Functionally Illiterate Customers

[MrMachine]

Sudheer & Larry,

Well yes, good alert attendants will help a great deal in avoiding customer confusion, but what happens when your Mats are busy and new customers slip in unnoticed?
What about all the unattended mats? Or partially attended Mats?
We do a lot of drop off service in my Mats and my attendants can often miss the opportunity to educate a customer.

I do think it's great customer service to be able to identify a new customer and help them set up their first wash & dry, but we don't always catch them when we get busy.
Good service should also include showing a customer to separate colors, loading, soap levels, softener, etc.
Haven't your attendants experienced standing with a new customer, when all of a sudden, someone needs to pick up laundry, or another customer calls them away for another reason? Or a machine starts making a loud sound? Or an inspector walks in?

My point is that the equipment should be self explanatory and as simple and easy to use as possible.

[Adamski]

Originally Posted by MrMachine

... My point is that the equipment should be self explanatory and as simple and easy to use as possible.

Paul,

You are right. Our equipment is specifically intended for use by non-owners in self-serve laundries. Controls and precedures should be kept as simple as possible. That's one big reason why all my equipment starts on dollar coins. DCO is the simplest coin system in use today.

I think it's also easier for a customer to push a button than it is to turn a knob. Buttons should have just 1 function as far as the customer is concerned. It should be - push this button and this will happen. Minimal confusion means satisfied customers. When buying new washers, I passed on the Wascomats mainly because of their knob system and for a few other reasons.

I bought a new John Deere 1026R tractor recently. It has more levers and knobs and pedals than an octopus has legs. It has a lever to control the rock shaft and another for the SCV (hydraulic) system. It has a lever to select between 2 and 4 wheel drive and another to select which PTO (Power Take Off) should turn. It has knobs for setting deck height and another for adjusting the speed the rock shaft moves and yet another to turn on the PTO. It's a great, little, American made tractor but it's way too complex to be offered by an equipment rental facility. Rental equipment must be simple and easy to use. There cannot be a long learning curve or nobody will bother to rent it.

Our customers are happier when they're not confused. Keeping things simiple can go a long way in that regard.

[MrMachine]

Originally Posted by Adamski

Paul,

You are right. Our equipment is specifically intended for use by non-owners in self-serve laundries. Controls and precedures should be kept as simple as possible. That's one big reason why all my equipment starts on dollar coins. DCO is the simplest coin system in use today.

I think it's also easier for a customer to push a button than it is to turn a knob. Buttons should have just 1 function as far as the customer is concerned. It should be - push this button and this will happen. Minimal confusion means satisfied customers. When buying new washers, I passed on the Wascomats mainly because of their knob system and for a few other reasons.

I bought a new John Deere 1026R tractor recently. It has more levers and knobs and pedals than an octopus has legs. It has a lever to control the rock shaft and another for the SCV (hydraulic) system. It has a lever to select between 2 and 4 wheel drive and another to select which PTO (Power Take Off) should turn. It has knobs for setting deck height and another for adjusting the speed the rock shaft moves and yet another to turn on the PTO. It's a great, little, American made tractor but it's way too complex to be offered by an equipment rental facility. Rental equipment must be simple and easy to use. There cannot be a long learning curve or nobody will bother to rent it.

Our customers are happier when they're not confused. Keeping things simiple can go a long way in that regard.

Larry,

Yep, this is where discussing these things here between us can help us all.

Previously, when looking at new equipment, I would have been primarily interested in the cost, longevity, how solid it appears, rust factors, energy savings, ease of repair, projected frequency of breakdowns, availability & costs of parts, cosmetic attractiveness to the customer, and maybe lastly if at all....how easy a first time customer would be able to understand and operate the machine.

Again previously, another factor would have been complexity, but not for the customer....for me, lol. I don't want to have to get an engineering degree to be able to operate, diagnose, program, and repair the equipment. That thinking, while personally important to me, just might have overshadowed my thought to choose a brand that's easy for the customer to use.

We must always remember that the customer's interactions with our equipment is one of the primary factors in choosing equipment. The human interface, so to speak.