How 5 Brands Made Successful Customer Experience Pivots
1. Peloton - Quick Pivot to App Promotion 

The Situation: COVID halted all gym usage, creating a surge in demand for indoor fitness.

The CX Shift: Peloton made its smart-connected products even more ideal for at-home use by offering a free 90-day trial to anyone who downloaded the Peloton app. The fitness company provided a variety of at-home workouts that could be done without the purchase of a Peloton bike — opening its doors to new customers and providing a fully custom COVID-friendly experience. And by offering a trial longer than 90 days, the company was able to ease customers’ fears about losing their workout, while encouraging new habits to be formed around Peloton.

The Result: Peloton saw 5x more app downloads in March than previous months in 2020. 

2. SnackNation - Shift in Business Model to Meet Customer Needs

The Situation: A transition to working from home meant SnackNation’s corporate clients no longer needed in-office snacks.

“We can’t do our best work unless we feel safe and connected to our teams, whether in the office or at home. This long period of quarantine and social distancing has taught us just how important these connections with our coworkers are in feeling fulfilled, productive, and cared for,” said Sean Kelly, Co-Founder and CEO of SnackNation. “With a great deal of empathy and care, we thought about how we could empower our team to facilitate employee connection no matter where they work.”

The CX Shift: In response to stay-at-home orders, SnackNation accelerated its product pipeline and quickly launched a work-from-home offering for its national Member-base. Instead of sending their snack boxes to corporate offices, the company reached out to customers and presented a new opportunity: create a seamless, hassle-free Employee Care program that sends work-from-home wellness boxes to each individual employee. 

The Results: The mix of delicious snacks, coffee, wellness items, and safety products like masks and hand sanitizer were a hit. SnackNation has added 2,000 business customers since quarantine began and is adding to the system daily.


3. FirstBank - Focus on Strengthening Small Local Businesses

The Situation: The Payroll Protection Program launched a race to access small business funds before the program ran out.

The CX Shift: FirstBank put its brand purpose “banking for good” to action when the pandemic hit. FirstBank quickly prioritized their SBA customers that needed assistance, offering them one-on-one support to access PPP funds. The bank also prioritized COVID initiatives aimed at supporting small businesses, including a new webpage that connects consumers to local restaurants.

The Results: First Bank supplied more than $1 billion in SBA funds to nearly 13,000 companies across Colorado, Arizona, and California.

4. AppIt - Accelerated App Designed For Restaurant Curbside Pickup

The Situation: COVID shut down all out-of-home dining, crushing the foodservice industry

“We knew this had to be simple, because restaurant owners aren’t technologists,” Moriuchi said. “And we knew we needed to design a solution that didn’t cost restaurants money.”

The CX Shift: This Denver-based software company quickly went to action when they saw restaurants suffering during the pandemic. In what would’ve typically taken six weeks to develop, AppIt launched the free Curbside App in only a week and a half. Throughout the development process, AppIt had one thing on their mind: The customer experience.

The Results: A streamlined ordering process directly connecting restaurants and consumers with no service fees.

4. Everytable - From Restaurant to Emergency Relief Program

The Situation: When the statewide lockdown took place, Everytable recognized that seniors and homeless people in lower-income communities wouldn’t have access to food.

The CX Shift: Overnight, the restaurant transformed into an emergency relief program, creating a "helpline" that anyone could call if they had trouble getting food. The restaurant took its existing infrastructure and restructured the organization’s business model.

The Results: The once-café now works with government agencies, Project Roomkey, and senior homes to provide thousands of meals a day to people in need. On top of that, the company is providing jobs during these hard times by hiring dozens of delivery drivers and kitchen employees.

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