You see, the words “innovation, transformation, and pivot” become buzz words during the initial stages of Covid -19 as businesses discovered how unprepared they were at that time.
I recall one of my clients who needed to do an in-store engagement and was so keen on physically interacting with her consumers after the initial lift on the lockdown. Well, my team came up with tech-driven interactions in-store, quite novel, and a first of its kind with seamless in-store consumer experiences…
To be fair, the cost of getting this equipment in and by air freight was quite a bit and needed to ride on CAPEX and not on any single brand budget. By the time, we were done with the technical and financial proposals, it was glaring to both parties that the investment would not be worth it in the short run and so we decided to wait out Covid-19 while interacting with the customers on digital platforms.
More glaring is the fact that Innovation is a given in today’s world so it is either you evolve or go extinct. There are 2 key business trends we need to remind ourselves of as business leaders and stir our businesses in the right direction to continue to remain relevant.
1. Virtual living:
Research shows that even before the pandemic, the average number of hours spent online was 7hrs…Aint no more news that a huge percentage of customers moved their purchases online during the pandemic, and trends show that there are strong indications that the customers ain’t gonna change their habit any time soon.
A couple of businesses are still working remotely and we have all come to realize that what seems to be impossible before Covid-19 is actually possible. The question now is as business owners, how are we evolving to ensure continued productivity with our staff?
How are we also positioning our businesses to ensure that we still remain relevant within the sphere of the customer’s needs? The fact is, it has always been about the customer and it will continue to be about the customer.
2. Customers Present Interactions:
How they interact, when and where remains key. The proven time strategy of the 5 Ws and H is even more relevant in this era of virtual living
Research throws up the fact that 86% of customers with great customer service experiences would most likely come back again and again for a repeat purchase.
There is now a strong need to treat your customers right as another research from American express shows that 33% of customers will switch brands after a single bad experience. The quality of your product if you are in the manufacturing industry must remain top-notch and if you are in the service industry, be it finance, tech, marketing services, and whatnot, you cannot and must not allow the quality of your service to waver. It is high time businesses got on top of their game and get their acts together. It is high time to look ahead to decipher what needs to be done to meet the ever-changing needs of your consumer or customer. it is no more business as usual but now business unusual.
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