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The Emerging Strategy of Innovative Service

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The world of the customer has dramatically changed. The tough economy has made customers more value conscious, demonstrating far more caution in how they spend their hard-earned dollar. The proliferation of self-service (while a blessing when it works) has made customers more frustrated when they feel trapped in a process with no live person to help. And the Internet, with its social media reach, has empowered customers with strong influence over other customers and the reputation of companies.

Such a plethora of challenges has required all organizations to rethink their strategy. Since revenue from customers and the power of their advocacy dramatically impacts organizational growth and profits, assuming “we know what’s best for our customers” is akin to a death knell.

But, the largest challenge today is not the changing expectations of the new, normal picky, fickle, vocal and wired customer. It is their requirement for an experience that heightens their emotional connection and ramps up their affinity. Customers are bored and want their hearts to race and their spirits to soar. And, here is the backstory.

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About the Author

Chip R. Bell is a customer loyalty consultant and the author of several national best-selling books. His last three books include The 9 ½ Principles of Innovative Service, Managers as Mentors (with Marshall Goldsmith) and Wired and Dangerous (with John Patterson). He can be reached at www.chipbell.com

Recommended Resource – Creative Thinkering

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Creative Thinkering: Putting Your Imagination to Work
by Michael Michalko

About the Reference

Creative Thinkering by Michael Michalko provides readers with actionable methods to tap into and broaden their natural creativity. Aimed at those who question their imaginative abilities, Michael reveals a systematic approach to generating new ideas through the association of two or more dissimilar subjects; resulting in the generation of entirely new products, services, and methods.

Throughout Creative Thinkering, Michael provides detail rich examples of his method’s application as well as challenging the reader to develop his or her own capabilities through numerous thought experiments. These elements transform this book from one that simply provides a method into one that is a teaching manual; helping even the most rigid of thinkers expand their creative horizons.

Benefits of Using this Reference

StrategyDriven Contributors like Creative Thinkering because of its immediately implementable methods for expanding one’s creative output. Michael clearly illustrates that anyone can be highly creative and through his plentiful thought experiments convinces even the most rigid thinkers that they too can be the source of highly original ideas. In a fast moving world that requires continuous adaptation, Creative Thinkering can help arm any professional with a crucial skill needed to remain competitive.

StrategyDriven Contributors have long benefited from Michael’s insights on creativity. We thoroughly enjoyed his earlier book, Thinkertoys and have applied the methods he prescribes therein to our work almost every day. If we had one criticism of Creative Thinkering it would be that Michael’s new book is not as ‘fun’ as his last – but it is by all accounts just as valuable.

Overcoming ones creative doubts is a key ingredient to taking the actions necessary to remain competitive in our highly innovative and rapidly changing world. Michael’s book provides those with such doubts a clear method for dealing with their rigidness and conceiving the truly unique; making Creative Thinkering a StrategyDriven recommended read.

Break the Innovation Chokehold: How to Stop Ruling Like a (Not-So-Benevolent) Dictator and Start Encouraging Big Ideas

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Do you lead your team like you’re the great and powerful head of your own nation? Hidden away in your office, shielded from others, do you deliver orders that must be followed, never considering what your employees might think? Do you parade the halls, factory floors, or store aisles of your organization, holding audience with only the small entourage of upper management trailing after you?

Okay, this might be a slight exaggeration. But even if you embrace a less extreme version of the old ‘command and control’ style of leadership, you’re blocking the natural flow of the life’s blood of the company. Innovation.

The boss must act as the ‘external force’ for continuous, systematic change and innovation in an organization. He or she must be poised to seize the moment and capitalize on unique opportunities when they’re presented. But they’ll never be presented if you don’t stir the pot by constantly listening to your employees and challenging them to think about ‘What if?’ in order to improve your products, processes, or procedures.

To achieve true innovation, you can’t lead like an iron-fisted dictator, where your word and only your word is final. You should instead lead as a benevolent dictator – benevolent’ being the operative word – who always puts the company, the employees, and, most importantly, the customer, first.

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About the Author

Michael Feuer co-founded OfficeMax in 1988 starting with one store and $20,000 of his own money, a partner, and a small group of investors. As CEO, he grew it to more than 1,000 stores worldwide with annual sales topping $5 billion. He is also CEO of Max-Ventures, a venture capital and retail consulting firm, and founder and CEO of Max-Wellness, a comprehensive health and wellness retail chain that launched in 2010. After opening initial laboratory test stores in Florida and Ohio, a national roll-out is now underway. To read Michael Feuer’s complete biography, click here.

Forget Brand Preference – Win the Brand Relevance War

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There are two ways to compete in existing markets – gaining brand preference and making competitors irrelevant.

Brand Relevance

The first and most commonly used route to winning customers and sales focuses on generating brand preference among the brand choices considered by customers, on beating the competition. Most marketing strategists perceive themselves to be engaged in a brand preference battle. A consumer decides to buy an established product category or subcategory, such as SUVs. Several brands have the visibility and credibility to be considered – perhaps Lexus, BMW, and Cadillac. A brand, perhaps Cadillac, is then selected. Winning involves making sure the customer prefers Cadillac to Lexus and BMW. This means that Cadillac has to be more visible, credible, and attractive in the SUV space than are Lexus and BMW.

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About the Author

David Aaker, author of Brand Relevance: Making Competitors Irrelevant, is Vice-Chairman of Prophet, a marketing consultancy that helps senior executives balance their organization’s short-term business needs against their long-term growth goals, and Professor Emeritus of Marketing Strategy at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. One of the world’s leading experts on branding and the winner of three awards for lifetime contributions to the science of marketing, David has published over 100 articles and fourteen books; including Strategic Market Management that has been translated into eighteen languages. To read David’s complete biography, click here.

Ideas Are the Easy Part

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One of the best aspects of my role as Fahrenheit 212’s COO is that I’m the first person candidates meet when they’re interviewing for a job. No matter how many people I interview, I am constantly astounded by the ideas they bring to our conversations. Amazing, amazing ideas with clear market opportunities.

Drinks that prevent hangovers.

Athletic clothes that go beyond wicking and actually hydrate.

A service called Dial A Mom that would provide all the services you want when you’re sick –making doctor appointments, picking up your prescriptions, even sending chicken soup. And the best part is the business would be staffed by actual retired moms. They would get paid for doing what comes naturally and sick people would get what exactly what they want at exactly the right moment. Genius!

The point is, great ideas are everywhere. Online, off line, even in a line at Starbucks, today’s culture consists of people who are constantly dreaming up new things that should exist. And as a result, I think most readers would likely agree that the old adage is true: ideas can indeed come from anywhere.

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About the Author

Pete Maulik is Partner and Chief Operating Officer at innovation consultancy Fahrenheit 212. He is instrumental in the development, evolution and actualization of clients’ innovation efforts. His experience includes leading innovation projects in the alcohol, technology, FMCG, software, beauty, financial services and hospitality categories. Pete is responsible for unleashing the potential of the Fahrenheit 212 organization. This includes finding world-class people, giving them a structure in which they can perform at their peak and ensuring Fahrenheit 212 is delivering transformational innovations on every project.

Pete has spoken on the power of bringing creativity to business at Columbia Business School, Pace University, American Marketing Association’s Quarterly Meetings, The Art Director’s Club of New York, ESSEC and Fordham Business School.

He holds an undergraduate degree from Harvard and an MBA from Columbia Business School.