Once in the woods, there was a girl named Goldilocks. Bored and craving adventure, she wandered through the forest into a house belonging to a family of bears.
Driven by curiosity, she tried a bowl of porridge that was too hot, another was too cold, and finally one with the perfect warmth.
She went on to explore everything she could find, settled on her choice, and finally fell asleep in a cozy bed.
Goldilocks may have been meandering, but she knew clearly what was just right for her.
Today, you and I as consumers are Goldilocks.
Today’s consumer wanders through boundless markets, scrolling online, piling products into carts yet offloading them in a minute.
Although businesses are playing along with the increasing consumerism to satisfy consumers’ tastes and preferences, loyalty has become delicate than ever.
How do organisations fix this puzzle, then? And how much pursuit of the consumer is just right? Here are four critical areas I identify from my own experience as Goldilocks, who is spoilt for choice yet gets easily overwhelmed and withdraws loyalty.
1. Innovation: Companies are fighting for consumer attention with the belief that innovation gives them an edge. This is rightly so because Goldilocks gets easily bored and has the tendency to go a-wandering.
Innovation however, can feel too new, if we will admit. Research shows that when innovation exceeds a certain percentage of novelty, it becomes difficult for consumers to adapt. They simply cannot keep up. Sometimes, innovation leads to products becoming complicated and confusing.
To curb this, businesses should consider their target demography. A key question to ask is about the adaptation capacity of the target customer? Do early adopters or laggards dominate? Younger people tend to adapt more easily while older folks have their lifestyles formed already, making change more difficult.
We saw how it took time for Generation X and baby boomers to get accustomed to ride-hailing services due to their relatively low-tech savviness, but when they began to appreciate its safety and convenience, they were driven to jump on.
The value of innovation must be communicated; otherwise, new can feel like too much work and old can be boring.
2. Digitalisation: Everything is becoming digital and everything is becoming rigid. We have moved from in-person customer service to automated systems and AI bots.
This can be great when it works, but wait till you have a complex problem as a customer, it becomes terrifying. I once bought a book on Amazon and was mistakenly debited for one that never appeared in my Kindle.
The refund process was so cumbersome and automated that there was no human face to help me. I felt drowned in a system that could not understand my problem. Customer problems do not always fit neatly into automated categories.
When digitalisation replaces human interaction completely, customer issues remain unresolved. People are becoming exhausted by this.
The Goldilocks consumer wants a level of digitalisation for routine tasks, but they also want a human being who can understand when things go wrong. There was a time I booked a hotel in Morrocco via Booking.com but could not make the trip.
I cancelled in time, but my account was deducted anyway. The automation made it difficult to stop the deduction. I eventually called the hotel and was met with a Moroccan accent that claimed they were entitled to my first night fee.
Some organisations are taking advantage of digitalisation and automated systems to make things easier for them, not customers.
3. Pricing: What pricing is right for what product or service? I have seen a disturbing trend on the Ghanaian market. So-called bougie brands overprice yet underdeliver, creating low industry standards.
Businesses are becoming entitled to outrageous pricing to create exclusivity, while Goldilocks is becoming less and less satisfied.
They are fond of charging premium rates for average quality in Ghana. I have had my share of such experiences with specifically “high-class” salons and restaurants. Exorbitant prices yet you enter and no one attends to you for a good fifteen minutes.
High prices raise consumer expectations, making them feel cheated when the organisation does not match up. On the other hand, organisations sometimes underprice just to attract customers, but it cannot sustain their business.
They make losses and eventually compromise the quality of their service or products. This hurts everyone. Pricing should be based on the value you actually deliver. Differentiation or cost leadership.
Be clear about your target market and understand what that market can afford. Set a price range that is just right for that specific consumer segment, without compromising your profits or the quality of what you offer. When consumers feel they are getting fair value, they stay.
4. Sales: Businesses are competing for Goldilocks. They chase her everywhere. At what point does the pitching and selling become too much? Insurance agents seem to be the most notorious, pursuing the prospects constantly.
On some occasions, I have been pushed into showing disinterest to relieve me of the pressure. On Facebook, you may have also experienced clicking a link and suddenly being funnelled into WhatsApp to place an order before you are ready. At times a beep on your phone turns out to be the dental clinic you visited; it’s their daily texts again, you thought it was a bank alert.
Eventually we find ourselves blocking these companies or marking their emails as spam. We unsubscribe from everything. The very attention they were chasing is lost forever. Moderation is key, once a month is considerable.
Goldilock’s time and inbox deserve courtesy. Sales outreach should add value, not interrupt life. When a customer feels stalked, they run away.
Finally, today’s consumer is aware of alternatives and gives loyalty reluctantly. Businesses feel the immense pressure to win Goldilocks over, but more often than not, they do not know when they are doing the most or not trying at all.
Although stingy with her loyalty, all that Goldilocks wants is a chair that will not break, a bowl of warm porridge, a cozy bed and a brand that pays attention to how much is just right.
About Author:
Sangmorkuor Tetteh, PhD
Lecturer, University of Professional Studies, Accra
Strategy Consultant & Corporate Trainer
Email: sangmorkuor.tetteh@upsamail.edu.gh
