The year 2008 will go down as the "Year of Change.
" This has been a much overused phrase finding its way into speeches, papers, and general discussions socially, politically, and economically.
Are we ready for change, new challenges, and new experiences? I asked a business associate how her company was doing, she responded, "the world has come to a halt.
" It does seem from a business and travel perspective that the world has slowed down as the year has progressed, and that everyone is in a wait until some unknown timeframe before doing something.
The world may have slowed down, but in this case we cannot blame global warming.
But, as the saying goes, the more things change the more they stay the same.
So, have things changed, slowed down, or are there new challenges and experiences awaiting us? That depends on your perspective.
Business Perspective There are many different components that a business needs to address during challenging times.
Some people are waiting to hear when their respective country acknowledges that they are 'formally' in a recession, while others just keep plodding along or are totally oblivious.
With all due respect to what a recession is, "two consecutive quarters of negative growth," some companies I know have been riding a rollercoaster of ups and downs since 2002.
Many have never been able to establish a firm foot on the ground, so they have been in and out of their own business recessions.
Regardless, business people know their company, their people, their products, but the change in their customer base has created frustration and a void.
Challenges have always impacted a company, regardless if they are in an experiential growth mode, though during this type of growth the challenges seem frivolous, or looking at numbers showing that their sales positions have fallen, or the ups and downs throughout their business' life cycle.
From a marketing and product visibility perspective, it always comes back to knowing your customer and being able to move your product's position to match your customer's purchasing position.
To use a sail boat racing reference, if two sail boats encounter a calm period during a race they will keep an eye on each other, but they are more focused on scanning the horizon and reading the surface of the water to find changes as they know that a change in the water's surface may mean some wind is coming that way.
They know their boat's capabilities, they know their crew's capabilities, now they need to be one step ahead of their competition on reading where their power comes from, the wind.
Reading your customer may mean lowering prices to keep your product in front of them, or it may mean bundling products to provide a more comprehensive and cost effective solutions, or it may result in keeping the price as is or a slight increase but with a focus to connect with the customer's desire for an experience during the purchasing cycle.
While we are in this calm timeframe we need to draw out any information we have on our customer, their habits, how they reacted to previous product advertising, where are they in the overall economic crisis, and how are they being affected.
We have to scan the horizon for where the next wind behind our customer will come from and be ready to provide services or products that connect with them.
Through the ups and downs of 2008 Luxury Experience has been there to provide you with ideas to experience.
We will continue to bring the experience of luxury to you, as well as some insights and ideas with respect to the frustration, unknowns, and challenges that a business deals with in Luxury Experience Magazine.
© December 2008.
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