Yesterday I had a meeting with a client in Natick, a little town not far from where I live. My car was in the shop, so I reserved my favorite little blue Prius from ZipCar, and was on my way.
I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of ZipCar, but I love it. Within walking distance from where I live, there are at least 15 cars that I can rent, some for as little as $6.33 an hour. And that includes insurance and gas – a really smart idea, and a great deal.
So, after my meeting in Natick was over, I jumped into my Zipcar and headed back to the office. I hit traffic, looked at the clock, and realized that I was going to be late returning the car.
Zipcar has six rules for successful car sharing, and one of them is to return the car on time. I do my best to be a good Zipcar citizen, because I like the idea of car sharing. Zipcar offers an irresistible incentive for timeliness – late fees start at $50.
I called ZipCar to see if I could extend my reservation.
Believe it or not, here’s Zipcar’s process for extending a reservation:
-
- Dial the 866 number listed on my Zipcard
- Press 1 because I am a current ZipCar member
- Tap in my six-digit customer code
- Tap in my nine-digit birthday
- Press 1 to extend my reservation
- Find out if the car is free to extend the reservation
- Type in how many minutes I wanted to extend and press pound
I couldn’t believe that anyone at Zipcar had tried this out, or even thought it through.
I was unbelievably frustrated. Customer number, OK, but my 9-digit birthday? It was clear that ZipCar had designed a system without taking into account how it would be used in the real world.
These days people are moving fast, and a poorly executed operation system can get in the way of a great customer experience.
The good news? Fixing this can be pretty easy. Just “literally” sit in the seat of your customers.
Don’t design a system that’s going to be used while driving a car when you’re sitting at your desk, or while standing at a whiteboard with 10 people in a conference room. Get in the car and try it out while you’re in a hurry, and worried that you’re going to be late.
When you sit in your customer’s seat, you’ll come up with smart, informed, and innovative ideas.
For Zipcar, it can be as simple as their phone system saying: “If you’re driving a Zipcar right now and need to extend your reservation, please press 5 and someone will assist you in a moment.”
Note to ZipCar: I still love you guys, but please, make it easier to extend my reservation from the road.