Action Carting, a subsidiary of Action Environmental Services, is a leading provider of solid waste collection and environmental services for New York and the Tri-State area. The waste management industry has largely overlooked technology and their digital offering to their customers, but Action Carting had the vision of being industry leaders setting the bar for innovation.
My team worked closely with Action Carting to create a data-driven product road map that first addressed their most pressing needs but also kept in mind their long-term goals to invest in creative, innovative technologies like Augmented Reality and Business Intelligence tools.
We started out with a customer-facing app that streamlined customer service, billing and account management, automating processes wherever possible.
The brand’s initial desire for a digital product was heavily geared on helping attract new customers to their services. Through our discovery process we identified a greater need at providing existing customers with basic account management needs which would help retain their customer base, increase client satisfaction and decrease the strain on their customer service team. The experience we designed enables both new and existing users to interact with their platform. Existing customers got access to full control of their accounts while new users were provided limited access that covered basic essential needs.
Surveys find than 80% of participants—regardless of whether they are municipalities or private sector waste management companies—believe that digital innovation is important for their business success. At the top of their priorities list is improving customer satisfaction (73%) and increasing productivity (72%).
One of the biggest desires voiced by existing customers was easier access to and stronger transparency into Action’s pick up schedule – which included scheduled changes and unplanned service interruptions. The team designed and implemented an easy to understand schedule that provide when and what types of trash would be picked up, schedule changes and a system for push notifications.
