If you are not thinking about customers, you are not thinking. (Ted Levitt)
Do yourself a favour: take 2½ minutes from your life, get onto YouTube and watch a video about Tesco's Home Plus stores in South Korea. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGaVFRzTTP4) I'll quote directly from the write up (the italics are things I added in):
"When grocery chain Tesco wanted to expand their market share in South Korea, because they were struggling against competitors, they came up with a brilliant idea. Because the people in South Korea work long hours, and really don't enjoy shopping, they thought of an efficient way to sell their products, and make customers' lives better. The Korean subsidiary Home Plus put up billboards in subway stations with their range of products, accompanied by Q.R. (or Quick Response) codes. All people had to do now is scan the QR codes with their cell phone and an SMS confirms the order. The groceries were delivered to their doorsteps, usually a short time after they got home from their ride."
Regular readers of this column will know that I am 54-years old, and I'm still stuck in the age of analogue. I'm only just getting comfortable with emails and smart-phones, and Facebook is still a mystery to me. I resent it when companies think they can save some money on staff and increase their profits by using some digital technology like automated computer emails and voice activated response to avoid talking to me. It makes me even madder when I can't find a human being to talk to.
So do you think I am against the whole digital experience? Definitely not! I love being able to check in for my flights on-line and choose my seat on airlines weeks before I fly. I love being able to type "What's the distance between Toronto and Ulan Bator?" into Google and get an answer in less than 1/10th of a second. I love ordering take aways on a website and having them delivered 45 minutes later, and not having to spend hours in queues to get tickets to see a cricket test. And talking to my family and friends overseas on Skype. And even paying speeding fines and taxes has become a lot more convenient.
But, to be blunt, most South African (and global) businesses are still in the age of analogue. What happened the last time you went to the emergency room at your local (private) hospital? Did you – or someone else - have to fill out a form that recorded all of the details of what happened this time, even though most of your details are exactly the same as last time you were there two months ago? Did you have to sign another form pledging your house to pay the rip-off fees even though your history will show that you are their best customer? Did they give you any estimate of how long it would take before you could see the doctor? Did you then wait for an hour before the doctor actually saw you for the better part of two minutes? And finally, clutching your paper prescription, did you walk to the other side of the hospital to the pharmacy, wait in another queue and then wait again while the pharmacist tries to decipher what was written?
It's the same everywhere. I picked on private hospitals because that one is fresh in my mind, but the same applies to most places where I spend my money. I recently financed my eleventh consecutive car through the same bank and the young lady pulled out a form and started at the top. Increasingly frustrated, I managed to keep my cool until she asked "Who do you bank with?" If they don't know by now, they never will.
In this analogue world, businesses still think they are constrained by geography. They still think that they have to collect the most immediate information every time they deal with you, but are clueless about your history, your needs, and even who you are.
There are some pockets of excellence here and there, but imagine, for example, that your garage telephoned you a week in advance to book your car for a service because it had signaled them that it was due. They tell you that the routine maintenance will be R1800 but you also need to replace the brake pads which will be another R560. On the right morning, someone pitches up at 11 o'clock, (because they understand their schedules better now,) drops off a loan car and drives yours to the garage for three hours, after which it is returned with an invoice and a report of exactly what was done, and what you can expect next time. (Better yet, in this digital age, for your next service a truck pulls up outside your office and the technicians service it at your premises.)
What does this all mean to you? Some of you reading this (from larger firms,) can probably do the whole Tesco's Home Plus thing right now, and have it up and running within the next three months. But you probably won't. I bet you have at least a dozen good reasons why you can't.
For those in smaller businesses, here is an opportunity to make the lives of your customers easy immediately – and capture market share. You don't need five levels of approval from at least three board members to make a decision. You don't have to worry about upsetting the redistributors of your products – mainly because you don't have any. If your suppliers get upset, find others. Automating your order and delivery, and simultaneously simplifying things for your customers probably means that you also make your own life easier – which gives you time to chat to customers and develop relationships.
Now wouldn't that be a nice treat for an old man like me?
