Beam me up Bottie!
Promises didn’t keep up with reality. That’s why Consumer Electronics needs a new approach to win customers emotionally. Bots can’t, we know that by now.
Covid and supressed emotions
We want to get emotionally involved again
Undoubtedly, the last 2 years has changed society dramatically. And it changed the Consumer Electronics industry, too.
While Pre-Covid focused on “digitalisation”, actually focusing on getting basic “S..t” done and improving efficiency, the situation confronts leaders in the sector with a complete new challenge. A challenge, that is fundamentally different than it was expected before.
Let’s just remember, when we AI and the belief in “Chatbotism” seemed to be a huge leap forward in customer experience. How wonderful auch an efficient world would be, at least for companies. They could delegate human relations to self-learning algorithms and care exclusively on how to increase profit margings.
Well, we all woke up. Bots are far away of delivering a human-like experience and, let’s be honest, mostly annoy customers especially in complex product environments.
But how to proceed?
Bots are undoubtetly a progress when it comes to automate simple tasks. Agreed. But how could companies in tech sectors, especially those with hybrid products (physical plus app), start to win their customers again. Or, wow, to win new ones?
Fortunately, the industry is in fast forward mode if we look at innovational products and services. IoT devices are the new frontrunners, closely followed by smart devices. Brave new world! Just visit your local tech store and take time to look around. It’s incredible how many devices from various producers can be found there, solving almost all problems of a human’s daily life. But what seems to be a great way to fulfill customers’ needs, turns out to become a nightmare for customer relations.
Of course, Facebook, Google and other newcomers like TikTok are enthusiastic about what happens. No wonder, as Social Media seemed to be the only way to reach out to desperate people in their homes.Β
Β Free again, or not?
Let’s check facts. People engaged in Social Media like being possessed and that lead to higher revenues there while leaving people kind of “pseudo-satisfied”. They could look at all the new products and innovations, but nobody was there to transfer the emotional aspects of product ownership, usage or support. It was mostly bots or faceless people on phones who were responsible for customers. Not a great situations, indeed!
While online sales boomed, clearly a sign for the emotional need to at least compensate for the miserable situation “out there”, customer satisfaction indices plummeted to hitherto unknown dark levels.Β
But now we are, partly, free, aren’t we? We can go to shops and socialize with products, right? Still, pandemic has changed behaviour deeply and Consumer Electronics must be careful not to lose their momentum. Even shiny forefronters like apple with all their great ways to present a great new future act beyond their potential.
Are 8K videos on Youtube, offering no social feeling at all really the answer now? Should the whole sector return to status quo before the pandemic or is there a bright new path companies could open?
Stay tuned for some radical ideas that are there to be tried. We have changed as humans, industries must follow suit or new players will disrupt them mercilessly.