Instant Cupcakes

Welcome to our Friday WRAP – one thought-provoking idea to think about over the weekend.

Those of you who have been following my writing for sometime know that I’m fascinated with things that happen instantly. My previous blog, Instantly Responsive, was an offshoot of my book, Zero Time: Providing Instant Customer Value.  This week’s thought-provoking idea comes from a very creative cupcake store that I had the pleasure of visiting over the summer.  Sprinkles Cupcakes has created a way to get cupcakes anytime of the day or night using what they have coined as a “Cupcake ATM.”   ABC News reported this story when the New York store opened.

It’s pretty much exactly what it sounds like. Imagine walking up to your neighborhood bank, but instead of boring blue or red, the exterior of that bank is pink. And then imagine that instead of money, that bank is filled with cupcakes.  And then imagine that all you have to do was swipe your card, and out comes a freshly baked cupcake in an adorable little, single-serve box.  The place you are imagining exists.

After visiting the Dallas location this July, I was struck by the creativity in making something instant that had not been instant in the past.  Sprinkles Cupcakes did not find a new way to bake cupcakes.  Instead they found a new process for delivering them instantly.

How can you provide instant customer value to your customers?  Is there a new way to deliver your product? or is there a service component that can be delivered instantly?

That’s a WRAP!  Have a great weekend.