It Pays to Innovate Your Customer Experience

The evolution of consumer behavior in recent years has proven one thing to be true: the customer experience is at the heart of business, no matter what your business is or who your customers are.

Providing a frictionless customer experience is the main factor driving innovation across all industries. The customer experience revolution is great for consumers, but it will also prove deadly for businesses who fail to adopt.

The customer experience revolution is great for consumers, but it will also prove deadly for businesses who fail to adopt. Click To Tweet

Here are concrete steps to innovating your customer experience and two examples of enterprises that got it right and reaped the benefits.

Invest in Startup Partnerships for Customer-Centric Innovation

The old idea of ROI has been replaced by ROE or return on experience, which is forcing companies to rethink how they do business and where the customer falls on their list of priorities.

In an environment where innovation and ROE are key, partnering with startups gives large companies an edge over the competition.

In an environment where innovation and ROE are key, partnering with startups gives large companies an edge over the competition. Click To Tweet

Collaborating with startups makes customer-centric innovation more accessible for enterprises because it gives them access to innovative solutions that they can implement into their legacy infrastructure.

More on partnering with startups: How Proof-of-Concepts Improve the Innovation Process

Understand Your Customers’ Experience

The key to improving the customer experience is collecting data about their pain points and behaviors. In the past, the customer experience has been secondary to the product, but that is no longer the case.

This shifting corporate focus has created a customer experience loop: advances in technology transform customer experiences, which in turn changes customer expectations, which then leads to more transformations in customer experiences, and so on.

It is up to companies to understand what their customers want now, and anticipate what additional needs and/or wants that will create in the future.

Two Enterprises that Got Customer Experience Right

 

How Domino’s Became the #1 Pizza Company

Early on in the advent of mobile technology, Domino’s realized that they had to change they way they thought about pizza delivery. Using data gathered from an early version of the website and mobile apps, they were able to streamline the online ordering process according to customer demands.

With 60% of all orders made online, the company had to improve the customer experience.

Now, customers can order in one click, and pay for and track their delivery online. Collaboration between marketing and IT allowed the company to brainstorm and test ideas. This led to a frictionless customer experience and increased market share from 9% to 18%.

This enterprise role now has one foot in the business side of the company and the other in IT

Dominos not only recognized the importance of innovating the customer experience, but they invested the necessary resources into researching and developing solutions. As a result, they are leading a highly competitive market.

Ralph Lauren’s Turns to Chief Innovation Officer

Ralph Lauren is another major brand that is embracing innovation under the guidance of David Lauren, the company’s Chief Innovation Officer. Lauren has recognized the clothing brand’s signature style isn’t enough to ensure future success and is taking concrete steps to improve the customer experience.

The company has already closed 25% of their brick and mortar locations, introduced PoloTech smart shirts that include technology that can detect vital signs and started offering in-store customization options. These innovation efforts have produced steady growth in all global markets.

More on Ralph Lauren’s Plans for Digital Innovation

Innovate Past Your Competitors

It is important that companies recognize that innovation goes beyond developing new products to include innovating processes that improve the customer experience.

Technology has created more opportunities for businesses to enter new markets, and that means that consumers have more power to choose where they spend money.

Moving forward, creating a frictionless customer experience will be the key to winning over new business, earning repeat customers and innovating past your competitors.