Taking your CX from a bunny hill to a black diamond.
Picture a winter vacation in the mountains. You’re probably imagining a wood cabin, sitting by a fire in a cozy blanket, skiing, and a deep denial of hypothermia. You’re probably not picturing bunches of bananas and trains to Omaha. And yet, that’s the exact *ahem* train of thought that led James Curran to the invention of the chairlift at America’s first-ever destination ski resort in 1936.
James challenged the industry standard when it came to skiing transportation. He pushed technology so far that people had to confront how they’d done things in the past. And, as often happens, he encountered some serious resistance. What can we do when our products put us in a similar position? That’s what we asked Ian Andrews, Principal & Co-Founder of Power Pro iPad Leasing. He shares how to address your customers' fear of change, get them on board with revolutionary technology, and make their life a breeze.
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"A huge part of customer experience is really identifying what works for the person that you're interacting with." - Ian Andrews
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Time Stamps
* (0:00) How bananas saved your winter vacation
* (7:48) What is Power Pro iPad Leasing?
* (13:30) Traditions worth breaking
* (17:31) How to show your customer the ropes...or should we say...slopes
* (21:51) Letting your customer explore the mountain
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Sponsor
This podcast is presented by Oracle CX.
Hear more executive perspectives on CX transformation at Oracle.com/cx/perspectives
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Links
Check out Power Pro iPad Leasing
Narrator: In the humid tropics of Honduras, James Curran was getting pretty sick of manual labor. Hauling large bunches of bananas onto boats wasn’t exactly what he’d envisioned for his future. He wasn’t an engineer by trade, but his mind was always turning with ideas of automation. Seeing as how loading bananas wasn’t taking up much of his brain power, James devised a plan: he built a wire-based system that would take the heavy lifting out of his...well, heavy lifting.
Creating a make-shift machine, James solved the banana crisis of his youth. His system carried the bananas for him. Little did he know that half way around the globe, his little side project would soon transform the world.
In the mid-1930s, James began working for the Union Pacific Railroad in Omaha, Nebraska. He had finally pivoted to his passion of structural engineering and was excited to leave the smell of bananas squarely in the past.
Although traveling by train was common back then, the chairman of Union Pacific wanted to encourage more people to visit the American West. That part of the country was still relatively unknown, and people were hesitant to journey to the area. In trying to decide how exactly to get them there, W. A. Harriman looked to a new recreation craze that was starting to catch on: downhill skiing. The days of cross country skiing were in the past. Modern thrill-seekers craved the adrenaline rush of racing down a hill at breakneck speed. But in the US, there was no place to do it. And Union Pacific didn’t offer service to the Swiss Alps.
So Harriman decided to create a winter ski resort that could rival those of Switzerland or Austria. He scouted all over California, Colorado, and Utah. And finally settled on a picturesque hundred-acre parcel of land nestled in the Sawtooth mountains of central Idaho. In less than a year, America’s first destination ski resort was built. It received international publicity, and Harriman knew he’d have little trouble getting customers onto trains to visit the lodge. But he was soon faced with his next challenge–how would he get them up the mountain?
At the time, there were several ways to transport passengers up the slopes. But most commonly, people would hike up, and ski down. This was a taxing feat of strength, and skiers could only do a few runs a day. Harriman wanted to get people up the mountain faster and easier, so they could enjoy as many runs as they pleased. But the technology just wasn’t there yet. So he sent a challenge out to his employees to help him figure it out…
Enter: Our banana loving hero, James.
James had never skied a day in his life, but he was intrigued by the engineering challenge. He thought back to his days in Honduras, and wondered if he could modify his machine to transport people, instead of bananas. He put together his sketch and submitted it. He was promptly laughed at by his boss. Undeterred, he secretly added his drawings to the pile of proposals to be assessed by the developers.
His simple but ingenious idea was a chair connected to a beam that would carry people up the mountain. The developers were intrigued, and green-lit his project. While staying in Omaha, James got to work. The idea was far-fetched, and some of his peers were skeptical—but James knew he was onto something big.
He built prototypes that he put on tractors and drove around the Union Pacific rail yards. He had the person in the chair wear roller blades or skis with hay on the bottom to mimic skis in the snow. This initial version of the chairlift was just that: a single chair. Later iterations would turn into the benches that are commonly used today.
In 1936, Sun Valley ski resort opened to the public. It was the first ski lodge in America, and proudly showcased the world’s first-ever chairlift. To get the resort on the map, Harriman offered free, all-expense paid trips to celebrities. Stars like Ernest Hemingway, Clark Gable, Gary Cooper, and Ingrid Bergman quickly fell in love with the one-of-a-kind ski destination. Word traveled fast, and the public began to overcome their fears of the extreme sport.
Up to that point, skiing was only available to the lucky few who could travel abroad. Suddenly, it was accessible—granted still to the relatively wealthy. Those with the means were excited to get out and try their hand—or should I say feet. Fascination with the chairlift also grew. As with any new tech, there are always those who hold onto the way things used to be. People who still hiked to the top of the mountain, because that’s how skiing is “meant” to be done. But eventually, the perks of the future outweigh the fear of change, and innovation is allowed to flourish.
When we create new products, there can be pushback from people who revel in the old ways and are afraid of change. As CX leaders, it’s our job to make the transition accessible and exciting. But how do we do it?
Well, let’s push down on those ski poles and shuffle forward in line, grab the metal bar, keep your ski tips up and let’s ascend this CX mountain (together?).
Welcome to Often Imitated, a podcast about remarkable experiences from the past, and how they inspire people to create great customer experiences today.
This episode is all about addressing your customer’s fear of change. How the invention of the chairlift challenged the way things were done in the past, and pushed the world of skiing forward—and how modern CX leaders can have a similar impact in their industries. In this episode we’ll hear from Ian Andrews, Principal & Co-Founder at Power Pro iPad Leasing. About how he and his team are getting customers to adapt to new tech, and revolutionizing the apartment searching process. But first, a word from our sponsors.
Often Imitated is brought to you by the generous support of our friends at Oracle. Make every interaction matter with Oracle Advertising and CX. Connect all your data and empower your entire business to deliver exceptional customer experiences from acquisition…to retention…and everything in between. Hear more executive perspectives on CX transformation at oracle.com/cx.
James Curran’s invention of the chairlift ushered in a complete transformation of the skiing industry. With athletes able to go on multiple runs a day, the sport became more accessible and popular than ever. The invention of plastic skis followed, and as the gear became cheaper, skiing took off and became a worldwide phenomenon. A significant part of that growth was due to the accessibility created by James and his chairlift. But it faced skepticism at first, and required a leap of faith from early adopters. So how do we push our customers to take that leap of faith on our products? That’s exactly what we asked Ian Andrews, Principal and Co-Founder of Power Pro iPad Leasing.
But first, let’s hear a little bit about the problem Ian is solving.
Ian: Yeah, power pro is a real estate software company. We've been around for a little over 10 years and our focus is on building and implementing mobile software applications for the apartment leasing and sales process
I was working in consulting with my business partner, Karen Gladney. And one thing that we really realized was that everyone we talked to who was shopping for an apartment, said it was a terrible experience and they, they didn't enjoy it.
And so we were really set out to try it and figure out how we could make it a positive experience and, and, uh, really found that there were just so many barriers in the way of. Prospect's looking for apartments, getting the information that they needed and whether that was them walking into an apartment community, and then being greeted by a sales associate who wouldn't let them actually go and tour the apartment until they had answered 50 questions.
Okay. You know, for us really being able to provide some of that mobile technology to get the prospect's information on their cell phone, and then for leasing agents to have that information on an iPad so they could answer information and in questions, uh, why they're on the go was, um, a, a huge opportunity that we saw in improving that experience
Narrator: Finding housing is a universal pain point. An incredibly stressful one. And the entire process tends to be less than ideal for everyone involved.
Ian:so generally, you know, when, when somebody is looking for an apartment, uh, um, they will. If potentially put in an inquiry online and schedule an appointment very often, they'll just actually walk into the apartment community. And, um, a leasing agent will then sit them down at the desk and ask them a series of questions to try and find out what apartment would be the best fit for them.
But in reality, what happens is they get sat at a desk and they're just. Answering different questions for data collection. And so that, that leasing agent scores well on, on their shop score. And really all that that prospect wants to do is get out and see that apartment. And so it ends up becoming like the prospect feels like they've been held hostage where they can't actually go and see the apartment without asking all, answering all these questions from the leasing.
Yes. Uh, and starts off really right off, uh, not a great first step. And then at the end of that process, they'll generally go out and see a model apartment, which again, isn't the apartment home that the prospect wants to actually see because they want to see where they're going to be living, um, go and see some, uh, amenities and then come back.
And very often a lot of that information doesn't actually. Entered into the management software system. So there's no data to actually track this information that the prospect has a generally bad experience because they're not actually getting to see the apartment that they want to see. And the questions that they were asked at the beginning of the process, don't really focus around.
What's going to be the best fit apartment for this prospect, but more around. Collecting data from them so that they get all that information for their shop score. So it's, it's a interesting, um, process that, uh, has a lot of barriers for the prospect, actually getting to see what they want to look at. Um, and, um, you know, our, our product comes in and enables the leasing agent to walk around with an iPad and have mobile access.
All their information, whether that's pricing, um, or you know, the availability and be able to enter information on the go and answer questions at any point throughout the tour.
Narrator: The apartment hunting process is tedious. From scouring online listings, to actually getting a showing, to filling out applications, it’s clunky and invasive. A nightmare from a CX perspective. There are so many opportunities for miscommunication and important information falling through the cracks, that it often leads to disappointment.
Ian and his team have found a way to minimize those stressors and make the customer experience much more seamless. For prospective renters and leasing agents alike.
Ian: we recommend for our software system that every single agent have their own iPad. And so that when somebody walks in, they're able to. Help them facilitate that, that tour with them. Um, and generally from a staffing standpoint, um, you know, one person for every 100, 150 minutes or so is generally what is used from a leasing standpoint to say how many people are going to be on there.
Um, but we have, you know, with some of our newer products, um, we have the ability to have like an iPad check-in Stan. You could have 10 people walk in and be able to all check in from that same iPad and then be able to actually choose whether they want a self guided or guided tour. And so if they choose a guided tour, they would be going out with an agent and walking around with them.
If they choose a self guided tour, um, then they're actually sending a link that helps guide them in a. That are lockbox codes and everything on their phone there. So, um, it just depends on that structure and that piece is changing a ton for that optionality of, of how prospects are tutoring, apartments, being able to choose whether they want to do self guided or a guided.
Narrator: Sounds simpler than the old way, right? Not so fast. With this advancement often comes pushback from potential customers that are used to legacy systems. When you’re bringing a product to the table that challenges people to confront how they’ve always done things, it can be scary.
Any time you introduce technology you are fighting people and their love for the ol pen and paper.
Ian: we deal a lot of times with Lisa gate agents that have been doing this for a very long time are not good with using computers. And when they're presented with kind of the latest and greatest mobile technology, um, I think they're just frightened.
More so that than anything else. So I, you know, what we have found is really working through that with them at the beginning of saying, don't worry, we're gonna, you know, be able to start going very slow and, and just have baby steps, um, for, in terms of expectations. And I think what we've really seen is that the people who end up being the most scared of the technology.
Uh, ended up being some of our best users, because it's mostly just a fear that they can't do it. And when they conquer that fear, then they know that they can do it and they're really proud of it. And so I think it's just understanding that, you know, most people when they're not wanting to, to do it or not wanting to adopt it, or just a fear of actually being able to.
But when they actually worked through it, they become completely addicted.
Narrator: We’ve all been there. It can be hard to give up on the ways things were done. The devil you know is often less frightening than the devil you don’t. But at the end of the day, progress wins. However fulfilling it is to hike up a mountain, the ease of sitting in a chair for a few minutes beats it out because you get to focus on the skiing, not the hiking.
Convincing customers to make that switch and see the benefits, is where it gets difficult for CX leaders.
Ian:prior to having iPads and our, our software people were trained. Have their prospects try and go away from the desk. So you can be in this rapport building environment and create that good connection with your prospect. And, uh, the, the downside to doing that was then you would have to go and re enter your information at the end of the day, in to the computer software to try and count everything.
And so the iPad really gave us the ability to have that platform where there wasn't any double entry, but you could add. Go to, uh, away from your desk to that more rapport building, uh, environment. And, um, initially, uh, it was kind of mixed reaction and, you know, even so today, I think, you know, there's this change management piece that's really challenging to deal with this when you have, are, are used to writing information down on a sticky note or not at all for years and years.
And you've been doing this for a long time. Actually picking up an iPad and entering that information is pretty challenging. At first, you don't know your way around it. And so we really have to have a pretty, uh, in-depth and, uh, training and onboarding process. So you have clients who are coming to board and really.
Work through that adopting and just getting used to the familiarity with the iPad and the application so that they can really let their true colors from a sales standpoint, um, bleed out so that they're not, you know, worried about how they're actually using the software system and able to actually focus more on.
The actual sales aspect of it in generating rapport with, with our customers. So I'd say, you know, definitely that, that change management side of things is, is one of the, the biggest challenges that we have and have to work through, um, with, uh, getting people to adopt and the technology and start drilling.
Narrator: Giving your customers a tool that allows them to focus more on the part of the job they love. That’s ideal CX. We want to smooth out our customers' pain points, so they can spend more time building rapport or skiing down that black diamond. But with that new product there will always be a need for customer education.
Ian:ultimately it's just practice makes perfect. But you know, from. R a training standpoint, I think, um, we've really realized that different people have different ways of learning and different ways of adapting. And so we really try to have this multifaceted approach to, to training to where we have micro videos at the beginning, where some people like the videos and are able to learn quickly.
From that side of things. Um, some, we also then do like more in-person zoom meetings. I actually get more of that one-on-one experience through walking through. We send out, um, these PDF type of tutorials and screenshots that walk through different, um, pieces of it. And so I think there's, there's like a lot of different, uh, ways to.
Get people engaged in it's different for each person, but ultimately it's coming down to finding ways to get that encouragement, to actually just get the familiarity with it. And, and it's just, uh, you know, that the power of habit, once you, once you do something enough times, it starts to become second nature.
And. At that point, you know, our customers can't put it down and they fall in love with it. And, um, and it works really well, but it's training them and really finding ways to engage with them early on to get them addicted to actually using it. Because I think those those first 90 days are, are, uh, critical for us to actually get into.
Narrator: So we’ve learned how to address our customers' fears...let’s see it in action.
Ian:one of my favorite stories, uh, was a early on that we had, uh, a leasing team, uh, but it is a huge apartment community out in Louisville, Kentucky. And I think the young. Leasing agent there was, you know, probably like I don't, I, I have no idea it's but she, I mean, probably late sixties, early seventies.
I mean, it was, uh, um, if they had been there for a long time and that group of people, you know, everyone would look at and saying, we're getting. For this leasing team to be able to, uh, go and start using what, I mean, anyone who looked at the situation would have been like, you're crazy. Um, and just like we said earlier, it's they were, they were scared about adopting this technology, but we went through a training and sat down with them for about an hour and a half.
And. They were able to actually start making their way through the application and using it, uh, and start to actually really feel comfortable. Um, and we came back a couple of weeks later and I think to this day they were probably the best users of our software application that we've ever had. And they were just so proud of what they, what they were able to do.
And you know what it was, I'm going to go home tonight. I'm going to show, you know, my grandson and what I'm doing. And just the ownership of it and how proud they were that they were actually able to do it. Um, I thought it was huge. And, and that's one of the beauties of where technology is going today.
And, you know, generally, especially from, you know, the tablets and mobile interfaces, Things are getting easier and generally more intuitive. A lot of times the less experience you have with technology, the better you do with some of these devices. And so, you know, when people think of technology, they think of these complex accounting software programs and things that, that take a real knowledge base to be able to actually start to navigate your way around where.
I think for our application, um, we centered us around a lot of the mobile interfaces because it is much easier to adopt an and I, you know, just the success when it, when it does. And it clicks with people and the pride around it, uh, is pretty cool to see.
Narrator: Increase the accessibility of your product, and highlight how it’ll improve the lives of your customers. Both are key to creating great CX. And with a product that’s painless to adopt, it’s easier to get potential customers to buy in. Then, once your customer has conquered the fear of change, give them the space to explore how your product can work best for them.
Ian:I think initially when we started building out this application, We really had a single viewpoint on how leasing should be and how people the right way to lease an apartment and the right way to, to, for a prospect of buying an apartment and really kind of tuned out everything else.
And over the years, what I've really realized is that different people have different approaches, you know, You, it might be that you want to go and lease that apartment online and look just at a virtual tour. And somebody else might want to actually walk with the leasing agent through the entire community and ask a ton of questions.
Somebody else wants to do a self tour and not say anything to an agent. And so I think, you know, what we've really tried to do in our experience over the last couple of years. Which we really didn't do at first is start to tailor this to the, you know, what we're calling kind of the tour, your way experience, where prospects can really define upfront what they want, that sales experience to be like.
Do they want to go on a guided tour with an agent? Do they want to do a self guided tour? Um, all of those kinds of. Approaches are completely valid and is just a, and they can all be a great customer experience and be different. So really, I think just knowing that there's not necessarily just one right way, but being able to facilitate that optionality is something that we learned
I think a huge part of customer experience is really identifying what works for the person that you're interacting with.
Narrator: As we find the parts of the experience that really resonate with our customers, it becomes easier to get them on the chairlift. By addressing their specific fears and needs up front, we can build the trust they need to excel with our product.
So your homework this week is to make a list of your customers' fears. Explore how to address them in new and innovative ways. And don’t be deterred when they say they’d rather walk up the mountain alone. Once they feel the satisfaction of flying down the slopes with the wind in their face, they’re never going back.
Who knows? Maybe you could find a solution as unique as a railroad company building a ski resort with a guy who was sick of carrying bananas.
This podcast is brought to you by the generous support of our friends at Oracle. Make every interaction matter with Oracle Advertising and CX. Connect all your data and empower your entire business to deliver exceptional customer experiences from acquisition…to retention…and everything in between. Hear more executive perspectives on CX transformation at oracle.com/cx.
This is your host, Ian Faison, CEO of Caspian Studios. Thank you for listening to another episode of Often Imitated. If you like what you’re hearing, tell one friend. This podcast was narrated by me, Ian Faison, and produced by Mackey Wilson, Ezra Bakker Trupiano, and Jon Libbey. You can learn more about our team at CaspianStudios.com
And your customers, you know, Once they feel the fresh pow on their skis, heading down the mountain, If you are shredding some pow, get real sendy, with a couple of park rats you says whats up to the liftie kyle, sup kyle, its gonna be a butter run. I mean at the top Its gonna be gnar, super Gnarly out there buy you gotta send it, Just go full send, and send it, its about to get real sendy out there … you know, with your CX