At the beginning of the 21st century, if you had asked any industry guru how the Internet would transform online purchasing and sales, the answer undoubtedly would have included a reference to electronic marketplaces and online auctions. And so Amazon, eBay and hundreds of other digital exchanges have come to pass.
Just a dozen years later we live in a world where the Internet is playing a dominant role in all purchasing and sales decisions. Although speed and agility are now essential to success, most organizations still respond to new developments at a snail”™s pace. Today”™s world is digitized and markets change quickly. With GPS-enabled smartphone capability now emerging, what does the ”˜guru”™ say is next?
David Meerman Scott, author of “Real-Time Marketing & PR,” points out that “the narrative of your business now unfolds, minute by minute, in real time. It”™s no longer guided by the mass media your ad budget can buy. Instead, it”™s driven by your customers talking among themselves. In the emerging real-time business environment, size is no longer a decisive advantage. Speed and agility win.”
Technology has changed the pace of business forever. Suddenly millions of people join a conversation about an event, business or person and public opinion is formed. How tuned in are you to what your customers are saying to each other on social media?
How quick and nimble are you to respond and make changes as a result?
If you”™re not recommended by others, you won”™t get the business.
And that”™s the point. Organizations are no longer in control and have not been for a very long time”¦the customer, armed with technology like Google, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and an ever-increasing range of social media is in command. Organizations must know what customers are saying in real time, fix what needs to be fixed and deliver what the customers want”¦when they want it.
Four years ago Don Tapscott, author of “Grown Up Digital,” described how the “Net Generation,” born between 1977 and 1997, was changing our world. Today, regardless of when you were born, you are living with much of what this guru described. There has been a significant shift in the way every decision is made”¦facilitated by technology.
We are just entering the next exciting step for consumers and business due to GPS-enabled smartphones. Imagine that it”™s lunchtime, you”™re in an unfamiliar city and technology is aware that you like Thai food. Suddenly your phone alerts you that you are only a block away from a Thai restaurant and attached is a menu along with a coupon for 10 percent off.
For retail and service providers this technology allows you to contact consumers at the precise moment they”™re near you and ready to buy exactly what you sell. Millions of times a day, people are using programs like foursquare to share where they are and commenting to friends on the new restaurant they”™re checking out or the salon or clothing boutique they just discovered.
Although technology is giving your customers even greater control and the ability to influence their friends in real time, organizations that take the time to quickly discover and deliver what their customers want and when and how they want it will thrive. People trust the opinions of their friends, other people who are just like them. Technology is enabling a word”“of”“mouth sales force, a force that impacts every decision made.
Questions for discussion:
Ӣ How can we increase our responsiveness, adding technological speed and agility?
Ӣ Are we aware of what real-time communicators are saying about our organization?
Joe Murtagh is The DreamSpeaker, an international keynote speaker, meeting facilitator and business trainer. For questions or comments, contact Joe@TheDreamSpeaker.com, www.TheDreamSpeaker.com or call (800) 239-0058.
