HOW TO BUILD INNOVATION INTO YOUR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES!

The following are some actions you can take to create a culture of innovation in your business.  Rust Reviews, LLC, can train your employees to build innovation in your company’s operations or we can take the lead in getting them done with your cooperation.

1. •Train your employees to promote innovative experiences for your customers by providing exceptional customer service.
   

2. •Consistently recognize outstanding employees.
   

3. •Review customer and prospect feedback with your sales and service teams on a regular basis to reward outstanding performance and correct problems quickly.
   

4. •Build feedback from your customers and other stakeholders into your product and service development process by creating a structured program to implement the most promising customer ideas.
   

5. •Encourage and make use of feedback from prospects, customers of competitors, and the community at large.
   

6. •Establish business innovation strategies to use online feedback programs and the information gathered to improve your products and services.
   

7. •Develop innovation tools to track your actions in response to feedback from customers, prospects, employees, and the community and procedures to report your actions back to interested parties.
   

8. •Implement a continuous improvement program that surveys employees, customers, and the community to create systematic innovation in your company.
   

Check out our Blog for more business experience and innovation tips. Search for Blog articles by using the phrases, “innovation tips” or “business experience.” 

Copyright 2009 Rust Reviews, LLC, All Rights Reserved

WHY DO I NEED FEEDBACK FROM NON-CUSTOMERS?

Even businesses that solicit feedback often limit their efforts to current and perhaps former customers.  They don’t survey their employees or offer a beneficial suggestion program to collect inputs from employees.  The don’t attempt to followup with potential customers who chose to buy elsewhere.  They also don’t try to monitor the Word of Mouth in the community at large.  These omissions are short-sighted and detrimental to the long-term success of any business.  Here are some examples to illustrate:

1. • Potential Customers  We recently talked to the manager of a local new car dealership with many mostly negative reviews posted to Google.  One review from a potential buyer stated that he had called the dealership to ask about a car being advertised for $7900, and he specifically asked if the car had “air”.  After being assured that it did, he and his wife drove an hour to get to the dealership.  When they arrived they were told that “air” meant the vent fan, not air conditioning.  They were so angry that they returned home and wrote a scathing review laying out the details of the dealership’s actions.  If the dealership’s manager were interested in improving its business reputation, he could use this feedback to retrain his sales team and then apologize to the unhappy prospect.
   

1. • Employees  Several years ago, we did a business process improvement study for a county government.  Employees were extremely helpful in highlighting process bottlenecks and identifying potential fixes.  One such process in the Accounts Payable Section wasted several hours of employee time each week and correcting it only required a simple change in the software used to track vendor payments.
   

1. • Community  A national franchise restaurant recently closed in our small town after operating for less than two years.  It had developed a community reputation for uneven service and poor food quality, and people who had never eaten there were often willing to pass on the negative word of mouth generated by customers. 
   

If you need assistance in using the Web to assess and analyze feedback from customers and non-customers, we can help.  Just contact us for more information.

Process of Innovation

Worry less about tracking your competitors and more about encouraging and responding to feedback from your customers and other stakeholders.  If asked, they will tell you what they like and don’t like about your business.  If you make a practice of asking them for feedback or a recommendation, you act on that feedback, and you thank them for responding, you’ll create new loyal customers.  Why guess about what your customers want from your business --- just ask them!  Visit our Reputation Leadership Blog for more information.

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