I once had a client so averse to change, that they eventually had to shut up shop.

No matter how much work I did to help them create new, customer-led propositions, they simply couldn’t do it. Or rather didn’t want to do it.

The historically b2b business hired me to look at a new direct-to-consumer offer. We spent months building a powerful factbase, stress-testing conclusions and building a stonking new product with a fabulously intuitive platform.

It could have changed their sector forever.

But they couldn’t do it. After all of that, they simply didn’t have the chutzpah to launch. So they didn’t and they withered and are no more (pause for dramatic impact).

You don’t have to look very far to get some cracking examples of business failures due to either a lack of appetite for change or an inability to make moves.

Innovation lies at the heart of business success, propelling companies forward in rapidly evolving landscapes. Change is constant and if you’re not rolling with it, the future could be tricky.

Here are some of the lessons I’ve learnt from great people I’ve worked with:

User-Centric Design: it’s not about you! Well, it is a bit, but mainly not. Innovation is about meeting a customer's need, whether that be a stated, known need, or one silently waiting to burst out. Think of it this way, the world didn’t know it ‘needed’ mobile phones, but we all wanted a way to connect whilst on the move. The innovation met the need not the stated features requirement. Dyson is really good at this stuff.

Question: do you know your customers' needs?

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Embrace Risk and use iterative development: normalise risk and failure. Some of the businesses I work with have rolling test-and-learn programmes which constantly assess what innovations are likely to work. This approach works equally as well in a small design business for example, as it does in a large bank. Work out where the customer need is heading and find new answers to those challenges.

Question: what new stuff are you testing at the moment?

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Challenge Conventions: Be more different! The power of disruptive thinking is huge in most sectors. Look at things like how you service your clients, how people engage, what are the real points of delight about what you sell, how can you solve your customers’ problems in a way that challenges the norm. One of my favourite clients of all time is Co-Op Funeralcare. I could bang on for days about the work we did there to really understand what their customers wanted and how to fulfil those needs better than anyone else.

Question: When was the last time you challenged conventional thinking?

Community Engagement: This is a biggy. If you can get a community behind you, you’re winning. You don’t have to be a big business to do this..lots of my b2b SME clients do this in clever ways. Bringing together people around a shared challenge, setting up collaborative problem-solving groups, creating peer networks. Bringing together like-minded people often creates positive groupthink which naturally leads to innovation.

Question:?how could you bring people together to create a dynamic community?

Work in public: not everything has to be bright and shiny immediately. Working in public has the benefit of bringing people along with you. Some of the best companies ask for help as they develop new solutions. Tech companies have been using the Beta approach for decades. Why can’t the rest of us follow suit?

Question: what's stopping you from just giving something new a go?

Invest in Infrastructure: this cannot be avoided. Tech is a fabulous enabler and can often provide a leapfrog over competitors. Take two mins to think about what you naturally do now using tech compared to 5 years ago. For most of us, it’s an unavoidable part of life and should be embraced.

Question: do we have to???

Answer: yes, you do.

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Remember the client that withered? They saw innovation as scary and ran from it. They really should have run in the other direction.

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How you can work with me:

?? Strategy Advisor: Your guide, mentor and coach.

?? Strategy Sprints: Working together to get from zero to brilliant customer strategy in six weeks.

?? Training: Bespoke training days designed to bring focus and alignment to your business.

?? Consultancy: Just need it done? I’ll come into your business and get the strategic development and execution process up and running.

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Come and have a look at my new website to find out more.

saramarshall.co.uk

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