Next week, you might be one of the many printers passing through the Houston airport as you arrive for the 8th Annual Spring Conference for the National Print Owners Association (NPOA).

I thought you might find it interesting to know that as you head over to claim your luggage at the baggage claim, you’re experiencing the result of some creative problem-solving.

The Problem With Waiting

Several years ago, passengers passing through the Houston airport often complained about how much time they had to wait to claim their bags.

Airport management was concerned that the number of complaints was excessive, and as any good customer-focused business would do, executives at the Houston airport addressed the issue head-on.

The Conventional Solution

Additional baggage handlers were added, and the average time to wait for passengers to claim their luggage fell to eight minutes, which was a wait time well within accepted airport benchmarks.

Problem solved! Or was it?

Even with the reduced wait time, the complaints kept coming.

The airport executives found they needed to explore the problem from a completely different angle. So, they zoomed out their perspective on the wait-time issue and learned that while the baggage typically arrived at the baggage claim carousels within eight minutes, the route the passengers followed after disembarking the plane placed them at the carousel within one minute. The math was painful; the passengers would typically arrive at the carousel a full seven minutes sooner than their luggage.

The Unconventional (Creative) Solution

Seven minutes to a weary traveler can feel like an eternity.

The airport uniquely solved the problem by rerouting the path passengers followed to the carousel, forcing the passengers to follow a route that took approximately six minutes to travel.

The result? The wait time was reduced from seven minutes to just one minute, and complaints disappeared.

Ready for a New Perspective?

Particularly stubborn pain points may require you to step back for a new perspective.

As Houston airport executives discovered, a fresh perspective can lead to a creative solution.

So consider:

What are the pain points you’re trying to solve for your print buyers? What inspiration can you take from the Houston airport to solve your customers’ pain points in a creative new way?