A simple way to improve service

It is not a big thing, but adding colour to the ends of the paper rolls used in cash registers and other point-of-sale (POS) printers was a great innovation.

It may not seem like a really significant change, but if you've ever worked as a cashier getting advance notice before the paper runs out is a pretty neat trick.

Paying attention to the little things like this can result in huge improvements in customer service, which leads to happier customers, which should lead to higher sales and increased profits.

The same theory is applied to printer cartridges where you get a warning light that lets you know the ink/toner is low. And then there is the low gas light in the car that causes my wife to go into panic mode. (Despite the fact that the light indicates that there is at least 10 litres left which is good for another 100 kilometres or so.)

The are a number of criteria for this sort of warning to be useful.

1. The warning must apply to something consumable and replaceable
2. The quantity remaining must be invisible in the course of normal operations
3. The downside to running out must be significant, or at least an inconvenience

A less useful example is the low battery warning on my mobile telephone which just uses up more power beeping and flashing.

I'm sure that there are thousands of people who work on applying this principle to every conceivable industry, but most people would never think about it. And that is a problem. We should think about and try to understand and find other applications for everything we see, even the pink and blue strips on our receipts.