Q 4: Do you rely on second hand information or do you bank on first hand Insight?
One thing that never changes during a downturn is customer expectations. Your customer may move towards a smaller ticket value but his / her expectation of the brand experience won’t slump even by a fraction. Customer needs will inadvertently shift as the economy metamorphoses. Many of us won’t “really” know these customers needs and consequently our offerings won't be seen as different compared to our competitors. The net impact - we face the risk of being minimized and 'commoditized'.
Think about this: Some of us will think & engage like FireStarters by getting first hand insights into our customers’ needs and create consistently delightful experiences for our customers. Where are you putting in your efforts right now? Is it adding value to your customer? Are you really sure? If it is not....is there any point in your efforts?
As a customer I agree: very recently I brought a new fridge and a TV. I went to atleast 8 different stores to get pricing. And I bought both appliances from the same shop. The reason was simple.
ReplyDeleteWhile each sales person sold his product to me, this sales person sold me what I wanted to buy. He spoke with me, understood what type of product I wanted, what my budget was, and what small difference would make me happy.
It is hence not at the point where the company brings out the packaged deals which they believe will sell the product, but a tipping point that happens at the store for the customer.
The answer hence, does not lie in closed offices, by doing number and statistical assessment, but where the product hits the market- only the customer who uses the product, knows why he has chosen that over all others.
One thing that I have realized through some recent reading is the definition of value- When we say the definition of value it is actually the perception of a product/service by a customer. I have observed that specially during downturn, this perception of value changes. Eg: A Jaguar which is positioned as a luxury car loses its sheen during downturn as customers see luxury as 'desirable' and not 'necessary'. And hence immaterial of what strategies you come up with in your board room, your sales figures will never improve.
ReplyDeleteNow if this same company get out and understands the 'real need' of its customers; you can now go back and figure out exactly what 'necessity' means and hence position and sell your product.
Most innovators have said that downturn or no downturn, constant knowledge of customer need is what has made the real difference. Real Insights comes from "understanding" your customer's life in the context of your offering and not going out and merely validating your beliefs. Then you are just doing lip service and not seeking insights. Don't self project, go in with an absolutely empty mind and seek insights!!
I believe that customer expectations actually increass in downturn. The concept of value added services gets a new meaning when customers want to account for every penny that they spend. The question that they want you to answer "Is what you are offering is really more advantageous than if I was without your offering."
ReplyDeleteIn the new paradigm that the downturn creates, we need to become the silver linings on the dark clouds. Our customers are now turning to us for solutions to their problems and also asking us to help them solve their customers problems. This happened because we proactively went ahead and proactively offered what they can do to deal with the economic slump
My thoughts are that customer expectations actually increase in downturn. Can be compared to the current mind set of people after the recent Mumbai terror attack, every one has got together and are viewing and addressing a common cause, like wise in downturn customer becomes more like a dependent friend who seeks more advise in terms of value addition and best practices in his industry space.
ReplyDeleteWith my little experience of 22 years now and specially when I am interacting with my customers/client daily, I feel that down turn is the best time for a client relationship to develop, in good times all looks fine but in trying times only the genuine ones survive and bond with each other, it has not only got to do with a psyche of what was sold to the customer is actually what he or she wanted to buy but it is also about what was sold was of good use to the customer either naturally or it was explained by the seller that what value add the product or service can to do to the customer this is what product positioning is all about.So to my mind during downturn the game is to build good battery of clients who can be for longer term and pitch oneself as a genuine friend rather than just another vendor or seller which surfaces only in fair weather.
Somewhere I can relate to sanjyot's analogy of silver lining on a dark cloud. and maybe that is what a FireStarter would be. While Silver linings seem unique- what we fail to realise is that they are not uncommon- and they are one of us!
ReplyDeleteCan that be an aspiration? how can I do the different and stand out from other clouds???