Last Mile Stories 2

Kapil had shared this loo photograph of the Novotel Hotel in Bangkok...Smart LMI(Last Mile Idea:-)

On the subject of last-mile interaction, I feel the humble post-it can be put to great use. Many companies(especially the small retail stores) can gain immensely by using post-its at the Last Mile for instant feedback. Instead of giving those boring, lousy feedback forms...What say?

Of course. Agreed, you can't process the feedback quantitatively. But do we always need to process data quantitatively. Often I feel a combination of experience, gut feel and random but in-depth feedback from a few passionate shoppers serves the purpose just as well!

Last Mile Stories

These days many agency conversations are about the last mile...Many theories, some obvious stuff power-pointed as 'gyan' by last mile experts and lots of CRM and technology...

But in the end last mile in retail is left to the store managers, the sales staff, the durbaan and the stink-quotient of the store loo:-)

Some last mile experiences I had in the last one month.The first was this message in the loo of a home decorations store in Andheri...A small detail but it lifted the last mile score(LMS)to near 100!!Next was this 'saunf' and 'chat-pati goli' tray at Papa Panchos. After an otherwise very ordinary lunch, I was willing to give an LMS of 70! As a culture, I have experienced Indians to be quite forgiving whenever bad service meets genuinine apology.(Lesson- you can get away with bad food, as long as the saunf/ pan/ meethi goli is great!!)And this was an LCD screen at a bar in Singapore(Pink Elephant or some such name...) which kept on displaying sexually loaded jokes( some good, some PJs)a brilliant idea but since the number of looped jokes were limited, it became a blind spot and an irritant after some time. LMS = 35!!

Mental note: Keep collecting these last mile samples...Will come handy one day:-)
Anyone, any last mile experience to share??

The Irony of Choice

A while ago I bought our new refrigerator. An LG frost free 330L from Vijay Sales.

However it was the most unsatisfying durable purchase ever!

There was plenty of choice and yet all of them looked alike! Tall, grey and handsome...LG looked like Samsung which looked like Whirlpool which in turn looked like Godrej...

Finally after 10 minutes of point-less comparison, we settled on LG. I wasn't convinced...But then we had to be back home in time for little Neo.

Rewind to 1997, when I bought my first Kelvinator in Chennai. A real beauty - 180litres of quiet direct-cool mechanism! I still miss it...It had character, a distinct identity( with its cherry red colour) and no post-purchase disonace!!

And I have been having these pre-and post purchase dissonance in almost all my white and brown good purchases in the recent past.

- I never know whether I have made a good/ best choice.
- When it comes to last mile differentiation, brands/ companies are relatively inept.
- There is a perennial fear of obsolescence at the back of the mind!!

Looks like the irony of the choice economy is here to stay!