Monday, 21 January 2008
The expectation economy
| One of my favourite trend watching sites has just released its latest summary on "The expectation economy". What is the trend? The growing trend of highly aware, well researched consumers demanding exceptional service and products. Many consumers have changed their buying patterns. Previously they would go to a store, look at products and talk with a salesperson before buying. The trend we are now seeing is consumers first doing extensive research about the product AND the company before they will consider purchasing. They check out blogs, forums and other places to assess how credible and reliable the company is. Many also check out "green credentials" - what the company is doing to preserve and conserve the environment. All of this happens before you even get to hear from the customer. If you "fail" you have lost a sale. What impact does this have on businesses? If you are the only real alternative on the market - not much, at least initially. But if a company with better credentials surfaces, you will suddenly find your business dries up. What do you do about it? Be aware of the trend - look to see who is doing great things in meeting customer demands. What can you learn from them? Here's just a few examples: Walking sticks with funky designs and colours - just because you need a stick to get around doesn't mean you automatically like silver! Free photocopying for students - some clever campuses sell the back of pages as advertising space. Students get free copies - businesses get to market to students. Keep a running ideas book in your office, where anyone in the team can jot down somewhere that had exceptional customer service and what made it so great; fantastic niche products just what they were looking for; or products that had a clear green message about their creation. How can you adapt these ideas to your business? Don't ignore the trends - unless you want to go out of business. Until next time Ingrid Cliff |
