Using technology to interact with customers can be impersonal and even diminishes the level of service offered. Photo/FILE
In a recent media interview Debbie Paul, Ol Seki Hemingways Camp manager made an offhand comment that revealed something stunning about how business has evolved over the past year.
She lamented how the new crop of domestic tourists is different from the traditional visitors from abroad in terms of demands and expectations.
A lot of younger guests who came last time wanted to drink, party and listen to loud music throughout yet we are in the wilderness. We had some tricky times; them wanting to drink to the wee hours of the morning, not waking up early for the game drives, wanting to eat breakfast past 11 am, and lunch at 4 o’clock,” she said.
Although she was talking about the changing clientele in the hospitality industry, the phenomenon is general in nature and nearly all businesses are experiencing similar challenge in varying ways.
Admittedly, the battered hospitality industry is getting a reprieve from a renaissance of domestic tourism buoyed by a large young middle class with affinity to finer things. But the tourism industry must do some adjustments to accommodate them.
Traditionally, we know that a tourist is a ‘mzungu’ interested in seeing wild animals in their natural habitat, quiet time interjected by game drive and few lessons on local culture.
But for the domestic tourism thrill is indulging in meats, alcohol and merry making. This is completely different from what traditional hotels are used to, especially in the national park hotels where good and exciting tours have different meaning from the one in dictionaries.
This scenario cuts across many industries where the demand for change and adjustments to meet the demands of emerging customers is urgent and a matter of life and death.
We are far from the world of Henry Ford’s 1909 when he uttered the famous quote that ‘Any customer can have a car painted any colour that they want so long as it is black.’
Ford was inspired by the belief that having one colour or ‘one size for all’ would lead to production efficiencies which would further lead to affordable prices for consumers and high profit for the company.
Our world today is characterised by fast changing demographics and consumer preferences that any entrepreneur can ignore at their own peril. Specifically a jump in disposable income, increased rights and options awareness, middle class bulges, aging populations, and information explosion are re-shaping the customer expectations and demands.
Whereas the existing business are facing the challenge of meeting those shifting demands in order to thrive, the same scenario is giving new entrants easy opportunity to establish themselves in the market by responding to those demands.
By offering customised solutions and responding to the needs of customers faster and in a more personalised manner, they gain traction and position themselves in the market.
In keeping up with changing consumer preferences, it is important for enterprises to think of offering what customers want in a sustainable way.
The Covid-19 era has heralded the beginning of major adjustments and revolutions in terms of doing business. Established companies are forced to think like start-ups in terms of designing strategies to win and retain customers.
Mr Kiunga is a business trainer and the author of ‘The Art of Entrepreneurship: Strategies to Succeed in a Competitive Market’
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