A Guide to the 21st Century
Customers that need and want to be different dominate this new economy. They have money; their basic needs covered, and are at the center of the most consumer dominated society that has ever existed. It’s a weird world where toddlers have cell phones, your personal chef lives in India, and marriages exist in cyberspace. Four major factors drive this new consumer world:
A. Affluence/Aging/Re-Immigrantization
The number of millionaires has doubled since 1995. The number of affluent households is the highest in history and the number of households living in poverty is the lowest. More disposable income exists now than before, and the amount of money necessary to cover basic needs is the lowest, thus the demand for different products and services will expand as well as the quality level of all products and services. Every 6.8 seconds someone in America and Canada turns 50 and will continue to do so until the middle of the next decade. The Silver Tsunami is the term used to define this rapid aging of the population. Furthermore, the population has shifted such that one in every eight Americans and one in five Canadians is non-native born. It’s a world dominated by:
- Aging Populations
- Older/Younger
- Single Headed households
- Work/Living Needs (Yogurt Clusters)
- Market of One
B. Brands
Knowledge is doubling every 17 months. Twelve new products come to the marketplace every second as well as 100 new services and 100,000 new webpages. The choices that customers face are limitless, but their time is limited, therefore consumers will increasingly make product and service decisions based on brand names, trademarks, and reputations. The factors are:
- More Leisure Time-Leisure Choice
- Working Vacations (vocations)
C. Convenience
Increasingly, consumer choice involves the convenience of products and services. McDonald’s and Southwest Airlines raised consumer expectations. Consumers know that they can get a consistent product or service delivered quickly and inexpensively, they expect no less from every provider. However, what is convenient to one person is not to another. You must differentiate each customer. The guiding forces are:
- Mass Customization
- Just-In-Time Service
- On-Site Manufacturing
D. Digital/Wireless
The top item desired by teenagers today is a cell phone while college students want iPods. A cell phone is not just a cell phone; it’s also their personal digital assistant. The buss phrase just three years ago was B2B-Business to Business, but now the phrase is L2M-Life to Mobile. It’s a world ruled by:
- Bluetooth/801.11 (WiFi)
- WiMax
- IM (Instant Message)
- RFIDs (Radio Frequency Identification)
- Text language
The Impact on RV Dealers
What does all of this mean for the RV dealer of the 21st century? Yesterday’s customer might want an RV for retirement recreation, while tomorrow’s customer might want a mobile office/home with broadband WiFi capabilities, that is green, multifuel with a near zero carbon footprint. Oh, and by the way, three people, in their 30s with dogs, fractionally own the vehicle. Far fetched? Not really.
The successful dealer of the 21st Century is customer focused, flexible, and willing to adapt to the changing world. My father’s generation was happy to have a folding camper trailer to keep out the rain. My generation wants consistent 72 degrees and a microwave. Just as dealers have adapted to these changes, tomorrow’s dealers will change equally as well.
By Dr. Lowell Catlett