Automated Service Kiosk
(A.S.K.)
CS 410
Fall 2005
Presented by:
Jared Miller
Scott Washburn
2 November 2005
2 November 2005
CS 410 Red Group - A.S.K.
1
Team Organization
Janet Brunelle
General Manager
Mylène Cover
Project Manager
Enrique Polanco
Research and Marketing
2 November 2005
Keegan Morrison
Web Master
Hardware Specialist
Scott Washburn
SBIR Specialist
Software Specialist
CS 410 Red Group - A.S.K.
Jared Miller
Web Master
Finance
2
A.S.K. Overview
 Define
the Problem
 Supporting Information
 Define the Solution
 Market Identified
 Risks & Concerns
 Funding & Scheduling
 Conclusion
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CS 410 Red Group - A.S.K.
3
Societal Problem Defined
Poor customer service is a cause
for low customer retention.
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CS 410 Red Group - A.S.K.
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Bad Customer Experience
Anne has an old
35 mm Camera

No one to help
 Fails to Greet, Speak,
Listen, Inform, Thankyou

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CS 410 Red Group - A.S.K.
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Did you know…?
Poor customer service is on the
top ten list of reasons why
businesses fail.
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Belmont University: Center for Entrepeneurship 09/22/2005 [http://forum.belmont.edu/cornwall/archives/003452.html ]
Why do customers leave?
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CS 410 Red Group - A.S.K.
CRMGURU.com [http://www.rightnow.com/resource/RN_LoyaltyCRMGuru.html]
7
Customer Facts
After a particularly bad experience with a service
provider/customer service representative, these
customers:
Give feedback
4
Complain to family
and friends
75
Take business
elsewhere
85
0
20
40
60
80
100
Customer Percentage
2 November 2005
CS 410 Red Group - A.S.K.
ITESGrads [http://www.bpoindia.org/research/customer-retention.shtml]
2004 Customer Service Survey Results [http://www.amdocs.com/documents/survey-results.html]
8
Why A.S.K.?




2 November 2005
Repeat customers spend 33% more
than new customers
It costs 6% more to sell to a
prospective customer than to an
existing customer
Referrals among repeat customers
are 107% greater than new
customers
Customers are 50% more likely to be
influenced by word-of-mouth as
opposed to ads
CS 410 Red Group - A.S.K.
Strategiy.com [http://www.strategiy.com/feature.asp?id=20051003030433]
Stylus Systems, Inc. [http://www.outsource2india.com/services/customer_interaction_services.asp]
9
Problem Characteristics
Customers are not aware of all of their
options
 Customers leave when they cannot find
items (confusion/lack of information)
 Not all associates are domain experts
 Associates difficult to find quickly
 Rearranged/sale item location
 Product availability

2 November 2005
CS 410 Red Group - A.S.K.
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Proposed Solution
Defined/Goal
Provide an in-store
customer service
terminal that will
serve as an
alternative source of
knowledge and help
for consumers with
A.S.K.
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CS 410 Red Group - A.S.K.
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Solution Characteristics
Product Comparison
 Map
 Detailed Knowledge Base
 Terminal Placement
 Sales/Coupons
 Predictive Analysis
 Friendly Interface
 Feedback

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CS 410 Red Group - A.S.K.
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Functional Component Diagram
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Project Objectives
 Design
a friendly customer interface
 Produce interface with inventory
database
 Design and organize queries to
databases for product comparisons
and search analyses
 Create ability to notify customer of
sales/coupons
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CS 410 Red Group - A.S.K.
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Pros


Average of 7% return on incremental sales
Improve customer experience








24/7 service!
Provide efficient help alternative
Decreased wait time
Improved response time
Immediate gratification
Better inform customers of products available
Analyze the inquiry process
Keep customers, increase sales, succeed!

Increased customer satisfaction = increased sales
2 November 2005
CS 410 Red Group - A.S.K.
Kiosk Retail Kiosks [http://www.kis-kiosk.com/apps/retail-kiosk.html]
15
Cons
 Complexity
of administration and
maintenance
 Customer reluctance
 Associates might feel replaced
2 November 2005
CS 410 Red Group - A.S.K.
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What our product will do
Compare products
 Provide product specifications and details
 Analyze queries and hits/misses
 Notify of stock availability
 Locate products
 Notify of sales/availability of coupons
 Give customers an outlet for voicing in-store
experiences

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CS 410 Red Group - A.S.K.
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What our product will not do
 Replace
associates
 Collect personal information from the
shopper
 Act as a point-of-sale device
 Have autonomous inventory updates
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Market Defined & Analyzed
 Specialty
retail stores such as:
 Best
Buy, Circuit City, CompUSA, etc.
 Office Max, Staples, etc.
 Beauty salon supply stores
 Military equipment stores
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CS 410 Red Group - A.S.K.
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Best Buy Market Analysis
 Specific
target market: Best Buy
 $469
million – 2004 Yearly Net Income
 830 stores in U.S. & Canada
 21 stores in Virginia
 109,000 employees
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CS 410 Red Group - A.S.K.
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Competition Matrix
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CS 410 Red Group - A.S.K.
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Technical Components

Touch screen monitor

ASK software



2 November 2005
Thin clients
Inventory database interface
Internal database

Network connection

Server
CS 410 Red Group - A.S.K.
22
Process Flow
Anne Shopping for Camera
Help is limited due to poor service
Anne Starts A.S.K.
Main Menu
Locate
Compare
Find Discount
Anne Compares two cameras
A.S.K. Informs Anne
2 November 2005
CS 410 Red Group - A.S.K.
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GUI View
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GUI View (in depth example)
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GUI View (in depth example)
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Management Methods Issues
 Meetings
 Communication
 Work
Distribution
 Conflict Resolution
 Overall
decisions
 Balance of input
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CS 410 Red Group - A.S.K.
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Work Breakdown Structure
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Risks
Mitigation
2
Real-time lookup speed
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Complexity of maintenance
Effective interface &
provision of alternate
database if needed
Increased bandwidth, tuned
database
Increase system stability
Inaccurate retrieved data
Add level of data verification
Server load
Backup server
Competition meets needs
Do it faster!
availability/integration
Unforeseen testing expenses Alternate sources of funding
Customer acceptance
Make it easy to use
Network downtime
-
Power outages
-
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7
Likelihood
# Risk
1 Database
9
2
1
3
5
8
10
6
4
Consequence
CS 410 Red Group - A.S.K.
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Major Resource Issues
 Limited
financing – funding before
initial contract
 Existing manufacturers meeting our
production needs
 Adhering to the schedule
 Acquiring necessary staff and experts
2 November 2005
CS 410 Red Group - A.S.K.
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Monetary Feasibility
Cost per Unit
Cost: $75,000
Terminals (5)
Server
Networking
Components
2 November 2005
Software
CS 410 Red Group - A.S.K.
+ $2,000 per
additional
terminal
31
Customer-Operated Kiosk
Market Data
2 November 2005
CS 410 Red Group - A.S.K.
JBS Interactive [http://www.jbsinteractive.com/opportunities.html]
32
Forum/Expert Feedback
 Of
550 people surveyed, 85% would
go to a store if a A.S.K. was available
 Managers at Radio Shack, Best Buy,
and Office Max expressed interest in a
product that would provide the
functionality of A.S.K.
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A.S.K. will greet Anne positively
 Anne wants a positive connection
 A.S.K. will record Anne’s needs, wants
or problems
 Inform Anne
 Invite Anne back with incentives

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CS 410 Red Group - A.S.K.
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Conclusion
 Poor
customer service is a problem
 A.S.K. will:
 Improve
customer’s in-store experience
 Help the store better meet customer
needs
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CS 410 Red Group - A.S.K.
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Backup 1:
Reasons Businesses Fail
10. Over-expansion. The need to get there first or to demonstrate
revenue growth to anxious investors leads businesses to grow too fast.
9. Poor Capital Structure. Companies take on too much debt… Enough
said!
8. Failure to Control the Controllable Costs. Businesses spend down the
initial cash before it is flowing in at a positive rate.
7. Failure to Prepare for Volatility of Uncontrollable Costs. For example,
energy, materials, labor, or insurance.
6. Add New Products or Divisions that Drag Down the Profitable Ones
5. Poor Internal Controls and Execution — customer service,
accounting controls, theft, fraud
4. Poorly Designed Business Model
3. Reliance on Critical Financing that Dries Up
2. Failure to Adapt to a Changing Market
AND THE #1 REASON? Management in Complete Denial…
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CS 410 Red Group - A.S.K.
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Belmont University: Center for Entrepeneurship 09/22/2005 [http://forum.belmont.edu/cornwall/archives/003452.html ]
Backup 2:
Estimated Cost Per Unit
Price
Network Switch (up to 24 ports)
$550.00
Thin Client & Touch Screen Monitor (x5)
Server (x2)
$7,495.00
$10,000.00
Network Integration Materials
$500.00
Unit Housing (x5)
$1000.00
Database License (MySQL)
Free!
Overhead
$60.00
Total Cost
$19,605.00
Added cost per additional thin client & touch screen monitor (each)
2 November 2005
CS 410 Red Group - A.S.K.
Dell.com [http://www.dell.com] Tigerdirect.com[http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/category/category_slc.asp?CatId=1449]
Cisco [http://www.cisco.com]
$1,699.00
38
Backup 3:
Monetary Feasibility
#
Man
Months
Salary
Project Manager
1
10
$67,206.00
Marketing Analyst
1
10
$28,000.00
Software Engineer
2
20
$85,218.00
Hardware Engineer
1
4
$15,629.00
Testing Engineer
2
3
$21,304.00
Technical Writer
1
1
$3,386.00
Legal Assistant/Lawyer
1
2
$12,647.00
Administrative Staff
2
10
$24,109.00
Total Development Cost
2 November 2005
CS 410 Red Group - A.S.K.
Salary.com Average National Salaries [http://www.salary.com/]
$388,130.00
39
Backup 4:
Kiosk Acceptance
2 November 2005
CS 410 Red Group - A.S.K.
JBS Interactive [http://www.jbsinteractive.com/opportunities.html]
40
Backup 5:
Competition Matrix
2 November 2005
CS 410 Red Group - A.S.K.
41
Backup 6:
Scope
2 November 2005
CS 410 Red Group - A.S.K.
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Backup 7:
Forum Results


Would you use A.S.K.?
 85% of respondents (n = 550) said YES
Respondent Testimonials
 “ You could change the way stores work forever with an
idea like this. It's awesome.”
 “I think the best part is the item location in the store. I've
had countless times when I went into a best buy or circuit
city already knowing exactly what I wanted, but then had
to spend like 30 minutes finding it. The sales reps are
sometimes helpful with this, but you can't expect them to
know the exact location of everything, and this method
would be much quicker and not waste a sales rep's time.”
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43
Backup 8:
Time Feasibility
2005
Sep. Oct.
Concept
Development
Research &
Development
Nov.
2006
Dec.
Mar.
Apr. May
2 months
6 months
Construction
4 months
Testing
3 months
Implementation
2 November 2005
Jan. Feb.
2 months
CS 410 Red Group - A.S.K.
44