The Kids Are Unimpressed?
Time was when you could impress the kids by telling them there was more computing power in the average mobile phone than on the Apollo 11 lunar landing mission. These days the kids are likely to tell you that your mobile, like the moon landings, is "so last century".
The race for pixels, gigabytes and CPU cores has replaced any usefully comparative historic measure of computing performance. Most have no interest in how powerful their phone is compared to the Babbage Difference Engine. The design aesthetics of their favoured phone is often more significant when it comes to bragging rights.
Whatever device is preferred, it will be packed to the gunnels with software, the majority of which is free. Of course people pay to access contents like movies, live broadcasts and music. Payment is "extracted" in other indirect ways.
Therein lays a significant service perception issue many are failing to grasp; once I have my chosen phone, tablet or watch (or maybe all three), I am not expecting to pay for anything else. Just the stuff I consume and find useful. Everything else is free and instantly disposable.
How should we redefine customer service relationships in a world where the perceived cost is free, the response time expected is pretty much instant and face to face time is at a premium? Whilst the conventional are pondering their strategies, the new kids on the block are unimpressed and are instead busy burning through new ideas at a rapid rate.
Are we ready for the ride in a world where customer engagement can be measured in the time it takes to swipe or double tap?
Award winning social entrepreneur | Expert in developing resilient, productive and high performing teams
6 年Those of us who were around 'pre-internet' days, will remember the focus on free content as a way to explore just what this 'world-wide web' could actually do, and become, for us. Nowadays, those companies that haven't moved with the times, are failing. You only have to look at the likes of Blockbusters, Kodak and the Print industry for case studies where these dinosaurs have become extinct. I think it comes down to a dedication to innovate, to be unafraid of change, and to see this challenge as an opportunity. Some companies have done excellent jobs of incorporating social media into not just their Customer Service Teams, but interwoven into their culture so that customer service almost becomes everyone's responsibility....Amazon being a good example. For those companies that think they can ride this out without changing, they need to beware. Very thought-provoking Peter!