Rules are changing how to keep customers focused and ensure business continuity

2020 05 19 · 4 min read

Consumers have never had patience, but this has been particularly evident at this difficult time. Therefore, in order to meet their expectations, the business should adapt to the changed rules of the game and offer exactly what is needed today, says Irmantas Bankauskas, Sales director of Baltic Amadeus.

The specialist shares his insights and tips on how small and medium-sized businesses should behave in the face of a coronial virus pandemic to ensure the continuity of their business.

Keeps focusing for just 10 seconds

Speaking of consumer patience, I. Bankauskas observes that their expectations are growing, and their interest is possible today in just a few seconds.” Recent studies show that the average search time acceptable to a user on a web page or e-commerce portal is only 10 seconds. So if, in the meantime, he’s going to lose interest in what he can find here and how quickly he’s going to get it. The user experience in the e-space is becoming more and more important, so the availability of the company and its services is now more relevant than ever,” explains the specialist.

According to I. Bankauskas, it is clear that the situation in the country affects consumption, changes customer preferences and new requirements are encountered.
“Therefore, marketing and sales areas should focus on the needs of the customer. Time is tight at the moment, most are more sensitive, so a quick and high-quality customer’s needs should become an aspiration,” he says.

Video consultations – in the near future augmented reality

When asked what else the changes in consumer behavior were observed, I. Bankauskas explained that various video consultation apps would most likely be found in the first five. He suggests that business also think about this.
“We need to look at the need for the market, what customers demand. When we talk about digitization, we see that the coronavirus has forced the retail business to strengthen its e-commerce capacity. There is a need for so-called video consultations. This helps to make consumers more comfortable, to establish a stronger connection with them,” explains the specialist.

According to I. Bankauskas, the need for video consultation is not only noticeable in business. For example, although it was not easy, educational institutions adapted to this method of communication.
“The next step is virtual and augmented reality. Of course, it is difficult to say with precision now, but I believe that another technology that will enable a wider range of services will be this. Virtual and advanced reality can be of great benefit to architects, engineers, companies providing a wide range of technical services, perhaps real estate vendors or administrators,” he explained.

Where to start?

According to I. Bankauskas, when preparing for these changes in his business and entering the digital space, it is important to start with the culture of the company.
“As the popular saying says, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast”. If the internal culture of the company resists this, then the digitization processes will not move anywhere, and we will not achieve the desired result. The well-described development plans of the company will certainly not ensure that the initiatives are successfully implemented. If we look at the current situation, how risks and problems are managed, the associated digitization processes, depend very much on the managers,” he observes.
Start-up specialist offers from conversation with top and middle managers, to equalization of expectations. It is very important that managers clearly formulate tasks for teams and communicate the objectives pursued as smoothly as possible. The third advice of the interlocutor is to trust the team and not take full responsibility on their shoulders.
“There are certain sectors where small aid would also be useful, such as automation of work, but the best result is achieved when the company chooses the digitization processes that are most suitable for it. It is therefore essential to properly assess the expectations of each sector, each business and to use competent specialists. It is specialists from the outside who can objectively assess the situation, understand the pain and propose an action plan that will help to achieve the objectives set,” advises I. Bankauskas.