Business nowadays is not really about big business and small business, but about fast versus slow.
So said Dion Chang, an IT trends analyst, in a keynote address at the CA IT Management Symposium Africa 2012, at the Sandton Convention Centre, this week.
In his presentation, themed “A day in the life of a tech-savvy consumer”, Chang noted that the faster a business is to get technology out to the market, the more competitive edge it gets.
“I want to come from the consumer point of view to show you where consumer trends are really going and to see if IT, on the backend, supports the structures. So it's a little bit of a glimpse into the future, but possibly not the future, because it's already here,” Chang said.
He made reference to a quote by speaker Robert Safian, who said: “Our institutions are out of date; the long career is dead; any quest for solid rules is pointless since we will be constantly rethinking them; you can't rely on an established business model or a corporate ladder to point your way; silos between industries are breaking down; anything settled is vulnerable; and the next decade or two will be determined by fluidity than any new settled paradigm.”
Thus, Chang believes the year 2012 is a threshold of change, adding that, in the past three years, he has seen tried and tested business templates - print media, advertising, hospitality - completely washed away or simply proved inappropriate for the 'new world order'.
According to Chang, a lot of the change he saw came from 2008 and 2009, when the global recession really hit.
He explained that behavioural patterns started changing rapidly and, ironically, IT started advancing at the same time.
“So, suddenly, your consumers were these very, very tech-savvy techno warriors and I know the constant thing in business is that while everyone is trying to bring back, consolidate and cut budgets, the requirement for innovation gets higher and higher. So it's two streams going the opposite ends of the scale.”
Therefore, he pointed out that the change gap is expanding between customers who are adopting the new technologies and the companies that are slow to react.
He believes the reason why businesses, in most cases, are slow to react is not only an IT issue but a management one, too.
“So we have seen this change, and what your new customer wants are great expectations. They expect all their retailers and brands to mirror that image and to carry on with them.
“The most important thing is, in the past, a store managed the shopper's experience; now, the shoppers manage their own experiences in-store and beyond, and this is what a lot of companies are struggling for. But you definitely see that the consumer has the upper hand.”
Chang also suggested that organisations take note of the emerging customer etiquette.
“The old school customer wanted acknowledgement from the retailer or brand to say 'thank you for your custom'. On the other hand, the new school customer wants relevance.”
In this time of chaos, he added, people do not only want you to sell them a product; they want you to help them with a solution.
“Customers want an emotional response to things and a personal way of engaging - not a cold heart way of doing things.”
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