April 29, 2020
In the current reality of coronavirus, most companies don’t have the time or resources to come up with a brand-new product or create an innovation incubator. Luckily, innovation doesn’t require a stroke of genius, endless time, or unlimited funds. If you have a deep understanding of your customer relationships and priorities, you're already on the right track. Here are six ways that you can innovate through this crisis: 1. Delight customers with Value/Savings Exceed customer expectations while giving them unmatched Value or Savings, when applicable. For those of us who aren’t Amazon, Adding value while keeping customers interested is critical right now. Real Estate transactions aren't usually a place for cost savings but the service you provide your client and their entire home buying experience is a huge opportunity to knock their socks off. Offering them stellar, memorable service will serve you in the future, hopefully in the form of referrals. Leverage relationships you've built in your network to offer your clients any extra's you can. Now is the time to pull out all the stops... but we will elaborate on that in the next paragraph. 2. Band together with others Personnel shifts are happening on two extremes: companies like Domino’s are looking to hire 10,000 people to keep up with demand, while airlines and hotels like Marriott are laying off tens of thousands. In China, we saw more than 40 companies band together and create an exchange to combat this trend. A group of hotels, restaurants, and cinema chains that had all taken a significant economic hit shared a large proportion of their staff with Hema, a supermarket chain owned by Alibaba that desperately needed help meeting demand for deliveries. While the ratio of employees needed to employees lost is not even, innovative strategies like this could help slow the bleeding. In the Real Estate Market, we are already used to partnering up with brokers and home inspectors etc. Now is a great time to expand your usual network and share leads where you can. It goes back to adding value for your client. You have to be familiar with the client experience, know their needs and what the next steps will look like for them. Position yourself as an expert by taking the guess work out for them, while boosting another business when you refer them. If you already partner with Utility Helpers, they do a great job of thinking through those irritating parts for your client- garbage set up, utilities and cable companies. Soon, Utility Helpers will also be expanding the network even more and offering exclusive coupons to help foster a community vibe and band together, supporting our local restaurants and small businesses in select beta markets. 3. Keep your customers loyal Why bother driving to your family-owned health food store when you could order what you need online on Amazon Prime? Customer loyalty. Keeping customers close is always critical, but it’s especially so when everyone else is offering convenience, job security is low, and spenders are holding on tighter to their wallets. Small businesses in particular need to deeply understand their customer bases. Small business often times have the advantage of connecting on a different level, and what people that have largely been effectively confined for about 6 weeks now are craving connection more than ever. Don't undercut your unique ability and position to connect and provide a great service for your client. Reach out to your past clients. Sending them a little card in the mail probably stick in their mind better than it would have a year ago. 4. Spot re-prioritized Jobs to be Done Knowing your clients and going above and beyond, making small adjustments along the way will go far. Consider what roadblocks they may face. Is it their new schedule? How can you adjust the process to make it work for your client? Keeping kids entertained is one task that’s taken on quite a new level of importance while trying to occupy them in the background of Zoom meetings around the world. Companies like Audible recognized that priority shift early and are adjusting offerings to reflect the most urgent needs of the moment. Recently, the company announced the launch of Audible stories, which allows anyone anywhere to listen to over 200 children’s stories for free. Leverage those offerings- instant value add! 5. Adjust and Adapt to new consumer habits With the innovation of Virtual Showings, Docusign and things of the like, it's never been easier to complete a transaction with almost zero contact with another human. There have been countless articles on the affects of Covid-19 and all of the innovation around home buying durring this time- time will only show us what "sticks". Adjust and adapt to new customer buying habits. Think of all the gasoline and milage savings of the future! 6. Rethink Customer Experience The entire concept of customer experience is changing dramatically in the coronavirus world. It’s not a small undertaking for restaurants, hotels, and other experience-driven businesses to completely rethink how they’re delivering their services. People are on social media more than ever, maybe it's time to rethink your strategy. Go Live more often, get your face out there. Talk about your available listings, talk about the value in the service you provide- be solution oriented and relatable. We all have a lot more in common right now than we ever have before. While we won’t be living between house and car and working from our couches forever, the convenience of pickup, online, and remote alternatives is powerful. Business owners might realize that a fully remote workforce means less overhead, and home buyers might decide that on-demand virtual tours are a better option than crowded open houses. All companies should be thinking critically about which of their customers’ newly adopted habits might stick in the long run. Using the information you have about your customers’ priorities and needs, a little creativity and a lot of flexibility will go a long way toward making innovation happen.