Want Big Results? Start Small. Jab Often.

The biggest moment in boxing is when a fighter lands the knockout blow. As his opponent falls to the canvas, the victor stands above him, revelling in his victory. While this victory looks to have been accomplished by the final blow, the battle was won in the various jabs and bursts in earlier rounds.

In an environment where everyone wants the big knockout digital idea to flatten their competition, few consider the importance of short jabs or bursts of activity. Rather than overhauling your entire ecosystem, the smarter play is to make small changes quickly and regularly.

He can have heart, he can hit harder and he can be stronger, but there's no fighter smarter than me

Floyd Mayweather Jr.

A constant flow of small improvements (or 'jabs') to your digital platforms can keep your competitors on their toes while you introduce changes that engage and delight your customers. Small jabs are not as exciting as than big knockout moves, but their rapid, quick fire delivery will help you win in the long-term.

After a big website launch, its a common mistake to let your new digital platform sit for a while in ‘set and forget’ mode. Boxers never 'set and forget' after they land a punch - even if their opponent is reeling, they're still alert, upright and ready for whatever happens next. Your digital platforms should do the same. After a launch, you should still be performing tweaks and improvements to help react to whatever comes next.

The 'set and forget’ attitude is prevalent among many brands about their digital ecosystem. This attitude provides bad experiences for customers and as a result, revenue lost for the business.

Software being ‘Done’ is like lawn being ‘Mowed’

Jim Benson

Implementing small and frequent improvements is a primary lever to create ongoing digital value. Get started by conducting small experiments. Build something. Measure it. Learn from it. Do more of what works and don’t be afraid to remove elements of the platform that aren't performing.

Some of the smallest changes can have the biggest impact. An ecommerce website had a problem with new user conversions. They found that the 'register' button in the checkout process implied that they needed an account to purchase a product. To fix this, the website design team changed the button text to 'continue' and added some copy to indicate that users could purchase without an account.

This small change led to an additional $300M in revenue in the first year.

But how do you get this continuous improvement methodology into your organisation? And what's required to establish this methodology?  At Fusion, we've developed 'Value Sprints' as a way to implement continous improvements for our clients. These sprints can run on two, four or six week cycles.

In a Value Sprint, we work with our client to develop a range of testable improvements based on business objectives and customer behaviour data. These improvements are prioritised in the broader business context and then rolled out onto the platform.

Each improvement is measured to determine impact and any further optimisation opportunities. Once a Value Sprint has been completed, we analyse the learnings and outcomes and use these insights to plan the next sprint. Jab-Jab!

Every champion was once a contender that refused to give up

Rocky Balboa

Value Sprints provide your organisation with the jabs to help you keep up and go past your competitors. The strategy for a winning digital experience isn't spending time and effort on landing the knockout blow - it's by jabbing your way through the competition.