shop had changed.  When they finally got to my order (two took longer than one) it was made well, as far as I could tell, but without the conversation or the enthusiasm.  Since I had to transport the order back to the cabin my wife and I were staying at, I tried to help by telling her what Kattie did the day before.  This employee looked right at me and said with almost a sneer, “I’ve done this before.”  Okay then… I stepped back and observed at that point.  I paid for my food and brought it out to the car only to find that the container with the blueberry crepes had leaked on my foot.  She hadn’t packed it right.

All of these factors make a huge difference.  I would rather have this entry be a love letter to that establishment as a shining beacon of what customer service should be, but instead I would probably not remember to personally recommend that shop to anyone I know.

All companies have points at which they exchange value with customers, ExchangePoints, and the human point is often the most important (as well as the most difficult to control).  Customers buy into these exchange points just like they do a regular product, I wanted the service interaction just as much as the crepe.

In the end this is the difference between a destination point and a stop of convenience.  Most customers will use the product until a better alternative comes around, then the customers will jump ship and swim to a newer boat.  Whether it is a service business or a chance conversation, the little things matter, and a quality Human ExchangePoint could be the difference between a loyal friend or a passing acquaintance.

Boats are interesting

In Dale Carnegie’s “How to Win Friend’s and Influence People” he relates a tale about a man who Carnegie remembers as an amazing communicator.  The man seemed able to talk on and on about Carnegie’s favorite subject at the time, boats, and at the end of their time together Carnegie was amazed at the man’s depth of interest in the subject.  We come to find out that the man really knew little about the subject, but was able to listen well enough to surmise Carnegie’s deep interest in the subject and talk about what he knew.

Organizations today have the same opportunity with their customers and stakeholders.  In fact, if they don’t begin to REALLY listen to what their constituencies are interested in then the Reaper may be knocking on the door in regards to the salmon mouse.  Companies must be interested in what the customer is interested in and there must be dialogue and positive interaction for value to be built. Communication comes from the organization’s values and goes out in any way it can to interact with the customer.

Organizations must trade mutual values and build agendas with customers where both profit from the interaction.  The first step is really listening.

The Changing Nature of Human Interactions

The world is changing and becoming more condensed, simpler, there is less smoke and shadow to cloud our minds.  We know what is happening.  People all around see what is going on but they must CHOOSE to close their eyes.  Ignorance is no longer an excuse.  New technology and advances in every area of science make us more connected, longer living, and able to live our lives without the worry of an early passing.  Now we fret about the loss of our possessions, our things, those materials we have become attached to instead of actual people.  Or are these material goods really taking over?  Is the connection we feel so much deeper than a mere replacement of affections?

Humans need connection to other humans.  We relish the rich, complex diversity that only comes from the one on one interaction with another person.  Even so called introverts need this connection from time to time.  It’s an exchange need, a basic belief that mental exchange with another person is vital and even necessary to one’s continued existence.  But does that “person” need to be an actual person, a living breathing, flesh and blood human being?  Explain Christianity, or any religion in that case.  Religions, corporations, organizations, tribes, even products can take on a life of their own in the mind of a consumer.  The product, company, or organization is no longer a lifeless name but a vibrant character filled with history, passions, and a deep sense of familiarity.

We see the corporation or products as we would another person.  We interact with it on a similar level as our friends.  We visit it, we interact with it, call and talk to it, telling our secrets and desires to it.  Most people spend more time interacting with companies and products than actual people or their own family and friends.  While the world is changing, people do not.  We still want the same things; survival, security, identity, belonging, and interaction.  But we no longer HAVE to receive those things from a live person.

Business today has an amazing opportunity to craft and develop a corporate character and soul so that it provides the most value possible in any given interaction with its’ customers.  People want to connect, to interact and are more than willing to look at your company or your product as a viable substitute for interaction with live people.  Or perhaps your employees are the reason the customers keep coming back?  Irrelevant, it is still your corporate personality that brings the customer back time and time again.  People see that and respond in kind.

This is the beginning

My friend Justin suggested that I begin a blog because he thinks I have something to say.  He said he would actually follow me so I told him I’ll give it a try.

I really do so the world changing.  “Marketing” as we know it will see a dramatic shift from its current loose and unorganized methods to holistic and cohesive.  “Marketing” will cease to be a word with relevant meaning, relegated to the world of history books that people will look back on in head shaking wonder.  Instead we will speak of story, soul, and personality.

We already unconsciously see companies and businesses as “people” and interact with them as we would a beloved friend and confidant.  The next steps will see us completing this transformation.  But business theory and strategy need to catch up and recognize that business owners have a Frankenstein-like power to bring entities to life, that every decision affects the corporate story, its soul, and ultimately its personality.

I repeat these words for good reason because they, or something like them, will be the new terms by which we describe our organizations, the gauges of how we interact with these invisible, but all too real, entities.

This blog will be about that transition and all the related minutia that affect our societal transformation to a more connected and personable collection of human beings.  If you are reading this, please join the conversation.

Note: As of this post I don’t have a home internet connection, working on that, but I am updating as often as I can.  If I don’t reply right away you now understand why.