Success in 2020 – innovative and creative ideas to set you apart

18 Dec 2020

People 1st International

As we hurtle into 2020, the one thing we know for sure is that nothing is certain. In a constantly changing business environment, being agile, creative and innovative will not just help you to deal with the unexpected, but also give your business a competitive edge.

Here are some innovative and creative ideas to help kick-start 2020:

Get everyone involved

In a customer-facing business, customer service is something that should concern everyone, not just the staff who deal with it every day. A few years ago, Tesco’s then-CEO, Dave Lewis tried an innovative approach and asked thousands of head office staff, including senior executives, to work one day in stores in the run-up to Christmas – and he included himself on the list.

How about trying a similar approach in your business this year? There’s no better way to stay in touch with the reality of what a business requires than ensuring senior executives and those involved in customer training and development understand what it’s like front and centre, whether that’s the shop floor, call centre or customer reception area.

It may sound obvious but it’s impossible to improve your customer experience unless you have experienced being your own customer. This means looking at all your key customer touch-points in order to identify things that are likely to annoy, disappoint or even drive away customers so that innovative and creative solutions can be designed to remedy them.

Empower your people

Be creative about how you empower your staff and look at new and innovative ways to ensure they are on board. Ensure they have the permission, freedom and flexibility to deliver a great service, to find customers’ problems and to solve them.

We’ve mentioned it before, but every member of staff at Ritz Carlton Hotels are empowered to spend a given amount to resolve a customer’s problem if needs be without getting sign-off from a manager. This is a really good example of how a novel approach can help to incentivise staff to go out of their way to help customers.

Seek innovation inspiration from new sources

None of us are ever too old to learn. Create a culture of continuous learning and help your teams to improve how they innovate and adapt. Provide training and development that can help customer service staff to unlock their creative potential and to collaborate more effectively.

Invest in innovative, progressive and dynamic training

Finally, make sure your staff and volunteers are empowered to deliver a warm and friendly welcome to customers and visitors and make this central to your brand. ‘Good’ is not good enough when it comes to customer service – there is always room for further improvement.

Since partnering with People 1st to train its staff in the art of customer service, De Vere Theobalds Estate has enjoyed a 5.5% increase in guest satisfaction ratings, plus over £110,000-worth of improved revenue.

So transform your business in 2020 and get the recognition you deserve by becoming a WorldHost Recognised Business – a ‘must-have’ badge for customer service.

Here’s to wishing you a very successful, creative and innovative 2020!

Discover how our WorldHost programmes can help transform the customer experience in your business.

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We have worked with thousands of businesses to transform their customer experience through WorldHost. Businesses engaged with WorldHost customer service training have reported a number of key benefits including increased revenue, additional repeat business, improved customer service ratings and increased staff motivation. Find out more here.

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