Worth keeping an eye on

What do customers want? That's the question every entrepreneur wants an answer to. As you know, predictable customers no longer exist. Or, to convert prospects into customers, you have to exceed their expectations every time. If you are an entrepreneur, find out how and why your target customers make buying decisions and you’re on the way to finding out how to sell your product or service effectively. At the outset, you need to understand how people make buying decisions and the thinking that drives them.

The eyes of a consumer hold a wealth of information. They say the eyes say it all. Eye tracking can measure a consumer's attention span, engagement, and non-conscious responses in real-time. Finding out where people look while they visit a brick-and-mortar store, a website, watch an advertisement, or use a web application or a software product is a one-of-a-kind opportunity to uncover the customers' subconscious responses and deep-seated emotions.

Where it works best

If you are wondering how to catch the consumer’s attention, analyze where they set their eyes on and where they turn a blind eye while viewing:

Advertisements and marketing messages - They play a critical role in the positioning products in the market and eventually in the customers’ minds. Eye tracking can uncover a wealth of information that conventional research methods miss out on.

The positioning of products in physical and virtual stores and the placement of signage boards, standees, and other offline and online marketing visuals - Keep an eye on where the gaze of a customer falls, It speaks louder than words. If “seeing is believing,” and “believing is buying,” eye tracking is the best way to learn how to inscribe the benefits of a product or a service into customers' memory banks.

Impact of design and layout of a physical store or a website - You can deduce a plethora of objective, unbiased, and accurate just by monitoring the eye movements of customers.

Eye tracking is an innovative way to uncover new perspectives and gain a whole host of valuable insights into a customer's visual attention and purchase intention. Eye movement cues can detect what catches a customer's attention and interest, help understand how customers perceive the world around them and how they make a purchase decision. It also captures the spontaneous and unfiltered responses and delivers data-rich results through heat maps, gaze plots, and so on. Eye tracking and visual engagement analytics can answer crucial marketing questions about visibility, engagement, and viewing patterns.

To understand customers better, you have to get actionable insights into how they behave and what makes them tick. Monitoring and measurement of eye activities can capture reliable, unbiased, and actionable data to figure out what makes customers tick and how to influence their buying behaviour.

Say No and Mean it

'No' is the smallest and shortest word in the English language, but the most difficult word to say. Often you say 'Yes' and give in to avoid conflicts, only to feel compelled and resentful later. Hence it is imperative to learn how to say 'No' without weighing down on your soul. Saying 'No' is far from easy. However, it is a skill that you can develop and refine over time. Stand by your word, and never think about going back on it. 'No' and guilt are two separate things that don’t have to go together. 

There is a fine line between being nice and being a doormat. Don't say 'Yes' to everything that comes your way. That's people pleasing and codependency. Being a people-pleaser will never make you happy. Trying to fit in and not “upset others” will only deplete your time and energy. Instead, know your priorities and make yourself a priority before anyone else. Turning someone down doesn't make you unkind or rude. Instead, it indicates "that you are in the driver’s seat of your own life".

The following steps will help you get comfortable with saying 'No' when your plate is full:

Say it and keep it brief- Don't hem and haw and don't beat around the bush. Say 'No' and give a precise explanation if required. The less said, the less ambiguous, the better.

Acknowledge that you cannot do it all - There is no such thing as the superpower. You cannot do it all and nor can anyone else. Hence, chuck the 'guilt' out of the window and say 'No' when you know you need to.

Be assertive yet courteous - A polite yet explicit 'No' is the best way to take charge of the situation and not offend the requestor. Deny the request and not the requestor.

Leverage your problem-solving skills - Recommend an alternative that works best for you and the requestor. It protects your sanity without hurting the requestor's feelings.

Spot and stop manipulators - They're best known for exploiting the weakness of others. They will flatter and butter you up, or do small favours and then ask big ones in return. Spot them and stop them before you start feeling stressed and burnt out by giving in and pleasing every requestor.

Set boundaries and stick to them - Set boundaries and prevent "disease to please" other.

Prioritizing yourself is not selfishness - Have your priorities set right, stick to them, and politely refuse all tasks that can steer you away from what's important.

Know your worth - Never put others above yourself. Learn your value and curb the urge to seek approvals from others. Approval is like a killer drug. You get addictive soon and develop the need for more. It will stop you from saying 'No' when you want to.

A careful response - Don't jump the gun and regret the decision later. Weigh the pros and cons and arrive at a prudent decision. However, never keep anyone hanging for days or weeks.

Try it before you say it - Say 'No' to your impulsive needs. The more your willpower, the easier it is to say 'No' to others without feeling guilty.

Have a go-to-reason - A rehearsed reason is the best way to graciously deal with out-of-the-blue requests and not feel guilty, awkward or disingenuous.

Know when to say ‘Yes’ – Handpick the blind reach-outs that merit a second consideration. If the task aligns with your values and goals, it's worth a second inspection.

If you’re prone to over-committing and have revelled in saying yes, it's time to bid goodbye to the people-pleaser in you. People-pleasing is a selfish act. It indicates your insatiable need to look good before others and your innate fear of facing confrontation.

The late Steve Jobs once said, “Focus is about saying No." A firm 'No' indicates that you are strong enough to set the right boundaries, manage your time, and be the person of your word. What you spend your time on should be what matters to you the most.

Try it before you buy it

Marketing and sales are the two core pillars of every business. They are intrinsically connected and interdependent. There is more that goes into marketing than billboards, cold calling, cold emailing, or interruptive advertising. Customers are bombarded with numerous marketing messages every day. They are spoilt for choice and loyalty levels are dwindling. Moreover, cutthroat competition is rampant in every marketplace.  The challenge is to find unique marketing methods to engage with customers and generate sales. In the always-connected and information-rich world that we live in, digital is the new 'normal' in marketing, and the digital marketing landscape is witnessing disruptive changes that businesses can no longer ignore.

Digital is permeating every aspect of life, changing the way in which we think, act, and live. Digital business models, markets, customer-bases, and competitors originate and thrive in the blink of an eye. In short, digital is the future and the future is digital. When it comes to marketing, digital is the king and customer experience is the crown. Digital marketing helps create innovative content and incredible customer experience.  The influx of virtual reality has ushered in a new era in digital marketing. From McDonald’s ‘Happy Meals’ box to Oreo's 'Wonder Vault, Jaguar's ‘Feel Wimbledon’, and Alibaba's Buy+, virtual reality has helped digital marketers take a flying leap forward. Thanks to its captivating power to create an immersive and compelling experience, or a feeling of being physically present in a virtual world.

VR can make a major difference in customer experience and decision-making journey. Need a sneak peek into the apartment you plan to buy? Wondering how to try the latest signature collection from your favourite designer without visiting the store?  Can't decide what to order from the list of dishes you have never tried before? The infinite possibilities of virtual reality can help answer these questions in no time.  With virtual reality, customers can see products up close and personal, and analyse why they are unique and relevant. You can do anything from playing games to visiting new destinations from the comfort of your home.  Did you know that the global VR revenues touched a whopping $7-billion mark in 2017?

No matter how effective a product or a solution is, it is not easy to demonstrate how it could work in reality.  But virtual reality enables a near-to-real experience when compared to video, social media, and print promotion methods. Immersive telepresence in VR helps creates engaging experiences at every touch point in a customer's purchase cycle. Imagine test driving a car from your desk! Given the experience of a vehicle is of highest relevance, the automotive industry can immensely benefit from VR-based marketing methods. It delivers “virtual showroom” experiences and enhances sales along with strengthening brand identity and reach.

The boundless potentials of virtual reality can now be cost-effectively leveraged to deepen customer engagement and improve sales. Virtual reality can be adapted to any business where user experience is of immense significance. It creates emotional resonance and shares surprising and delighting positive experience. Through VR, prospective customers can experience how products or services work in a contextually relevant environment. 

Emotion is the heart and soul of every marketing initiative. The findings of a Nielsen and YuMe’s 2016 study indicates that virtual reality drove higher engagement and emotional response when compared to all other platforms it was tested against. VR helps put customers in the driving seat and give them a near to a near-to-real experience of a product or service. In short, it is try-before-you-buy-it or a high-touch customer interaction in a whole new and futuristic manner.  It bridges the gap between scepticism and conversion and helps close deals in no time with a virtual handshake. In a world that’s replete with distractions, virtual reality is essential to reclaiming the captive audience and strengthen the bottom line.

With the advent of Oculus Rift, Vive, and Cardboard, virtual reality has become a part of the mainstream marketing repertoire. Virtual reality is here to stay, and it will be a major player in the digital marketing world for years to come. The economic impact of virtual reality is predicted to reach $29.5 billion by 2020.

Beyond the car

Can connected cars change your life on the roads? What if you can use your phone as the key fob, make hands-free voice calls, use an autopilot mode, or reschedule your meetings from the comfort of your car? A connected car can help do all these and more, assist in mobility and ownership needs, and ensure exceptional driving experience and safety. 

Connected car – the umbrella term comprises a vast amount of cutting-edge technologies, applications, and business models to improve your in-car experience.  Global sale of connected cars is expected to touch a whopping 61 million by 2020, generating $141 billion in revenue. A million connected vehicles will ply on our roads by 2020, says a Gartner report. 

Connected car features are no longer an illusion or a luxury for the elite and tech-savvy.  The app-powered accessory is available even in the most economical cars and can be retrofitted to provide entertainment, information, and seamless connection with the outside world.  Connected to the cloud by wireless technologies, chips, onboard computers, and advanced smartphone-based applications, connected cars represent a new era in the automotive world. However, automakers are yet to capitalise on the $155 billion worth connected services market. 

Many industry wonks have invested and continue to spend millions of dollars to develop advanced connected car features and technologies. However, their investments haven’t paid off yet, says a recent global study. Four out of ten (39%) survey respondents (connected car owners) were unaware that they own connected cars. They were oblivious to the benefits of connected car technologies and failed to see how the digital transformation can enhance their day-to-day lives.  The ratio will undoubtedly be higher in the Indian scenario. 

Lack of product exposure and the inability to create awareness are the reasons behind the failure to monetise this innovative in-car technology. If customers remain in the dark and miss out on the advantages of connected cars, auto brands should take a step back and reevaluate how they market the benefits of car connectivity. If they fail to do so, new entrants and tech giants such as Google, Uber, and Apple will soon gain the market monopoly, and OEMs will risk losing the ground. The findings from a Capgemini survey validate this probability -  About 57% of the survey respondents indicated that they would buy a car from a technology company (such as Apple or Google) if that were an option.  The number hops to a whopping 78% in emerging markets. 

Bridging the gap between car connectivity and cost efficiency, protection, and better in-car experience is the best way forward to improve sign-up and subscription of connected car features.  It will open new revenue streams, diversify core services, boost profitability, and help stay ahead of competitors who own the larger pie of market share.  Initiating the continual usage of connected features will enhance subscription renewals and lessen the prevalent scepticism and unawareness.

Real-world relevance is the key to unlock the market potential and growth of every product or service. Connected car features are no different.  From safety to driver assistance, hands-free support, maintenance alert, anti-theft features, and in-car-payment, they have to cater to the day-to-day needs of every car owner.  In the futuristic versus relevant battle, relevant will always stand out. Hence, pertinent, simple, intuitive, and impactful features and technologies are indispensable to gain competitive advantage. 

On-boarding customers during testing and trials will also enhance the uptake and usage of connected car features.  Time-bound and comprehensive training for dealership staff can significantly improve customer adoption and ROI.  Regular updations too are integral to stay competitive and relevant. OEMs must enable over-the-air (OTA) updates to fix bugs and roll out updates globally. Cars equipped with Wi-Fi connections can leverage OTA and receive bug fixes and updates in no time.

Furthermore, from hardly palatable jargons and complex elucidations, the real-world benefits of connected cars and related technologies should be made available in chewable morsels of information that every car owner can get enough of. Can't cars be equipped with pre-loaded tutorials and digital handbooks on connectivity features?