We repeatedly hear that consumers have changed how they live, work and shop as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. But what does that mean for businesses? Here are five important rules for leaders to remember about customers during 2021:
Rule No 1: Products go to the customer – not the other way round
“There is a fundamental flip happening in customer experience, and that is changing customer expectations,” says Steven van Belleghem, a thought leader on customer engagement and author of The Offer You Can’t Refuse.
In the past, the customer always had to go somewhere to get a product or service – they might visit a store or website to get what they wanted. Today, however, this model is being turned upside down, with the pandemic accelerating the trend.
“Products and services are now being built around the customer, as brands work to minimize the amount of effort customers have to make,” Van Belleghem explains. “Compare Google and TikTok, for example. On Google, the customer still has to make an effort to search for what they want, while TikTok uses artificial intelligence to select and feed content the user will like instantly without them doing anything.”
He adds: “We used to spend our marketing dollars to make sure people come to us, but in the ‘new normal’, those dollars will be used to make sure our products go to where the customer is.”
Rule No 2: Recognize your customers’ emotions
Emotions play a significant role in customer decision-making – especially during times of crisis. A study published in Harvard Business Review indicated that when consumers feel anxious or afraid, emotions can sway their purchasing decisions.
In particular, when confronted with contagious disease “fear and disgust shift people’s natural desire for familiarity and predictability into overdrive”. In other words, instead of trying out a new healthy recipe, they might turn to comfort in the form of biscuits and fast food.
Dr Liam Fahey, author of The Insight Discipline, believes that organizations should ask themselves these four important questions when they look to respond to the changing needs of their emotionally-charged customers:
1. What’s surprising about our customers’ recent behaviors?
2. How might emotions explain these unexpected behaviors?
3. What’s different about these emotion-based explanations compared with ‘rational’ explanations?
4. How might these differences enable us to craft – and test – genuinely new insights into our customers’ needs and desires?
Once they have asked, and answered, these questions, organizations can then develop appropriate strategies in response.
Rule No 3: Customers expect you to stand for something
“Customers no longer want a transactional relationship with a company, simply based on the buying of products and services,” argues Jackie Fast, entrepreneur and author of Rule Breaker: Rebellious Leadership for the Future of Work. “They want a more meaningful connection grounded in shared values.”
Fast believes this can only be achieved when organizations stand for something. “They must prove they are driven by a purpose other than profit and start using their influence for the greater good.”
Sportswear manufacturer Nike’s sponsorship deal with former American Football quarterback Colin Kaepernick is an example of this approach. “When Colin Kaepernick unceremoniously left the National Football League for kneeling during the national anthem in protest at racial injustice and police brutality, Nike could have just dropped him,” she says.
Instead, the company created one of the most influential advertising campaigns in its history, using the slogan: “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything.” Sales surged by 31% in the days after the ad was launched.
Rule No 4: Know that online influencers rise and fall fast
“Today, influencers are the new prophets of commerce,” says Michael Solomon, author of The New Chameleons: How to Connect with Consumers Who Defy Categorization. “But as the internet’s span of attention grows ever shorter, their time in the sun is likely to be brief as our focus turns to the next microcelebrity.”
Solomon argues that lockdowns have made it harder “for influencers to keep up the pretense that their lives are more charmed than the rest of us”. Some have also published tone-deaf posts and product endorsements that have harmed their credibility. What’s more, with time on their hands, many more people are now trying their hand at being an influencer.
“The age of the ‘nano-influencer’ has arrived, where companies seek out fresh faces who have less than 1,000 followers,” says Solomon. “Perhaps, over time, their base will swell – opening the door to the next wave of nanos waiting to influence us.”
Rule No 5: Understand that changing how people buy changes what – and how much – they buy
“Over the last two decades, we have seen that regardless of category or continent, how people buy changes what they buy – a lot,” says Robert Lurie, co-author of The Organic Growth Playbook.
He continues: “Every brand or product purchase is the outcome of a multi-step process during which buyers do various activities to research and evaluate products, from looking at online reviews to handling or trying things on. Even seemingly small changes in the flow of steps and activities people take will cause them to switch brands and buy very different amounts.”
Price is also playing a more important role overall. “Even those buyers who previously went to the store and bought ‘by rote’ – just grabbing things from the shelves – now have the prices of all the brands front and center as they shop,” notes Lurie. “This makes it much easier to compare.”
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May 06, 2021 at 02:00PM
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Five Rules For Serving Customers In 2021 - Forbes
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