In today’s digital world, gaining customer attention has never been more important. With technology constantly changing and so easy to access, anyone can be your competitor.
Salesforce recently issued its State of the Connected Consumer research report. The survey collected information from 15,000 responses across 27 countries and six continents. A key takeaway: Competing for customer attention comes down to relevance, trust and simplicity.
“Every company should be focusing on how they evolve,” says Simon Mulcahy, Salesforce Chief Innovation Officer. “[Companies must move from being] product centric to customer centric; a commitment toward evolution.”
According to the report, 69% of customers want companies to translate existing products into new formats. Mulcahy says that doesn’t mean “pouring technology over it” without a strategy.
Gaining customer attention requires understanding your customer, then positioning offerings against their needs, he says.
Personalization is important. Other things to consider: Does your customer trust your brand? What’s the brand experience? How will your product be delivered? What kind of service are you offering?
“You can’t take what you’ve been doing the last 15 years and put it online,” Mulcahy says. “Look at the products you might have sold in the past. Reinvent them completely [in terms of digital].”
Integrating into a single, continuous experience
Johnny Wong, a member of YPO in Singapore and CEO (Digital Business) and Chief Digital and Tech Officer with FairPrice Group, knows his customers want more variety and choice.
and Tech Officer FairPrice Group
Operating for over 47 years, FairPrice Group is part of Singapore’s history. It currently operates the No. 1 grocery retailer there, second largest online grocer, the top cooked food operator in food courts, and the leading loyalty program in the country.
“We need to make our products available in the formats and channels where our customers are,” Wong says. “We maintain the same consistency of the experience — same pricing online or offline and the same guarantee of freshness.”
FairPrice Group also is moving beyond the transactional relationship of shoppers buying food.
Instead of just lining up to pay for your groceries, you can use your mobile device and the FairPrice Group app to enhance the experience.
— Simon Mulcahy, Salesforce Chief Innovation Officer share
While shopping in the store, customers can scan individual products to add to the cart and pay for them, and soon will be able to pull up recipes. FairPrice Group also is breaking the boundaries of a traditional retailer by increasing its food assortment and catering to when customers want their food — delivered either instantly or scheduled days in advance. Also, if you’re a loyalty member, perks may include free delivery or premium time slots for scheduled deliveries.
“We’re transforming the grocery experience,” Wong says. “By going to the next level, we’re helping customers capture their imagination. So, it’s not just the chore of getting the celery or the meat.”
Evolving from “having technology” to “being digital”
So how do businesses need to evolve in their customer interactions?
Mulcahy breaks down five points:
- Make the decision to evolve. You can collect a lot of insight from data.
- Engage your customer. You need a customer-centric business process.
- Engage your employees. Make it easy for employees to make it easy for your customers. Build better teams and be thoughtful about how you get the best work out of your employees.
- Figure out how to embrace digital. Your information technology department must involve more people in the business than IT.
- Consider how you serve society. For example, is your business sustainable? Net-zero? The role of business is increasing in importance.
While COVID-19 has challenged businesses across the board, FairPrice Group remains true to its social enterprise.
“We take care of our staff,” Wong says. “The past year has been challenging, and many companies have laid off staff, unfortunately. We have maintained our staff and continue to hire. Our social mission to the country is very important to us.”
Mulcahy says the digital changes we’ve seen during the pandemic are likely to remain in place longer term.
“It starts by ‘translating’ what you used to do into digital,” he says. “That first step will then prepare organizations for the more intensive reinvention needed around how you sell, service, market and operate as a business. Businesses will definitely evolve from ‘having technology’ to ‘being digital.’”
Salesforce is YPO’s Premiere Partner.
