As we enter this holiday season, consider how services have changed during the holiday season. A generation ago, the catalog was the center of holiday shopping. Kids would browse the catalogs and circle their want list months before the holidays. Most shopping was done by traveling to a store, perhaps a mall, where you chose from the available inventory. A decade ago, online shopping started to gain favor, though many still felt the desire to experience shopping in the traditional manner.
This year, it is projected that online shopping will exceed $110 billion in November and December before the holidays. Why the change? Poeple like the simplicity, the available selection, the opportunity to compare pricing, and the ability to avoid the crowded stores, parking lots, and streets that make shopping locally a challenge. Until recently, the shipping charges kept people from purchasing online. Now, innovative plans such as Amazon Prime have made shipping fees irrelevant. Amazon's ability to deliver quickly and on time, at low cost has revolutionized services in retail purchasing.
How have your services changed over the past 10 years? Have your services kept up with customer expectations relative to what your customers experience in other aspects of their life? They have access to information and product at their fingertips, almost instantaneously. How do you provide similarly 'unbelievable' care that makes your clients talk about you in similar terms? Take time to review your service offering and create ways to set your services apart from the ordinary. Make your service extraordinary.
