This slogan, in our latitudes, ceased to be valid with the disappearance of the First Czechoslovak Republic. For the next 50 years, we as customers clearly pulled the short straw, and we became accustomed to the fact that being able to buy something was a privilege that we must be grateful for.
It would seem that after the removal of communism, the customer got back to the helm, but in reality the world had changed. The small competing retailers were replaced by international giants, whose market power does not give the customer a good opportunity to influence their behaviour (see food retail, banks, or telecommunications). As individuals, cut off from the information and real choices, we continued to be dependent only on what these companies offered in their marketing campaigns, and we were buying at prices that were determined by tacit agreements, and received a below-average customer service.
The situation, however, began to change over the last ten years with the advent of what is known in marketing jargon as ‘Customer 2.0’. Who is it? Actually it is all of us who are constantly ‘online’ and always hold in hand our ‘weapon’ – the smartphone.
Through this device, we are constantly in conjunction with a community of other like-minded people. Our possibilities and behaviour begin to change. We stop responding to mass marketing and rely more on the opinions of those who already have a product or service experience. Our market research is almost perfect thanks to the Internet. Our voice (satisfaction or dissatisfaction) is many times reinforced through social media and comes to be a real force. We are not afraid to change, and we are ready to alter our long-term suppliers unless they are able to meet our new expectations. We start being a demanding customer.
What, then, begins to happen? Even companies like energy distributors or banks are discovering that customers can also leave and not just complain about poor service. Hypermarkets stop enjoying the influx of customers willing to buy whatever is submitted to them. The rise of mobile virtual operators shows that customers call for a different approach from their traditional operator. As customers we begin to be an organized group that starts strongly enforcing their demands.
Richard Páleník
manažer a konzultant s více než 20letými zkušenostmi v oblasti strategického rozvoje obchodu
As if in a miracle world, the reaction is coming. The big players are starting to react and run transformation programmes to adapt to the new situation. They work to simplify their products, introduce systems for monitoring views on social networks, and prepare themselves to address individuals based on the analysis of their needs and behaviour, and they tend to compensate a complaining customer so that his voice does not get into the world of social media. These giants are slowly beginning to bow to their customer and recognize that he is the one to dictate the conditions.
Would you say that we still do not feel this way? That is correct. Change is coming, gradually. But, step by step, it will be normal that when selecting a supplier we will have always several good choices and the change would be simple, that responses to our comments will be prompt and favourable, that we will be able to arrange everything straight from our house, and that we receive only relevant offers without the ballast of mass marketing.
Since we are people, we will always find further areas where we will expect more from our suppliers. For them, this fight to keep an emotional bond with the customer will never end.
Balance of powers remains now clearly on the side of a customer and this will hardly change in the future.