Creative ways to solve customer experience challenges.

• Author: Motley, L. Biff
• Position: CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

IN TODAY'S HYPERACTIVE MARKETPLACE, you have to go beyond just satisfying your customers. You have to elevate their experience in unique, memorable and personal ways. We live in an increasingly commoditized world, where contemporary marketing methods often result in a lack of differentiation in our customers' minds. This is especially true in product categories like financial services, where levels of interest or knowledge may be low. Stepping out of this world of grey indistinctiveness requires creativity. But how and where does this creativity come from? And, can you call it up on demand?

Several recent studies suggest that for most people the best route to a truly creative solution requires stepping away from the day-to-day humdrum of job activities--to get away from the immediacy of the problem so your mind can meander and examine the issue from different, less pressured perspectives.

Here are five ideas to jump start your own creativity.

Take a field trip. Identify and visit a business where a problem analogous to the one you are wrestling with likely exists. For example, since we are in a business where local employees must engage people in ways that put them at ease and where the product being sold facilitates some larger objective, consider businesses like stock brokers, high-end clothing stores, professional service firms, real estate brokers, cosmetics counters, interior design firms, high-end furniture stores, hair care professionals and so forth.

See how these professionals address the sales process. Do they dive right in and start talking about how great their products are; or do they spend time asking questions, getting to know you, building confidence and ultimately sharpening their focus on you and your needs? Observe successful point-of-sale tactics and sales aids in respected retail stores.

Do some mental meandering. A trick for many people is to simply leave the pressure of the office periodically to walk around a...