An App a Day
On days I don’t make it to the gym, I like to go jogging. As a data geek and someone who loves his iPhone more than is probably considered sane for an inanimate object in everyday society, I use an app to track my route, my distance, and my time.
When I finish a run, the app also asks me for some additional information, like what kind of terrain I ran on, what the weather was like, and what my general mood was during my run (I’m always happy, FYI).
It was the question about my mood that got me thinking the other day. Why don’t more people care about my mood? I’m not talking about friends and family. I’m talking about companies. As a customer, those organizations, corporations, and institutions should care how I feel. Think of what a company could do if it tracked how people were feeling, or what was on their minds. Think of the products that could be offered, the perspective that could be gained, the data that could be mined.
To be truly effective from the consumers’ perspective, the app would have to be very low-maintenance. It would have to be easy to use. It would have to be as easy to use as putting on shoes with Velcro straps. And there would need to be some perk or benefit to the consumer for participating. Maybe there’s a monthly or weekly drawing for an iPad and every time a consumer answers the small series of questions, he or she is entered. (Cue the announcer’s voice: Enter as often as you like. No purchase necessary. Void in Alaska and Hawaii.)
To be truly effective from the lenders’ perspective, the app would have to ask the right questions. There are an endless number of possibilities. The app could choose a handful at random to avoid repetition. Some possible questions could be:
- What is your financial situation? This could ask for qualifying answers like very good/good/ok/bad/very bad or it can ask if the situation is better or worse than last month. My running app gives me different faces to choose from when it asks for my mood. That could work for this question, too.
- Will your next car purchase be a new or used vehicle? This isn’t a question that can be asked every day.
- Have you talked to a customer service representative in the past month? Please rate your experience.
- Are you looking to buy a new or used vehicle?
- What is your greatest financial concern? Saving for retirement, saving for kids’ college, saving to buy a house or car, being able to pay my bills this month. There are a lot of options for this question.
- How many times did you eat out last week? A good question to determine the level of discretionary income.
I’m sure there are other questions that could help uncover a treasure chest of data that could yield countless opportunities.
Have app it.
