Best Buy does what….

As we all know Best Buy had a rough couple of years and was on the verge of extinction like it counterparts. Being a loyal customer I intently followed the company and was elated when they released their “Store in a Store” concept. I was in the market for a tablet so I find my way to a couple of stores during the first week. I was more eager than usual knowing that this concept had to involve a wealth of Business Intelligence.

Not knowing what I wanted for sure I started with the Ipad display. Wow..no help, no Apple attendant I was not sure what to think. So I went on to the Samsung Store. The young man was very helpful, pretty knowledgeable and convincing that the Note 8.0 fit my needs. So needing to run to a meeting I left the store without one. What I was thinking when I left was that he never captured that visit or at least not in a way I could see. Maybe a counter on the demo tablet I thought.

Upon arriving at my second store that evening I went straight for the “Samsung Store”. The man in the Samsung shirt was on me faster than used car salesman. I informed him of my choice and that online showed several in stock. He sprang into action and disappeared to the back.

After about 15 minutes I saw him and a “Blue Shirt” looking perplexed. Their apparent attempt to avoid me did not work and the said they were having troubling finding my selection but they would keep looking. About 15 minutes later they both arrived holding my choice. It only took 30 minutes to find in a store with what I have been told is an extensive inventory and location system. What a Business Intelligence failure I thought but what happen next floored me.

The “Blue Shirt” escorted me over to the register and pulled out a full-size clipboard with what is labeled “Recommendation Worksheet” in duplicate. In reviewing the form with me it had all the basic analytic components of who, what, where and why. The whole time she is asking me annoying questions all I can think is I am in an “Electronic Store” that takes pride on having the latest and greatest and they are using paper!

The lesson here is that with anything it is important to send the right message. An electronic store using paper should really think again. Not to mention did anyone do the ROI on the cost of printing and data entry versus the cost of an app to capture? At least an App looks cool to the customer. Then it hit me, ”Could the really be capturing this information and not analyzing it?” Not that would really be the “Bizarro World” of business intelligence.

Next entry: It only happens when…..

Now that’s Business Intelligence

No matter what I can’t help but think about all the ways what I am doing or observing is feeding a company’s BI initiative. In talking with companies it is more likely that they are missing an opportunity for a meaningful touchpoint, improving operations or providing Executives with needed insight. The purpose of this blog is to share my experiences and encourage others to do the same.

My first observation was from a plan trip a few months ago. I was sitting next to a gentleman that had a small spiral notebook and laptop. Throughout the flight he was entering information from his notebook into a basic spreadsheet. I saw that it looked like a consultants trip expense report for the last few weeks. A lot of you probably already see where I am heading with this. You would be correct in saying all he needed was a smartphone and he would be done.

The real story is what happened as we were exiting the plan. Seeing we were in the back of the plane we stood the customary time all checking a seat back pockets and jackets for our personal belonging. About half way through this gentleman pulled out a “Costanza wallet.” (If I just lost you please Google “Seinfeld wallet episode”) This wallet contained a very neatly organized series of business cards, receipts, credit cards and personal information. All I could do was smile and say,” Now that is business intelligence. “

In today’s world it is easy to forget that all technology is based on a manual process or idea. As we all know a computer can only do what it is programmed to do. Thanks to code.org more people understand that. I wish I could have spent some time with him learning how his system worked. From that conversation I bet I could have outlined the next great Travel Management and CRM system. In closing we should never lose sight of “Why” we use technology at all.

Next topic: You won’t believe what Best Buy is doing…….