As Times Change

We all know that times are changing, and after an initial denial phase, it is slowly but steadily getting real for all of us. Businesses are beginning to realize than ever before, that while times are changing, consumer behaviors will also dramatically change, and will have a lasting impact on what, who and how a business sells.

Over the past few weeks and months, the realization that has dawned upon me is that the human behaviors are susceptible to changes all the time. However, few realize it sooner than others. Much of what we are told, that there is an opening at the end of this dark tunnel, that we are all in today, we need to first sure up that we stop staying in a constant-denial phase, and rise up to the occasion to align with this new reality that has now dawned upon all of us. This new way of life is absolutely real, and we are living it. We need to acknowledge that this is the new normal. Quite painful, but the absolute truth. Did we wake up in a bad dream? Perhaps, but now we have to live it.

More importantly the businesses have to re-shape their thinking, and have to be creative in ways they reach out to their customers. The challenge each business will face is not just retaining their current customers, but also building a pipeline of new customers. This requires creative ways of delivering and offering the services that matter to the customer.

We keep hearing that we are all in it together. Well, that is true, and I believe that while we make our assessment on changed consumer behaviors, we also have to demonstrate empathy that is meaningful and respects the changed customer sentiment. Empowering the customer with all required insights, and with far higher levels of transparency will bring credibility and a new and vibrant customer-acquisition journey. We know that a customer is never taken for granted, well now, this just got REAL!

Now it is about the continuum and survival for each business. While some may ride through this pandemic in the short term, it is the creative ingenious of each business, to roll-out an out-of-the box, re-packaged thinking that will potentially drive the reconfiguration of their services to reach their current and future customers. The digital footprint of such businesses will have to be seamless, and be continuously innovative to meet the changing consumer behaviors.

Every business has a potential to expand beyond the status quo that we all know, we just need to make the effort to still keep it interesting and exciting for the customer, who is still out there.