Page 78 - 100 Great Marketing Ideas (100 Great Ideas)

35 BE CONSISTENT

One of the main problems with services is that they are variable.
Chefs have a bad day, hairstylists make mistakes, even accountants
and lawyers overlook important details. The variability of services
represents an increased risk for the customer—which is why people
are often loyal to the same restaurant, hairdresser or accountant for
many years.

Consistency means ensuring that the natural variations between
the human beings who deliver the service are smoothed out or
removed altogether.

The idea

For years, ever since World War II, the fast-food industry has
deskilled restaurant work and standardized as far as possible. In
many cases, staff levels have been reduced and systems put in that
obviate the need for skilled staff such as chefs. Transferring this
thinking to other service industries has been sporadic, but it is
not impossible.

Etap Hotels, now a subsidiary of the giant French Accor hotels group,
set out to deskill and standardize the hotel industry. Etap hotels are
notable for their lack of a visible staff presence. Rooms are booked
online or via automated call centers where the customer speaks to
a machine, and late-arriving travelers may well find that there is
no one around at all—a machine outside will accept a credit card
either to book a room or as identification for a pre-booked room.
The machine issues a keypad code that gives access to the room,
so there is no need to issue or collect keys. The rooms themselves

100 GREAT MARKETING IDEAS • 69