Why Can't Things Be Easier?

I had a couple of experiences in the past year that made me say, “Well, that was easy!” out loud.  I was both surprised and impressed by the speed and ease of which my requests were fulfilled, but then I started wondering why an easy process was almost shocking.  I realized it’s because many of the tasks we do daily and interactions we have with businesses are unnecessarily difficult.

First to give credit where credit is due - here are the two experiences that were easy peasy lemon squeezy!  

1. We rented a video game at a local video rental store (yes, a physical store with DVDs and video games - they still exist!)  It was over a school break, so we rented them for 5 days, but as usual when we rent physical media, we forgot they were due until around 8 p.m. on the due date.  We were debating who should drive the 40 minute round trip to return them before midnight or risk some pretty steep fines.  When we’d been at the store, I happened to have overheard one of the clerks on the phone with another customer who was re-renting movies over the phone, so I suggested to my husband we give it a try. Re-renting would be cheaper than the fines and would prevent a late night drive.  My husband called, and explained we forgot the games were due, could we re-rent over the phone?  I heard him say, yes that’s me (they looked up his account by the number on their caller ID), then he said 3 days (they asked how long would you like to re-rent) and then he said thanks and hung up.  I asked my husband why he didn’t have to give a credit card number, and he said they told him we just pay next time we go in.  I replied, “Well, that was easy!”
2. Last spring, my sons earned free tickets to a minor league baseball game  We got a note from school that parents could buy tickets to the game for a reduced price (great marketing idea, right?)  The letter said to get the special rate and reserve tickets, you had to either go to the box office or call during business hours.  I was initially annoyed because ‘during business hours’ isn’t really a convenient time for me, but I put a note on my calendar to call during lunch one day the following week.  I called and got an automated system which had clear choices.  I was connected to a person in the ticket office within about a minute.  I explained what I was calling about, and the nice guy on the phone asked me seven questions that were easy to answer:  What date are the free tickets for? How many free tickets do you have?  How many reduced price additional tickets do you want?  Do you want to sit near first or third base?  What’s your credit card info?  Do you want to pick the tickets up or have them emailed? (I chose email) What’s your email address?  Boom, done - the tickets were in my inbox by the time I checked my email next.  I hung up and said out loud to myself, “Well, that was easy!”

I was so pleased with these two experiences that I told a bunch of people about them (even better marketing idea than giving kids free tickets to an event - make people talk about how great you are!)  One of the people I told was my mom, who made a very interesting observation.  Both of those interactions involved human beings, not merely technology.  Now, I work in a technology area, so technology is something I like and am familiar with, but there was no denying what she observed was true.  

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"...the key isn’t personal interaction in and of itself, but instead the focus on how customers want to use and access their products and services and how those same customers want to be treated during the process."

​It seems like the businesses that are thriving these days are the ones that are make things easy - Netflix, Amazon, Uber to name a few.  These examples certainly use technology, so maybe the key isn’t personal interaction in and of itself, but instead the focus on how customers want to use and access their products and services and how those same customers want to be treated during the process.  Have you ever been to Chick-Fil-A where they are extremely polite or to Dress Barn where they learn your name and bring you different sizes and suggest additional styles that may be flattering?  They seem to be concerned about how people want to be treated.  My local pharmacy considers how I want to access their services and realizes I don’t want to wait in line - they texted me when they noticed my insurance card was out of date, and all I had to do was text them back a picture of the card to get it updated prior to my next visit.  

Staples started the ‘That was Easy’ campaign in 2003, and even though they abandoned that a few years ago, I think a lot of us would really like to push the metaphorical “Easy Button” a lot more often!  Since my recent positive experiences, I’ve been brainstorming about how to make tedious or inconvenient processes easier either through human interaction or technology or maybe a balanced combination- - hoping for a lightening bolt moment to start the next big thing! 

I took away a few things for personal productivity from this:

• Taking the path of least resistance doesn't mean you're lazy, it can be smart! 
• Don't over-complicate your daily routine - ask yourself the key questions about what needs to be accomplished.
• Be kind and helpful to others, they will likely return the favor
• Don't continue to do things the way you've always done them (or the way you see others do them) create your own unique process
• Technology can make you more productive, but sometimes the 'old way' could get the job done just as quick and possibly better.

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What processes do you dread because they are over-complicated and what ones make you say, "That was easy"?  How can you make your own life more productive and how can you impact others to make their lives easier?  Share with us in the comments below.