This article originally published in Self-Service World magazine, July 2007.
Somewhere on the Discovery Channel two eccentric scientists are in a laboratory trying to figure out if an opera singer really can break glass with her voice.There is no lab here at Self-Service World, but a myth-busting team has been assembled in an effort to demolish some common misconceptions about kiosks and self-service.
With the help of a crack team of super experts, we've identified seven monster myths to examine and expose for the falsehoods they are.
Myth #1:
Kiosks will take everyone's jobs
Kiosks do replace jobs. But they usually are of the repetitive kind and are machine-like in nature. The secret to self-service success is one preached by industry experts: redeployment, not unemployment.
The Home Depot's former CEO, Robert Nardelli, fell victim to this myth. Under his direction, the hardware store giant began implementing self-checkout in 2003. Many of its regular check-out lines were eliminated, as well as the cashiers who operated them. The result was a wave of disgruntled customers who were having trouble checking out 15-foot pieces of plywood with that little barcode scanner and no one around to help. Company growth was stunted, share prices stagnated and Nardelli resigned in January 2007.
The truth is, employees displaced by self-service should be redeployed into customer service roles. In a store as vast as Home Depot, customers were looking for knowledgeable assistants who also could help carry that plywood.
Peter Snyder, managing director for International Kiosk Group for KIOSK Information Systems, saw this myth busted when one of America's largest quick-service restaurant chains tried its hand at self-service ordering. The chain added seven kiosks per store in several locations to test and get feedback on the performance.
The result of the deployment was a significant increase in customer volume and sales for the stores with kiosks, Snyder said. The restaurants needed the former order-takers in the kitchen to keep up with the extra traffic that was moving through the restaurant.
Rufus Connell, industry research director with Frost & Sullivan, said self-service has the potential of being a "force multiplier." Grocery self-checkouts usually have one employee per four machines. In a sense, the one employee has become four times more effective. The displaced employees serve in customer service roles to drive sales from within the store and not just from behind the cash register. "The trick is to make employees more effective, rather than firing them," Connell said.
Myth #2:
Elderly people won't use a kiosk
Older people sometimes are stereotyped as technophobes. But, when approached the right way, this demographic provides some of the most loyal and repetitive users of self-service. In this business, age doesn't necessarily define acceptance.
"The airlines continue to do it right," said Frances Mendelsohn, president of Summit Research Associates. "The airlines who took the time -- and patience -- to show the elderly how to use the kiosks reaped the benefits. American Airlines was particularly effective in being proactive in getting people out of line to check in at the kiosks."
It is a myth that older folks are not big risk-takers with technology. They are not as apt to embrace new technology such as kiosks right away, but they appreciate that kiosks usually provide a faster, easier transaction or service with no jive from the teenage cashier.
Bill Lynch, vice president of self-service for financial and bill-payment kiosk manufacturer Source Technologies, was observing a pilot project of financial kiosks in a bank. As an elderly woman left the kiosk, he asked her why she chose to use the kiosk rather than the teller.
"I always know how long it's going to take me," the woman said. She patted the kiosk and said, "Plus, this thing doesn't have an attitude."
Myth #3:
The more features on a machine, the better
Kiosks usually are designed to complete one task, such as checking out of retail stores or checking into a flight at the airport. Now imagine if those machines offered a plethora of functions. Suddenly you're waiting to purchase a gift card at a kiosk while the lady in front of you fills out a credit application. More is not always better.The ATM industry learned this lesson the hard way. In the mid-to late '90s, ATM deployers in the retail space wanted to enhance the cash-dispensing experience by offering services such as coupon dispensing, event ticket and lottery ticket sales -- most of which failed miserably.
Why? Tracy Kitten, editor of ATM Marketplace, said ultimately the additional functions failed because consumers didn't want them. "Too many options led to too many choices and long wait times. What consumers wanted was fast, convenient access to their cash," she said.
| "Very few kiosks with multiple applications are truly successful." -- Frances Mendelsohn, president, Summit Research Associates |
The truth is, simpler really is better. Self-service machines that have too many applications and features have the potential to annoy customers more than please them.
"If you put too many applications into a machine, the original intent becomes diluted and convoluted," said Lynch. "Businesses must know why the self-service device is there and stick to deploying applications that meet their objectives." When introducing self-service, Mendelsohn suggests beginning with a few applications to see how they fly with customers. From there, you can add new applications or take away unnecessary ones.
"Very few kiosks with multiple applications are truly successful," Mendelsohn said. "The killer application will always rise to the top."
If in doubt, ask, "What is this kiosk's original purpose?" Let transactional kiosks handle transactions. Let informational kiosks provide information. The original intent behind many kiosks is to eliminate customer wait times. Flooding the machine with options and excess features lengthens customer use time, as well as customer wait time.
"Technology allows us to do a lot, but just because we can do it, doesn't mean that we always need to do it," Lynch said.
Myth #4:
A kiosk will fix everything
Industry experts understand the benefits as well as the limitations of self-service kiosks, but one commonly discussed myth is that kiosks are kryptonite to business problems.
"Nonsense," Mendelsohn said. "Yet there are deployers out there who actually believe it."
Now for the truth: Simply adding a kiosk not will boost your business, increase sales or bring in customers. But integrating self-service into your business model will. A kiosk should be an extension of good customer service, not a replacement function.
Before adding a self-service function, Lynch suggests deployers ask two questions. First, is this kiosk what the customer wants? Second, will the kiosk improve customer service?
The airline industry, where self-service has seen some of its greatest gains, answered yes to both questions. Travelers wanted to bypass the interaction at the checkout counter, which could take up to 15 minutes, exchanging it for a quick, self-controlled process. In this situation, kiosks improved customer service by reducing wait times.
Business rules regarding human interaction are still the same, however: The customer is always right; use the customer's language; keep working until you reach a resolution. These customer-service principles must be in practice whether or not kiosks are present.
Relying completely on self-service kiosks is a real danger, mainly because downtime is unpredictable but also because there will always be a number of customers who prefer human interaction or who simply have a problem the kiosk can't solve.
"Traveling around, I see a lot of kiosks that are never used," Lynch said, "[because] these were just put up with the idea that customers would have more access to service, but they still don't replace some level of human interaction. ... Isn't it interesting that airports are full of check-in kiosks, but still have the retired gentleman sitting at an information counter to help guide visitors around town?"
Myth #5:
If you build it, they will come
Not all customers naturally gravitate to self-service the instant it's available. Incorporating self-service into a business requires that employees provide a certain amount of handholding for customers.
"You can't plop technology in a store just for the sake of having technology," said Brian Ardinger, senior vice president and chief marketing officer for kiosk software developer Nanonation.
Even ATMs didn't catch on right away. Most people found out about the advantages of ATMs when they made it to the bank five minutes after closing time and were forced to use them.
Alamo Rent-a-Car doesn't plan to wait for customers to notice its kiosks. A recent ad campaign features car-rental customers "Al" (a beaver) and "Mo" (a buffalo). In the commercials, the beaver, the smarter of the two, tries to convince the buffalo to master his "herd instinct," get out of line and use the kiosk.
Companies who don't have the budget for a national advertising campaign still can promote their kiosk programs. One of the most effective methods of introducing people to self-service is to have an attendant on hand to walk people through their first interaction.
For a kiosk to take off in popularity, it not only must be reliable and easy to find, but people must recognize the advantage the kiosk will bring them. An effective signage solution draws attention to the machine and gives deployers a chance to notify customers of its purpose. The signage does not have to be digital, but a how-to video is a great way to introduce a kiosk to customers.
"An attract loop can help a great deal," Mendelsohn said. "People have to know what the kiosk is all about before they will lay a finger on it. They are not as adventurous as you think."
Myth #6:
Kiosks guarantee upsell
The upsell. Once reserved for tactful sales associates, now machines ask: "Do you want fries with that?"Kiosks are beginning to show a stronger presence in the quick-serve restaurant sector as self-ordering machines. A common misconception among deployers is that these kiosks will result in more revenue because they upsell each transaction, unerringly pushing more of those value meals with every order.
"Just because you have a kiosk asking the question doesn't mean you will see an increase from it," said Stephen Gregorie, vice president of marketing and customer experience for Pro-Tech. "You can't plug in a kiosk and expect magic; those who believe that and act on the assumption are often disappointed."
For QSRs and any retail kiosk deployment, the art of the upsell still must include a personalized approach to sales that informs the customer of the value they can receive. For a kiosk, its ability to remember customers and offer specific suggestions can help upselling.
"Whether the upsell is accepted or not is a personal decision," Snyder said. "With a person, the cashier doing the upsell can react to the customer's acceptance level and then vary his approach."
Myth #7:
Kiosks are plug, play and forget
A kiosk is a computer in a box. True, they are made for 24/7 operability, but just like a PC, the kiosk's internal CPU is subject to lock-ups. Once installed, kiosks require regular attention and maintenance from the deployer.
"Sometimes vendors are guilty of setting unfair expectations for kiosk reliability," said Frost & Sullivan's Connell.
In general, kiosks are made very well. Most often, downtime is caused when expendables -- such as paper and ink -- run out. With transactional kiosks, it is common to have too much money in the machine, in which case it will jam because it can't accept anymore.
It is important to have a maintenance plan in place so your kiosk printer can continue printing and its cassette can continue accepting money. When devising a plan, start with the lowest common denominator. What is the weakest link? It may be the printer, the money cassette or
the CPU.
the CPU.The maintenance plan relies on having employees capable of simple maintenance, such as adding paper or ink or removing money. If it is a more serious problem, employees fill the kiosk's role, whether it is a service or transaction.
Nanonation's Ardinger reminds deployers that kiosk software also needs maintenance. "Since the kiosk is part of the environment of the store, deployers have to make sure the content is up-to-date and consistent with the branding," he said. "You have to give customers a reason to keep coming back."
Illustrations by Paul Combs.
