If the goal is to introduce something new or make something better, how do we begin? Well, I’d consider asking yourself these questions as you seek to innovate and iterate on the job.
What’s the tension I see here? Where do I see my customers experiencing problems, frustrations, irritations, or disappointments? What part of the customer experience is causing repeated and growing tension?
Where is the tension coming from? What problem is making customers react this way? What issue is creating tension in their experience? What’s the cause?
How can I make it better? What can I do to fix the problem and ease the tension for the customer? What solutions can I come up with to help here? Do I need to introduce a totally new way? Or is there a way to take what’s already there and make it better?
What’s the benefit of making it better? What does fixing this problem do for the company overall? How does it help the customer? What’s behind choosing to do something?
How do I elevate that solution to someone in charge? What can I do to take this to my leadership? What’s the process to get this solution in front of them? What do I want to communicate clearly about the solution?
Questions like these will help you think through the details of innovation and iteration. They’ll help you develop workable solutions to ease the tension customers are experiencing. And they’ll give you the motivation to take steps that allow you to elevate and implement things that make your brand, your customer experience, and yourself better in the process.
Some of the best ideas in any brand come from you—the people serving customers on the front lines.
You have the power to think ahead.
To dream of what could be.
To do what’s in your power to give your customers an exceptional experience with you.
You have the power to innovate and iterate for good!
Try this…
Once you know the problem you want to solve and even have a few solutions in mind, communicating it with clarity is key. Clear communication is so important for your idea to be heard, understood, approved, and moved forward with momentum. To help you begin communicating with clarity, try using some of these phrases in conversation with your leadership:
To ensure they see the problem, ask: “Have you noticed that [insert the problem or issue you see]?”
To cast a little vision for the solution, ask: “What if we could [insert your solution]?”
To give an example of how this will work, say: “Here’s what I mean! If we [insert the way you see the solution working.]”
To play this out, let’s take this example from the hotel industry:
Problem:
“Have you noticed that the check in process takes on average 3 minutes, and it creates a long line of customers?”
Solution:
“What if we could remove the line and allow all customers to check in within 30 seconds of arrival?”
Example:
“Here’s what I mean! If we change how we staff the front desk and which roles we each play while there, we could increase the speed at check in and reduce the frustration our customers experience.”
Continue learning and growing by ordering your copy of The Power of Customer Experience and the book club video series and user guide for your team.
For my Audible friends, check out the recent release ofThe Power of Customer Experience on Audible!
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