QR Codes get the team to start thinking off the web for on the web
Just today an exciting e-mail came from one of the managers that sit in on the ninth store meetings from time to time. It was simple and direct:
“I would like to add the QR CODE to all the business cards so potential customers can scan the code and have direct access to our web site. What do you think??”
Well I responded as did others, my response to twenty odd cc’d people went as follows:
QR Codes are the current fad, next up are near field communications, (NFC) (tap your phone on an object and you could potentially get some product information or share contacts or pictures from the previous night of partying) That said QR codes are starting to be more widely accepted. In Saskatchewan at tradeshows we have experimented a bit, with marginal success.
There was a lot of enthusiasm in Saskatchewan for this by some of the younger marketing staff and they placed QR codes with my enthusthic agreement on product displays that simply directed people to our website. It did not really get any results; we need to do more than that if QR codes are going to work.
Here’s Why:
Go to www.flaman.com on your phone. It is not a mobile site although it has been formatted for mobile (or at least works in mobile). Look at the site on an iphone and on a Blackberry torch, on a bb curve, on a Samsung Galaxy. The site looks different because of the different mobile OS and screen sizes.
Now think about what you would do on your phone with this. I bet not much. So if you direct a customer to www.flaman.com with a QR code, what is the purpose? To what end?
Now I want you all to think about how a QR code could be used, for the end customer. There are uses for QR Codes:
- Imagine if the QR code had hours of operation on it, your contact information and daily dealership deals for each of the brands.
- If you are trailer sales person handing out your card the customer could scan the QR code get hours for Nisku or Yellowhead, and your contact info ported directly into their phone with whatever trailers are on sale or clearance or used! For fitness it could be the same. Or AG or parts!
The ideas that provide value are endless…. but the development team does not have time to develop all the mobile sites for all the OS and screen sizes, so are you going to put a qualifier on your card (Good on iphone only). As well mobile surfing is really in its infancy. Mores so for our customer base. Only one tenth of a percent of our customers surf our sites with mobile so even with the great traffic at Flaman.com and all web sites combined, we are talking about 50 people max per month. The bang for the buck is not there yet.
So this is a great idea, just ahead of the times (well for our customer base). We plan on getting to mobile development next year, when for two years (2010, 2011) in a row over 55% of the worlds computers bought, have no longer been computers (they are have been mobile phones, net books and tablets as opposed to laptops and desktops). Then we will have enough of an audience to make an impact and add dollars to our bottom line.
So what do you think? Should Flaman go mobile or wait a bit?
Either way I like the way the team is starting to think.
Steve Whittington is President of Roadmap Agency Inc. He has also served for over a decade as a member of the Executive Team of Flaman Group of Companies an award-winning organization and has over 25 years of executive experience. Steve’s current board work includes serving as; President of Glenora Child Care Society; and Co-Chair of the Marketing Program Advisory Committee for NAIT’s JR Shaw School of Business. Previous notable board work included, Chair of the board for Flaman Fitness Canada, a national retailer, a Director for a meal prep internet Startup Mealife and Chair of Lethbridge Housing authority, the third-largest Social housing NGO in Alberta.
Academically, Steve was an instructor of Project Management at Lethbridge College for seven years. Steve holds a Bachelor of Commerce Honours degree; he is a Certified Sales Professional (CSP), Project Management Professional (PMP), Certified Marketing Specialist (CMS) and (CCXP) Certified Customer Experience Professional.
Steve’s first book Thriving in the Customer Age – 8 Key Metrics to Transform your Business Results teaches about the customer journey and provides a guiding framework spanning all stages of the customer experience. The book explains how every metric impacts an organization and how leaders can best utilize each metric to provide a stellar customer experience. Everyone knows the customer is the most important part of a business. This book provides the tools to improve an organization’s customer experience and drastically transform business results.
Recently Steve’s Blog has been profiled as one of the Top 75 Customer Experience blogs