Back in August I wrote an article entitled “Innovation – it’s all about change”. In this particular piece I am going to talk about how to make sure you are constantly innovating.

I suppose the first question I have to ask you the reader is, did you ask yourself the 4 questions I suggested and implement some improvements?

The 4 questions are a good place to start but we must continue to innovate.

There are 2 key places to constantly innovate:

1. Things the customer doesn’t pay for

2. Things the customer pays for

Things the customer doesn’t pay for. [Administration, staff meetings, prospecting, Frontline staff, correspondence, marketing].

These are typically activities we do not get paid for, most are necessary but the customer doesn’t care (waste). In lean manufacturing you would try and remove as many of these activities as possible (with no negative consequences) and improve on the rest. It is the activities that are left that require innovation. In fact, it will take innovative thinking in the first place to possible remove the waste.

How do we make sure we are constantly innovating in these areas? You have to ask yourself are we doing these activities faster/cheaper/smarter/better?

Things the customer pays for. [Products, Services, The Experience]

Sometimes the easiest place to innovate that also gives you the biggest reward is in the ‘The Experience’ the customer gets. In fact in today’s world the experience is everything. If you can innovate here and delight the customer, you will increase profits.

How do we make sure we are constantly innovating in these areas? You have to ask yourself:

1. Are we going that extra step to delight our customers?

2. Are we improving the experience?

3. How are we different?