Archive for the ‘Simplicity’ Category

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Simplifying the Retail Payment Process

April 4, 2008
In retail, speed of service is a significant factor in top line growth. More people though the lines equals more revenue for a given store. For large retailers, a small speed of service improvement at the point of sale translates to big dollars when you’re dealing with hundreds or thousands of locations.
 
One way to improve speed of service at the point of sale is to simplify the payment process. This is done by reducing the transaction down to the smallest number of steps. To illustrate this, let’s compare a credit card purchase at Safeway versus Target.
 
Safeway Credit Card Transaction
  1. Take Safeway Card out of wallet
  2. Swipe Safeway Card on terminal
  3. Put Safeway Card back in wallet
  4. Pick-up pen attached to terminal
  5. Select Credit on the screen using pen
  6. Put pen down
  7. Take credit card out of wallet
  8. Swipe credit card
  9. Put credit card back in wallet
  10. Wait for the cashier to finish ringing items
  11. Pick-up pen
  12. Sign screen using pen
  13. Put pen down
  14. Receive receipt from cashier
Target Credit Card Transaction
  1. Take credit card out of wallet
  2. Insert credit card into terminal
  3. Pick-up pen
  4. Sign screen using pen
  5. Put pen down
  6. Retrieve card from terminal and put back in wallet
  7. Wait for cashier to finish ringing items 
  8. Receive receipt from cashier
As you can see, Target’s payment process uses nearly half as many steps. Additionally, the customer doesn’t have to wait for the cashier to finish ringing up the items before signing the screen and completing the payment process. Target’s payment process is also more customer-friendly as there is less switching hands between cards and the pen. Pay attention to this next time you are in Safeway and Target and you will see what a significant difference this can be.
 
Simplicity can be a significant factor in speed of service as well as customer experience. Retailers are wise to take a close look at their payment process to fine tune it to the least number of steps.

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One-Page Executive Presentations

March 31, 2008

The pursuit of simplicity is something I try to incorporate into all aspects of my life, especially in business. Here’s one of my favorite quotes on the topic:

“Insecure managers create complexity. Frightened, nervous managers use thick, convoluted planning books and busy slides filled with everything they’ve known since childhood. Real leaders don’t need clutter. People must have the self-confidence to be clear, precise, to be sure that every person in their organization – highest to lowest – understands what the business is trying to achieve. But it’s not easy. You can’t believe how hard it is for people to be simple, how much they fear being simple. They worry that if they’re simple, people will think they’re simple-minded. In reality, of course, it’s just the reverse. Clear, tough-minded people are the most simple.” – Jack Welch, interviewed by Harvard Business Journal

Throughout my business career, I’ve had numerous opportunities to present a deal summary or program update to a steering committee or executive sponsor. While most of my peers would present 20-40 PowerPoint slides with impressive graphics and loads of information, I set myself apart by bringing one sheet of paper in memo format. No graphics, no unnecessary information. Just the relevant information.

I was lucky enough to have a boss early in my career who said “first, don’t come into my office unless you can tell me 1) what are the facts, 2) what do they mean, and 3) what do we do. Second, if you can’t fit it on 1-2 pages, you haven’t thought about it enough.” I took this to heart and have applied it since.

Here’s what I have found. Initially, executives would challenge facts and assumptions on my one sheet of paper. I would always have additional information with me to back up my claims and recommendations. Over time, they realized I had my act together and stopped challenging the content and started focusing on the decision at hand and my recommendation. Additionally, executives don’t have time to read 20-40 page presentations. They want you to get to the point and keep the conversation focused on the important items to be discussed and decisions to be made. They will appreciate it when you value their time and focus the time on the high value topics.

If you haven’t taken this approach, give it a shot and see if you get similar results. If anything, it will set you apart from the crowd of paper-pushers.

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