13th April 2021

It’s not the new normal, it’s the next normal

We now have an air of positivity surrounding our future as the lockdown begins to ease and the vaccination roll out protects our most vulnerable. 

Despite this optimism, as our world begins to transition from fighting the covid 19 crisis to recovery and reopening of society and our economy, it is apparent that the lockdowns and the virus have had a profoundly lasting impact on how people live, work and consume. 

Isolation and uncertainty combined with economic upheaval have changed the way consumers across the globe behave and purchase. This could be a short-term reaction to the crisis, but research is now showing this may instead be an evolution with lasting impacts for businesses in every sector.

A cliché is the new normal, but I’d prefer another term, the next normal. Businesses in every market have an opportunity to now shape what this will look like. This is because many of the longer-term changes in consumer behaviour are still not fully formed and can be influenced by those who have a vision and determination to do so. 

During the current crisis, businesses have worked faster and better than they could only have dreamed possible just a few months ago. Maintaining that sense of possibility and more importantly innovation will be an enduring source of competitive advantage. 

To highlight this, I’d like to share with you the story of a car-rental company whose revenues fell 95 percent in March 2020.

With the roads empty, company leaders didn’t panic. Instead, they reacted and thought like a start-up. 

They looked at the ways in which the world had altered for them and their customers by   asking them what had changed in their lives and how they were coping.  They discovered many things that drove their future strategies. One piece of information jumped out at them; many tech firms were telling employees not to use public transportation. The car-rental company used this insight to experiment with and refine targeted campaigns. They also called first-time customers who had cancelled orders to reassure them of the various safety steps the company had taken, such as “no touch” car pickup.  They also used their digital platforms to maintain contact with clients and to promote their safety focused cleaning regimes. 

To manage the program, they pulled together three agile teams with cross-functional skills and designed a recovery dashboard to track and measure progress. Before the crisis, the company took up to three weeks to launch a campaign; that is now down to two to three days. 

Within seven weeks, the company had recovered 90 percent of its business, year on year, almost twice the rate of its chief competitor.

What they did was simple, they accepted that the old model had changed and asked clients what they needed and valued. With this information they designed an agile, profitable and sustainable offering that met the needs of the next normal. 

This allowed them to identify an opportunity, create a market and to do this before any of their competitors. 

This may have been in the car rental market, but the tactics can be used by any business. 

We are on the cusp of a revolution in consumer behaviour driven by the crisis. Companies that use the time now to rethink consumer decision journeys and their revised values can reshape consumer behaviour. You may be thinking what can your business do to achieve this? I’d suggest 4 simple changes every business is capable of making that can ensure your business is ready for the next normal.

1.     Invest in what will work. 

We have covered a decade in months when it comes to the adoption of digital by every age group. Consumers have changed where and how they investigate, enquire and engage. Does your marketing spend reflect this behaviour or is your digital plan an online brochure? 

2.     If you’re not relevant you won’t survive.

Your business is your brand. It needs to stay relevant to the people you deal with day to day and those you want to work with in the future. Your marketing and communications strategy must be relevant across every touch point, Zoom, face to face, online and across every media your clients experience and that you can participate in. Have you started to identify what your clients want from you and where they want to engage with you in the next normal? 

3.     Go on the journey with your clients.

Over the past year, there has been a transformation in the way we interact with loved ones, do our work, travel, get medical care, spend leisure time, and conduct many of the routine transactions of life. These changes have accelerated the migration to digital technologies at stunning scale and speed, across every sector. To adapt, companies need to quickly rethink customer journeys and accelerate the development of digital solutions. Have you mapped out the future journey for your clients and identified how you can accompany them on this path? How can you be relevant, trusted and more importantly wanted by them in the future? This exercise can help you create a proposition that is sustainable in the years ahead. 

4.     Win the loyalty war.

Many organisations claim they are a customer led business, for some this is just a plaque on the wall. For years they have been speaking about how they put customers at the centre of all they do. However, as the crisis put this to the test, many companies have been found wanting. This was for one simple reason, they didn’t and still don’t understand what makes their clients tick and what truly matters to their customers. The added difficulty is now much of this has changed because of the pandemic. Consumer behaviours are not only changing, people’s priorities and long-term values have also evolved due to introspective driven by the sheer scale of the crisis we have all endured. 

Loyalties to brands have been lost and battles will continue to rage as businesses large and small strive to retain and attain the clients they need for a profitable future. What is your business doing to maintain customer loyalty? 

Now is not the time to sit and wait, this is the opportunity for every business to talk to their clients, work with their staff and create a proposition that is not just fit for the new normal, but which can help shape the next normal.

John Joe McGinley 

Glassagh Consulting April 2021 

Business Development, John Joe McGinley, Glassagh Consulting