Customers increasingly demand “customized” solutions and force companies to create “mass customization” models. The “markets of one” require personnel of attention to the public capable of “acting” different characters in front of different consumers.
What should we know about customers?
The consumer of today has a highly paradoxical behavior:
- He complains about the excessive supply, but always demands novelty and variety.
- He wants simple solutions that are known to him, but he demands that they offer him personalized options and to his measure.
- Always look for good deals and prices, but you need to feel a new and pleasant experience each time you spend your income.
For each customer, a different seller
According to Carlos García, Retail Management specialist and president of Category Management Inc., each client with their particular demands is transformed into a “one market” that requires companies to rethink their strategies.
“Today the consumer does not want to choose: he wants what he wants. The attention that this type of client requires is not achieved with rigid and immovable procedures, similar to the models of the mass production of the industrial revolution.
The efficient attention of ‘one markets’ demands a flexibility that can only be achieved when the staff that serves the public knows how to ‘act’ different characters in front of different audiences / customers, “he adds.
Each “actor” must then know the strengths and weaknesses of his personality, to play in the best possible way the role of the “character” that best suits the profile of the client that must attend.
In a market where the commoditization of products is the rule, the only way to generate a substantial differentiation with the competition is to put the focus on the “Purchase Experience”. Therefore, all the links of the value chain must add, in order to generate that sensitive link with the customer. All the “moments of truth” with the client must be taken advantage of.
The RR. H H. they join the show
“Action” is a process that, although it can be intuitive, usually gives better results when it arises from an analyzed and tested process.
Carlos García provides a concrete example: “Some time ago, working in training to cashiers of a major supermarket chain, we saw the need to adapt the service scheme. We found that in certain branches, the public was composed mostly by older women, who transformed their purchases into a matter of socialization. They sought and recognized the personalized treatment, generating a relationship with those who attended them. It is the kind of client that knows the staff by name and values the time that is dedicated to them.
This clientele claimed to be heard, and did not complain if the cashier took longer to attend: they knew that their turn would come and they would also be heard. If the employees do not comply with this, the client leaves dissatisfied.
Now, when moving that cashier to another area, she had to modify the “character” that needed to act. In this new branch, customers appreciated the speed of attention and an employee who talked too much would be seen as something that did not generate value because it made customers lose more time in their purchase. ”
Finding the right role is a way of recognizing the client’s needs. When the curtain goes up, the function begins in search of the satisfaction and retention of the clients.