(Article first appeared in January 2009)I read in The Times at the end of December 2008, the following projections for 2009:
1. Estimates that >1m jobs will be lost in 2009
2. Things will get worse before they get better
3. Consumers are throwing away those throwaway brands and embracing those that add value in their lives
4. We are in a 'buy fewer, better things' mentality
And we all know we are in a market that has fewer unique products and a proliferation of substituable products, and that purchasers/consumers are getting tougher, more demanding, and demanding more for their money.
What does this mean for those of us who are working to sell more things more often, whether it is a new car or a new idea?
- The people we are selling to will have less time as their jobs get bigger
- The perception of added value is even more important now than ever
- Our customers will be more careful on how they spend their money
Where we should be focussing our developments:
- Back to basics - if you have less time to make an impact, you need to be adding value at every stage of an interaction
- Innovating not only in products, but in the whole approach to your target audienced - they will see this as added value
No one can afford to be mediocre and average in 2009 - now is the time to pull out the stops and make a real difference, being part of the 'fewer, better things', not the throwaway brands.
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