As most of you probably know by now, I am in the throws of writing a book on Customer Touchpoint Innovation. Simply put, the book is about applying the principles of Strategic Innovation to the Customer Touchpoints in your business so that you can craft compellingly innovative customer experiences – or Unexpected Encounters™ – that are specifically designed to help you attract, keep and engage more customers more often so that you can grow your business.
(Quick – anybody remember the 5 S’s of Unexpected Encounters™?)
When we set out on this journey, we had already identified 77 Customer Touchpoints hence the beginning of the series “77 Top Customer Touchpoints to Innovate…and counting.” Our stretch goal was to reach 100.
Little did we know what “and counting” was really going to mean. As of today, we have reached a whopping 176 Customer Touchpoints and I’m pretty sure that we’re not finished yet.
So, to avoid us completely giving away all of our secrets, today’s Innovation Insights will, as originally promised, complete the list up to #77. But for the rest, you’ll need to stay tuned for the book.
If this is the first post in the series for you or if you are simply in need of a reminder of the rationale behind Customer Touchpoint Innovation, you can find the first three installments of the list at
77 (#10#17) Top Customer Touchpoints to Innovate
77 (#18-#30) Top Customer Touchpoints to Innovate
77 (#31 – #45) Top Customer Touchpoints to Innovate
Now, back to business. What could you do in the next two weeks to turn just one of these Customer Touchpoints into an Unexpected Encounter™ experience that would remind customers why they should do – or continue to do – business with you?
#46 Articles (by you or about you, print or online media)
#47 Confirmations of appointments or meetings. (Ok – the phone reminder is great. The email confirmation is time efficient. But surely, even within those contexts, there’s an idea for a message that not only reminds me of the appointment, but that takes the opportunity to remind me of its value in a way that results in me actually looking forward to the appointment. Remember, a Touchpoint missed is an opportunity missed to remind your customers why you?.)
#48 Badges worn by staff (I recently stayed at a Westin Hotel and noticed that each staff member wore a badge that in addition to their name, indicated the passion of that particular staff member. Nice touch. Unfortunately, when I asked the young receptionist Joelle why reading was her passion, she was at a complete loss for words. Once she had recovered from the surprise of my question, she then told me that in all of the time that she had been wearing the badge, I was the first guest to ever engage her in conversation about it. Westin’s badges may meet the S for surprising but I’m not convinced they meet the S for Strategic. What do you think?)
