Interesting story in this morning’s edition of The Washington Post about the demise of the pay phone.
“The number of them across the country has dwindled from a high of 2.7 million in the mid-1990s to about 1.9 million now, supplanted by the more personal wireless phones that fit in a pocket,” the Post writes. “The small companies that maintain them are pulling out of the business. Even at the higher price of 50 cents a call, many phones run at a deficit -- it costs more to clean, maintain and service them…”
“The number of them across the country has dwindled from a high of 2.7 million in the mid-1990s to about 1.9 million now, supplanted by the more personal wireless phones that fit in a pocket,” the Post writes. “The small companies that maintain them are pulling out of the business. Even at the higher price of 50 cents a call, many phones run at a deficit -- it costs more to clean, maintain and service them…”
- KC's View:
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This story intrigued us in part because pay phones used to be a profit center upon which retailers no longer can count.
But it also reminded us of an idea we saw recently in a travel magazine that could be easily adapted by retailers.
There is an establishment out there (we can’t remember which one) that has a bunch of cell phone chargers available to people using the bar or restaurant. In their case, it serves a dual purpose – not only do the chargers provide a service to patrons, but they also stop people from actually using their cell phones while eating or drinking.
We thought that was a pretty good idea for retailers to use that would allow them to provide a basic, necessary service to customers.
Just a thought…as we start to formulate notions about what will constitute customer service on 2003 and beyond…
