What do guacamole, tax preparation software, and cash-dispensing ATMs have in common? In each of these disparate products, a concept called “operational transparency has been used to add perceived value.
Sam Tatam, Global Head of Behavioral Science at Ogilvy and author of Evolutionary Ideas, discussed operational transparency and related topics with me. Visible effort and behind-the-scenes glimpses can significantly impact customer perception and trust.
Reinforcing Perception of Value and Trust
Tatam highlighted the concept of the “labor illusion” and how it intertwines with operational transparency. By incorporating audio cues of labor during customer interactions, such as the sound of typing in the background, customers feel more connected and believe their queries are being dealt with effectively.
In some cases, these cues may be real; in other cases, as when dealing with a voice menu chatbot, they may be entirely artificial.
Increasing Trust through Visible Processes
Do you count the cash you receive from an ATM? These machines use a variety of sensors to ensure accuracy, but these processes are invisible to the customer.
Tatam says that ATMs that visibly display the counting of money are an excellent example of operational transparency. By allowing customers to witness the transaction process, trust in the service is enhanced. This transparency is particularly essential in industries like finance, where trust is paramount for customer satisfaction.
Amplifying Perceived Value through Demonstrated Effort
Operational transparency can extend beyond digital processes and into physical experiences. H-E-B, a supermarket chain in Texas, used to have a station in the front of some stores where workers prepared guacamole. They sliced avocados, chopped jalapenos and tomatoes, and blended in seasonings and other ingredients. At the time, I praised this practice as a powerful signal of freshness and authenticity.
This visible demonstration of the work going into preparing the guacamole was also a form of operational transparency. Even if most of the product was prepared at a more industrial scale behind the scenes, showing the manual process enabled customers to perceive its value more profoundly. Since perceived value changes our actual experience, seeing the work in progress likely made the guacamole taste better, too.
Minimizing Customer Effort, Maximizing Perceived Effort
Operational transparency is not limited to specific sectors. It is a concept that transcends industries, adding value and enhancing customer experiences in many domains.
Intuit’s TurboTax product, for example, is designed to make the arduous process of filing U.S. taxes simpler and easier. Using a friendly interview format, it retrieves as much of your data as possible to minimize your effort. But when it does its own calculations, it exploits operational transparency with progress bars and a series of messages like “Checking for deductions you may have missed.” This demonstrates effort far more effectively than a simple, “Your return is ready,” message.
Embracing Creativity in Operational Transparency
Within the realm of operational transparency, there is plenty of room for innovation and creativity. Sam Tatam shared an intriguing example from Monteith, a New Zealand cider company. By placing twigs from the orchard in their cider boxes, Monteith reinforced the claim of using freshly picked apples and pears. This attention to detail and effort showcased their commitment to quality and authenticity, offering a unique product that resonated with customers.
Operational Transparency Online
Customers value speedy websites and mobile apps. E-commerce giant Shopify lists a variety of reasons speed adds value, including higher conversion rates and increased customer loyalty. But, sometimes a short delay is inevitable when retrieving information, processing a login, and so on.
Rather than showing nothing or a frozen version of the screen the customer was on, why not show effort? I recently visited a website that, when I entered my login information, displayed a fleeting message along the lines of, “creating secure connection.” The delay was very brief, no longer than any other site, but the message created the feeling that this company was going the extra mile to protect me.
How Can You Use Operational Transparency?
The diverse examples in my conversation with Sam Tatam show how companies in any industry can use operational transparency to establish trust, reinforce value perceptions, and cultivate customer loyalty. Even as we strive to minimize customer effort through automation and design, we must also recognize the power of visible effort in connecting with those customers.
Can you show real effort by exposing some of your process, whether that process is physical or electronic? Or could something as simple as a simulation of typing sounds work? Either way, operational transparency can add real value to your product or service.
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