MANAGEMENTTuning into the essence
of INNOVATION
Simplify, keep your eye on your target market, use the resources
that you have and stay ready to execute.
Amantle Mokubung
Innovation has become one of the most
misused words in corporate and business
environments. Count yourself lucky if
you miss a mention of the word in the
space of 24 hours. However, should you
decide to take a rain check on applying
it in your business, you might be out
of business soon. Often, the idea of
innovating can be daunting and bring
about the pressure of creating something
out of the ordinary that does not
necessarily complement your strategy,
let alone address your customers'
ever-changing needs. By revisiting the
meaning of the word innovation, you
will be reminded that it simply means
"a new method, idea or product" – here
are some ways to power that up to
create ideas that deliver value to your
customers and are connected to profit.1
Simplify
With the rise of minimalism - a
simplified lifestyle that is time rich and
experience-driven - comes the hunger
for brands that help support this type
of thinking through simplicity, leaving
customers with more time to focus on
other things. Innovation can simply meansimplifying – being clear, human and
useful to your customers. According to
the 2017 Global Brand Simplicity Index,
over 60% of consumers are willing to
pay more for simpler experiences and
are more likely to recommend them. You
want to be part of the list. Find ways to
simplify your company's way of doing
things internally and of servicing your
customers. You could find that while you
have the best product range on offer,
your prospects find it draining and time
consuming to complete what could be a
simple form on your website.When last did you review your company's
customer journey? While designing your
processes, put yourself in the shoes of
your customers – starting from their first
line enquiry, right through to invoicing
and experiencing your total offering. A
lot of start-ups go the route of handling
enquiries digitally without the stress
of having one person inundated with
calls. For a second, it is reasonable
until customers are stuck with the
frustration of not having the option to
urgently change their personal details
online (because life happens) and no
call centre agent to reach out to forassistance. Not to mention the auto-
reply that let's them know that "we will
be in contact with you within 24 hours".
In the age of m-commerce (mobile
commerce), 24 hours feels like a month
and your competitor is always a click
away, waiting for you to drop the ball.
I recently experienced the frustration
that comes with this and felt like pulling
my imaginable hair out of my bald head
when an online store's courier company
attempted to deliver my parcel to my
home address while I was at work for
two days in a row. Twitter ultimately
became my saving grace. So if you choose
to go the route of solely servicing your
customers online, the expectation is that
you reply to enquiries timeously.2
It's more than just a
month-end report
Find meaning in your employees' stack
of month-end reports. Disclaimer: I'm
not trying to win your team's hearts, I
promise. If you are not as dedicated to
engaging with your team on their monthly
reports as you are to reminding them of
the submission deadline, this could be the
best time for you to start working on it.