Camp two diary

It´s time for the second camp of LeanInno! The five personas are created, let´s create some fantastic solutions.

At the first day of the camp we dropped two personas, the time spender and the knower. They share a lot of values with the other personas. So the other three personas were more interested to find solutions for. The rest of the day we were busy with creating detailed personas and a lot of brainstorming.

The first great solution was created today, The Secret Santa!

 The second day of the camp we tried to focus on the other solutions we can find in order to fullfil customer´s needs we emphasised. If we think about Wiklund, we should think about caring, involving, authentic, warm, clear and sharing. We made two groups, the emotional and the rational. In other words the modern hippie and the future people. By the emotional group it is all about sharing is caring and by the rational group the big word is involving. We made some solutions for the sharing is caring and the involving part. We have the secret santa, the hug concept, top-10 and instagram. A blogpost later you can read more details about our upcomming solutions!

 

- Zoë & Nina

Customer Personas

Customers Personas

1.The Modern Hippie 

Features :

- Thinks that ethics and responsibilities are important
- Has strong opinions (or would like to have at least)
- Want to get information and respects transparency

Needs :

 - Clear information

- Important values then can believe in

- Strong positioning / values 

How to reach this group :

- Put forward some causes Wiklund supports

- Be open about clear values

- Create a kind of certification to prove Wiklund is authentic 

Solutions :

- Use the sealers to represent Wiklund's values 

2. The future people

Features :
- History is history, future is the thing
- Old things are not good, the world needs to develop
- Online is better than offline

Needs :

- Be surprised, discover new things

- New technologies, novelty

- E-shopping, E-commerce

How to reach this group :

- Point out Wiklund on-line shopping

- Show that Wiklund is young and concerning by new technologies

- Make customers think that Wiklund is following the main stream  

Solutions :  

- Set up interactives stores ? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47Bbrhx1VfE

3. The Giver

Features :
- Looking something for someone else - gifts
- Goes to the store to get ideas and find 'just something'
- Respects time-effectiveness

Needs:

- Ideas, be aware of what the best things to buy, trends

- Information about products

- Some services to save time

How to reach this group :

- Teach sealers to give useful and informed advices

- Create a way for the customers to get informed of the best products, sales in the moment

Solutions :

- Use social medias, create a newsletters or a blog such as "Wiklund's Best presents ideas for Christmas"

- Put in store advertising to inform customers about what they can buy

-  Use the seasons : Decorations, advertising...

- Offer special help for special opportunities (birthdays, celebrations..)  

4. The Time-spender (money spender) 

Features :
- Enjoys her/his time in the store
- Doesn't rush
- Buys for herself/himself
- Respects professional service

Needs :

- Feel good in the store, like home, comfortable place to shop

- Personalised services

How to reach this group :

- Put some services, indications which are going to make customers feel good in the store

- Make customers want to stay in Wiklund and go back

- Use customers senses, feelings

Solutions :

- Offer special services : cloakrooms  to put the coats, decorations, employees..

-  Put good music, smells...

- Enjoyable sealers : they can give compliments, be really smiling, polite, interesting in customers' feelings...

5. The Knower

Features :
- Knows what he/she is looking for
- Respects clear instructions and effortless experience

Needs :

- Really good quality, "in the know" range of products

- Prepared, efficient and qualified employees  

- Can easily find their way to get what they want in shop : signage

How to reach this group :

- Be professional, informed and efficient

- Convey a clear image  

Solutions :

-????

-Nina 

Test day! Free hugs for everyone

Test day! Together with Nina and Laura I went to the Sokos in Salo to do the test. The assignment was that we want to see what the effect is of happy customers. With free hugs we want to give the customers a happy feeling before the going to shop. First we observed for while, if the customers are already happy or looking sad. We immediately found out that the people have a very neutral expression, of course because they are doing some shops not very interesting. After the observation we started with the test. We had made a sign with free hugs; we hold this sign and standing in front of the entrance of Sokos. First we want to see if people reacting by themselves. Like we expected this was not happening. After this we tried to walk to the customers and asking if they want a free hug, now we got more response of the people. But still the most didn’t want to do it. We think it is because of the people and place. We have tried it in Salo, a very small town with a lot of older people. Maybe if we are testing at Wiklund or Sokos in Helsinki, we will get another result. Even we didn’t get the result we want, we still had a really fun day with trying to give free hugs!

-Zoë

  

The Ritz-Carlton Experience

One can not be a legend without a good story. Ritz-Carlton has over one hundred years of history behind it, countless awards, a corporate philosophy that inspires everyone and have thence received awards for being the gold standard of hospitality. The purpose of this post is to highlight the Ritz-Carlton's mission and try to explain how they have become a kind of legend in the hotel industry, and of course if we could use this in our project. I have chosen to focus on their golden standards while assuming that the reader has a picture of the Ritz-Carlton hotel chain.

Ritz-Carlton is today a global company with 80 hotels in 26 different countries. How can it be that wherever their hotels are located, it is the same style and class one would expect as a customer? It seems as if all the 38,000 employees are working towards the same goals and have the same work ethic and vision.

 

It's such an obvious image Ritz-Carlton give out that even in fiction we can explain something using the name. "They'll never confuse this place with The Ritz, Julia thought." (Sidney Sheldon, 1995, Morning, Moon and Night. p.127) 

This post deals with the Ritz-Carlton's key points in their business and therefore also the answer to how the company has managed to become a legend in the industry. What is worth remembering is a special card called the Gold Standard card (also called The Credo card). The Credo card is a plastic card the size of a regular credit card, it's an important part of the uniform of the employees and consists of four parts: The Credo, The Employee Service, The Motto and The Three Steps of Service.

The Credo

In the most elegant form, the Ritz-Carlton defined the "ultimate guest experience" in three parts:

The Ritz-Carlton is a place where the genuine care and comfort of our guests is our highest mission.

We pledge to provide the finest personal service and facilities for our guests who will always enjoy a warm, relaxed yet refined ambience.

The Ritz-Carlton experience enlivens the senses, instills well-being and fulfills even the unexpressed wishes and needs of our guests.

 

Credo means "I believe." The Ritz-Carlton company wanted to in a simplified way explain to both old and new workers their mission. This simplified version of their mission was written in 1986 and is still in force today.

The Motto

At first glance, the motto "Ladies and Gentlemen serving Ladies and Gentlemen" seem too old-fashioned and outdated. It also seems that it lacks fine-tuning to make it relevant to a modern workforce. Yet, it is wrapped in its formal written a clear understanding of the relationship between, and the implied respect for both the employee and the guest. 

The Three Step Service

The Ritz-Carlton management has included "The Three Step Service" on the Credo card. Some might see this as too basic for taking up so much space on the card. In reality, the simple aspects of the services are a key way to differentiate the Ritz-Carlton from its other competitors.
• A warm and sincere greeting. Use the guest's name.
• Anticipation and fulfillment of each guest's needs.
• Provide a warm farewell, and use the guest's name.

Although this is an incredibly important theme in the service business, it can sometimes feel a bit exaggerated with all the information you can find about customer service. Most often, it is in the form of unattractive boasting about how your company excels in the subject or people with apparent comments tell you how to go about it. But something in these "Gold Standards" from the Ritz Carlton clearly works.
I do not think Wiklund must work their way up to creating their own Credo, or even being as elegant as a Ritz-Carlton hotel, I see this not as an opportunity or even our goal for this project. However, I feel that both companies can work towards the same goal, which is exceptional customer service.

Furthermore as our online survey showed, customers are overall happy with Wiklunds customer service. If it still needs improvement is hard to tell, but if it does, this is how I would do it.

Janina