These customer experience trends, drawn from consumer behavior, can fuel your CX innovation: dynamic pricing, video valet service, going beyond the goods on delivery, rewarding politeness, beneficial intelligence that decides on customers' behalf, and post-demographic consumerism. Each comes with a question to ask your team, turning an outside-in view of how consumer expectations are shifting into concrete ideas for your own experience.
I'm at the Total CX Leaders conference and just attended an excellent seminar from Max Luthy, Director of Trends & Insights at Trendwatching.com. It was so on point for companies looking to innovate the customer experience that I feel compelled to share. Max presented six trends that can help you frame your CX innovation efforts:
When The Interview was released in theaters, Palace 9 cinemas in Vermont offered democracy-supporting moviegoers free popcorn if they brought in a copy of the U.S. Constitution. And an Argentinian air conditioner manufacturer gave its online customers a discount based on their location — the hotter the temperature, the bigger the discount.
Ask yourself: Can we use targeted, dynamic pricing to prove to our customers that we care?
Southwestern Distillery in Cornwall gives its gin drinkers the opportunity to FaceTime with the distiller. And Esurance customers can speed up the accident claims process through the video appraisal feature on its mobile app.
Ask yourself: How can we integrate video to solve real-time customer questions and issues?
An online jeans retailer in Europe will have the courier wait for 15 minutes while the customer tries on her purchases — and then whisk the unwanted pairs away immediately. In Panama, Pizza Hut experimented with attaching ovens to the back of motorbikes — and cooking pizzas en route to customers' homes.
Ask yourself: If there is a delivery element to our service, how can we make the most of that touchpoint?
La Petite Syrah, a café in France, offers discounts to customers who order politely. And the NBA 2K14 video game listens to ambient noise in the room and penalizes players with a technical foul for cursing.
Ask yourself: How can we prompt customers to improve the experience for themselves and others?
The Drop kitchen scale automatically adjusts recipes based on the ingredients you have at hand. And Facebook plans to prevent users from posting embarrassing photos.
Ask yourself: Would our customers embrace intelligent, beneficial decisions being made on their behalf?
Todd Yellin, VP of Product Innovation at Netflix, said in March 2015, "There are 19-year-old guys who watch 'Dance Moms,' and there are 73-year-old women who are watching 'Breaking Bad.'" Barclaycard gives discounts and perks based on spending habits and past purchases. And Virgin Atlantic currently provides vacation recommendations by letting customers pack a virtual suitcase.
Ask yourself: Are we viewing our customers by their chosen identities or by pre-defined segments?
Of course, these trends are only valuable if you apply them to your own customer experience. Good news! Trendwatching has a consumer trends canvas to help you do just that.
What other trends are fueling your company's customer experience?