In 1952, a restaurant in California purchased eight Prince Castle milkshake machines, each capable of producing five milkshakes at a time. This was pretty unusual activity for a small burger stand in the 1950s, so the salesman from Prince Castle went to the restaurant to check it out.
What he found was a company that had revolutionized the customer experience to revolve around efficiency and product quality. The building was customized to fit the natural workflow of the employees and the milkshake machines were churning out 40 milkshakes at a time, constantly.
That little burger stand grew into what we know today as McDonald’s, and it’s still the largest fast-food chain in the world.
Moral of the story? Every business should want to innovate its customer experience. It makes you unique and it lets you offer something that your competitors can’t.
But, innovation doesn’t happen overnight https://maxloan.org/title-loans-ks/. The founders of Mcdonald’s spent years analyzing, planning, and testing until they found the restaurant design that was right for them. That doesn’t mean it’s impossible to match their success, but it will take some time, dedication, and hard work.
If you’re looking to get started, read on for a list of ways you can innovate the customer experience at your business.
Customer Experience Innovation
Innovating the customer experience means adding more value to the customer’s relationship with your business. While there are many ways to do this, these efforts should generally foster a stronger connection with your customer base by offering products, rewards, and services that your competitors can’t.
For more specific ways to innovate the customer experience, read on for a list of tips and examples that we gathered below.
1. Establish an Online Experience.
If you’re still solely operating as a brick-and-mortar business, then the most obvious innovation you can make is bringing your brand online. That doesn’t necessarily mean ecommerce, either. Just having a presence online makes your company more accessible and helps new customers discover your business.
Business Example: Wootten
Wootten is an Australian leather retailer that has an excellent website to showcase its brand. The site has its products front and center on its homepage and each item comes with a detailed description of price, sizing, and materials used to create each one. It also has a service section that includes things like a maintenance guide that tells customers how to properly clean and care for each product. While Wootten does use this site for ecommerce, it’s still a great marketing tool for helping people discover the brand.
2. Offer a Customer Loyalty Program.
An effective way to boost both customer satisfaction and retention rates is to offer a customer loyalty program. Loyalty programs add value after a purchase is made, keeping your brand relevant even when the customer doesn’t need to buy one of your products.
Business Example: Boloco
Boloco’s loyalty program is great because it’s simple and to the point. After every 50$ spent, the customer gets a free item from the menu. It doesn’t matter if that item is an extra-large burrito or just a side of guac, the customer has the entire menu to choose from for their reward.
3. Provide a Customer Success Manager.
A customer success manager (CSM) can significantly influence the customer experience by removing roadblocks that create friction after a purchase is made. CSMs are assigned to customer accounts where they monitor activity and look for opportunities to improve the customer’s experience. Part of this involves troubleshooting and answering questions, but most of it is strategizing how the customer will succeed after they purchase something from the brand.