If Your Customers Can See More, You Might Want to Help Them See Even Further
Rick McCarten
Our world is getting more granular and detailed. We have no choice but to follow. Your customers are more informed than ever before; they require more precision on delivery, price and packaging as well as improved information 24/7, better return policies, more insight on inventory, and a vastly-improved understanding of what can be expected. This all adds up to another level of customer service.
Here is my own personal experience with heightened customer service levels. I recently purchased a new high-end television with 4k. The picture quality is stunning.While watching the series, “House of Cards,” the picture clarity showed such precision in filming and production. Maybe a bit too much.Looking at one particular scene, I could tell that actor Kevin Spacey had makeup on. A single light source bouncing off a wall no longer looks like sunlight. The detail even revealed flashes of expressions on the actor’s face that did not quite match what they were trying to project on the screen. Rather than having the clarity enhance my viewing experience, I found that it actually took part of the illusion away. In high definition, it is harder to hide the truth, which is what movie making is all about. I saw more clearly what was happening, and what was happening was a staged set.
Perhaps we can blame the technology. But it is now here and it is only expanding. The film industry really has no choice, it has to pay heed to new media and begin to enhance its film making.
The same thing is happening to industry and the supply chain. Customers are now able to see more of everything we do. The magic is gone. Suppliers of goods are becoming transparent, as are the prices and services offered. The delivery of goods and services are experiences, just like watching entertainment. Customers know there is little excuse for late delivery, wrong parts or even more subtle things like a lie or a shallow promise. With access to the Internet, proof is only a short keystroke away.
Our recent supplemental research about online purchasing (to be delivered at the EFC Conference in May) shows our industry’s customers are increasingly purchasing and searching for electrical products online—and they are becoming more and more comfortable with it. They have the ability to share good and bad experiences, to connect with specific information from anywhere that pertains to their business or circumstance. All in real time.
Customers today can have access to your supplier, and in some cases to their inventory. The entire world is now connected. Moreover, it’s not just people who are connecting; apps and other interfaces are also connecting with databases and portals to generate mass collective intelligence.
How do move forward with all this? I think the answer lies in our understanding of the customer. We must begin looking at sales and service as key resources that have direct access to the customer. We must understand our customers better than anyone else. We must see what they see and help them see even more.
Just like the film industry has to adapt to 4K technology by understanding what customers see and helping them fully utilize the new medium, we must as well. If history proves anything, the magic may be gone for now, but through thoughtful and creative work we can all bring it back again.
Rick McCarten is VP, Electro-Federation Canada.
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