Cultivating Innovation Is a Direct Path to Profit
By Steve Sponseller, entrepreneur.com
Do you have people in your organization who say they aren’t creative? Maybe you’re even one of those people.
But don't buy into this idea, because everyone
is capable of developing innovative ideas, even those who say they are
not “creative.” In my work with clients, I am frequently asked how to
generate innovative ideas. And what I reply is that to
identify seeds of
innovation you can cultivate, you should examine the problems to be
solved, and the unmet needs in your company or industry.
Those
seeds of innovation provide a powerful starting point for developing the
valuable innovations that will increase your revenue and market share.
Once you know how to recognize them, you can discover these innovation seeds in every part of your organization.
Your sales department
Your
sales team members should be able to identify seeds of innovation
during their daily interactions with customers and potential customers.
The salespeople can identify missing product features that customers
request and that may already be provided by a competitor.
Direct
customer interaction by members of the sales team provides valuable
feedback regarding desired features, favorite product attributes and
other issues. This information can help your company develop innovative
new features that distinguish your products in the marketplace.
An
observant sales group also identifies how customers use products. I
have worked with many clients who learned about customer actions from
interactions between the salespeople and customers. In many instances,
the customer actions showed inefficiencies in the product.
These
inefficiencies then became "innovation seeds" which, during
brainstorming sessions, grew into product revisions that made the
product more user-friendly and increased the product’s value to
potential customers.
Your customer service
Your
customer service department is also capable of discovering a variety of
problems through customer complaints and other customer feedback.
Problems reported by one customer are likely to be experienced by many
customers.
Solving these problems can improve customer
satisfaction and reduce product returns. Customer service
representatives can identify common problems customers experience. These
common problems provide valuable opportunities to improve the product,
instructions for the product and product packaging to provide an
overwhelmingly positive customer experience.
Your marketing department
Your
marketing team maintains a close watch on the markets for your
organization’s products or services. By monitoring industry trends, as
well as larger worldwide trends, the marketing group can identify
potential problems (more innovation seeds!) these trends inspire. Early
identification of these problems gives your company an opportunity to be
first-to-market with a solution.
The marketing team also watches
for new developments in competing products and monitors market sentiment
regarding product features. I have helped many companies develop
systems for identifying and tracking this information, which provides
innovation seeds capable of developing into product enhancements that
strengthen the company’s position in the market.
Your product development group
The
team involved with product development is commonly tasked with
developing creative ideas. As a product is developed and tested, team
members identify potential problems or inefficiencies in the product
design.
Some of these problems or inefficiencies are handled
during initial product development, while others become innovation seeds
that grow into subsequent innovations incorporated into future versions
of the product. The product development team is also instrumental in
helping develop solutions to problems other groups identify in the
organization.
Everyone else, from the CEO to the custodian
Industry
publications, news stories and trends are great sources for innovation
seeds. Everyone in the company can keep watch for information regarding
problems or unmet needs in the company’s market. Your employees should
be encouraged to identify and record any news article or social media
post related to the relevant market.
Examples of sources include
industry commentators, product review articles, and social media
comments -- all of which provide critical information useful in
developing new products or improving existing products. An unmet need in
the market is a powerful innovation seed that can assist in developing
market-leading products.
In the end, every member of your
organization can actively participate in the generation of valuable
ideas. Start the flow of ideas today by showing people how to identify
the seeds of innovation in front of them, and then use those seeds to
develop profitable ideas that accelerate your business' growth.
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