OCC speaks to Scott Crawford, VP, eCommerce, Expedia to share customer-driven innovation tips.
In the build-up to Your Customer Driven Innovation Day on June 15-16, One Connected Community (OCC) caught-up with keynote speaker Scott Crawford, VP, eCommerce, Expedia to share thoughts on the power of customer led innovation strategies.
Markets change, and you need to adapt. Why do travel stakeholders seek to design innovative customer engagement strategies? Customers demand it.
As innovative business models and mobile devices continue to disrupt and shape the way customers travel, one thing is clear – customer experience matters more than ever.
World-class customer experience will be the defining trait of travel companies that thrive in the next five years.
In this setting, many brands are looking to define new customer-driven innovation strategies that give them the edge to out-compete. The goal: to create seamless, personal, simple and easy to use experiences at every touch point (delivering excellence in every single interaction).
There are a million and one reasons for ensuring you provide customers with a positive experience. Not least of which is the impact that customer experience has on the bottom line. Creating a stellar customer experience isn’t just about surviving – but thriving.
To help you navigate the age of disruption, OCC recently caught-up with Scott Crawford, VP, eCommerce, Expedia to share valuable advice on customer-driven innovation strategies.
Customers really power our innovation, says Scott Crawford, VP, eCommerce, Expedia.
“We let customers drive our innovation and product strategy. We live by a mantra that we call test and learn. We religiously test everything that goes on the site. We currently run 1500 tests a year … the reason behind the tests? To identify what customers want.”
But the journey is not a simple one, he adds.
“We won’t get it right every time. We know we might fail … but we fail fast. Ultimately to learn fast, move on and provide a better end to end experience. Speed is absolutely crucial for us.”
Indeed, customer-driven innovation requires a shake-up of traditional business models, investment in innovative technology, thinking and operations, plus a willingness to experiment and make continual improvements.
The key is really to understand the problem that you’re trying to solve, says Crawford.
“We spend a lot of time with customers to get to the root of an issue. It’s crucial for us to address the key customer pain points on our site, and across the whole booking process.
We really listen to what customers are telling us.”
Those that take advantage of customer centric innovation stand to gain against competitors that don’t. And this is just the beginning. On the future, Crawford says:
“Technology is shortening the communication time between brand and customer. Moving forward, it’s important to keep an eye on the growth of instant messaging platforms.”
How many old assumptions drive your strategies? How many of your opportunities are stuck in limbo because management can’t make a decision? And what processes are inherently broken?
Complacent travel brands will very soon be swept away by more innovative companies.
Now is the time to innovate and deliver the perfect travel experience.
Mastering customer driven transformation helps you become much more agile, deliver new types of applications / services that improve the customer experience, generate new revenues, and improve business operations.
This year will be a key turning point. To help travel brands navigate this complex and rapidly developing shift, OCC have built a unique and highly valuable forum, taking place June 15-16 in London.
Led by senior speakers at Expedia, Thomas Cook, citizenM, TripAdvisor and AirFrance KLM, Your Customer Driven Innovation day is specifically designed to help you define your customer-first proposition and provide you with a step-by-step guide to execute transformation.
“I look forward to sharing more on how we’ve become a really customer-centric organisation, and how that’s impacted the individuals within Expedia,” says Crawford.
Travel executives cannot miss the opportunity to network with peers and identify strategies to successfully drive and achieve their companies’ objectives through 2016 and beyond.
Your Customer Driven Innovation Day is an exclusive group of dedicated travel executives — find out why this event is gaining a loyal attendance here.
George Kiley, Event Director, OCC says: “It’s a day to listen carefully to, and engage with, hand-picked thought leaders on the technology, process and structural innovation to drive unprecedented customer experiences and new revenues.”
Register now and save 10% through eHotelier.com
eHotelier is proud to partner with OCC for the Customer-Centric Innovation In Travel event. For more information, and to receive a 10% discount on registration, visit the Customer-Centric Innovation In Travel event listing.
