Making Experimentation Part of Your DNA

To stay competitive and relevant, you need to be able and willing to adapt quickly to customer expectations and industry trends. That means getting ahead of your customers’ needs and delivering memorable experiences.

That’s where experimentation comes in. Implementing a strong testing program enables your business to develop and test data-driven hypotheses about your customer-facing touchpoints. An experimentation philosophy gives you the tools to improve the performance of your websites, applications, and other digital entities by testing and observing outcomes. And because this process occurs in a controlled environment, you can make big changes with minimal risk.

From incremental tweaks to complete overhauls, experimentation lets you implement change quickly and see results in real time. Take Electronic Arts, Inc. (EA), for example. In an attempt to boost pre-orders for an upcoming game release, EA extended an online promotional offer to its customers. When pre-order numbers came in much lower than expected, the company ran tests and found that removing the online promo actually increased revenue by nearly 44%.

Here are three ways to start implementing this ‘experimentation mindset’ right now, and start sparking innovation across your organization.

Embrace Failure

Some of the most significant breakthroughs in business were only achieved after many unsuccessful attempts. Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight, co-founders of Nike, spent the better part of a decade developing the Waffle Trainer – one of the signature designs in shoe history. Accepting failure as part of the learning process helps create a mindset shift within your organization, and leads to a culture of support and encouragement where employees are more willing and able to share their ideas.

Measure and Test

Armed with data and a willingness to try out new ideas, companies can collaborate and create the most memorable customer experiences. Holding monthly meetings with members of every team in your organization, from Sales to Merchandising and Design, can help fine-tune processes and identify ways to improve efficiency. Learning through trial-and-error also contributes to an environment of collaboration, ideation, and experimentation.

Encourage Employees

The more individuals involved in the success of a company, the easier it is to understand your customer base and make informed decisions that drive business value. Leaders who encourage every employee to contribute their ideas create a trickle-down effect within their companies, resulting in more employees across all departments who are eager to gain a deeper understanding about your customers and become a part of the solution. This type of empowerment leads to workers who are more impassioned, loyal, and motivated.

Embracing failure, learning through trial-and-error, and encouraging every employee to contribute can go a long way towards creating a culture of experimentation that can help your organization gain valuable insights and improve the customer experience.