The digital transformation is marked and directed by customers: their principles, values, preferences, behaviors and service concept have changed the way entities relate to them.
In general, their preferences change and they value products or services differently than they did just a couple of decades ago.
The speed with which changes in new customer preferences occur is key to business. The understanding and approval of these changes in preferences is also a key factor in distinguishing the companies that have understood the change and those that have not.
Once the change is understood, the Digital Transformation is a logical consequence with recognizable and measurable milestones and components.
From ownership to access
Among the many examples available, a clear example may be the automotive industry and shared vehicles. The brands are well known, whether with a driver or without a driver: cabify, uber, blablacar, Car2Go, Emov, Zity or Wible among others.
The new customer values the use equally of a vehicle, than ownership of it, in addition to the added value of being accessible, not worrying about parking, insurance, etc.
Reputation
While the quality of a product was basically associated with its price, nowadays the perceived assessment of a product consulted on the internet, forums, blogs, specialized pages and comments on social networks has tilted the balance regarding the purchase decision. .
Not only the product itself is valued, but also the service around it. The processes of purchase, delivery, packaging, customer service before, during and after the purchase, management of incidents or doubts are included within the concept of product reputation.
Interaction: the community
Advertising, being necessary, has been the only unidirectional communication tool towards the client from the company. The digital environment allows communication to be bidirectional and in multiple places: the web, comments in application services, the company's social networks or email, for example.
These communications and the company's response to them in most cases are visible to the rest of the clients or potential clients, who value the product, the surrounding services and the company itself.
On the other hand, these communications can be in other environments where the company does not have control, such as specialized portals, social networks or comments in forums. The business must keep an active listening of all the environments where these interactions can take place while establishing constant searches to detect new environments where these comments can appear.
Relevance
The brand is a key value for the customer to relate the company to the product, its quality, service quality, etc., in addition to positioning it in the market against other brands.
The brand and its products, in addition to pursuing the search for excellence and constant improvement, must have the virtue of being relevant to the customer.
Building relevance means presenting yourself to the market including dimensions such as social responsibility, sustainability, environmental care, employee care, equality, diversity, fairness, innovation and other values that have a tangible weight for customers when selecting one or another product. .
Relevancy is what makes a particular brand the first thing a customer thinks of when consuming a product or service. This relevance is associated with a specific market, that is, for different markets what is relevant may be different characteristics.
For example, we associate searching the internet with Google, smartphones with Apple or Iphone, shopping online with Amazon, payments with VISA, electric vehicles with TESLA, tools with Bosch, office automation with Microsoft or music with Spotify.
From consumer to collaborator
In general, the client feels integrated with his personal community and with the product. Therefore he has the need to express his opinions and expects to be heard. Leaving aside the forms, the words used to express themselves, the dissatisfied customer is giving clues as to what aspects we should improve.
Ignoring their comments, not showing interest and even responding to them by applying improvements damages the image of the brand and the product with a high repair cost and time to regain the trust not only of the customer, but also of the community.
new customer habits
The customer has acquired new habits that determine their purchase decision. By being connected, you access more information about the product, have access to comparisons and expect a quick, personalized and accurate response to your queries.
These new habits not only affect decision-making at the time of purchase, but also the customer himself contributes his evaluations to the network and enriches other potential customers with his experiences.
Not only does it value the product, but it also gives the rest of the community, and of course the supplier, a view of their perception of the service, processes, delivery, etc.
Therefore, the company has the obligation to pay attention and respond quickly and agilely, not only in the form of content, but also by taking internal actions that show that it values the customer's response.
Customer value
The values of a product or service for a client extend from the client's perspective so that what he expects is a personalized service and assistance, a clear and tangible added value regarding the purchase, achieving the applicability or use of the product or acquired service, being able to contact through any channel with a unified conversation even if you change channels and being able to establish a dialogue with the people of the company instead of one-way mechanical messages.
Google names some of these features and new habits as Zero Moment of Truth (ZMOT)
