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Three blind MICE
Three blind MICE
See how they run
See how they run
They all ran after the farmer’s wife
Who cut off their tails with a carving knife
Did you ever see such a thing in your life
As three blind MICE
This is both a cautionary tale and a celebratory one. During the past decade the emergence of a bunch of new ‘…isation’ words – computerisation, globalisation, digitisation – has spelt a dramatic change in the way we do business. And we, as MICE planners and practitioners, need to manage this paradigm shift in order to reap its potential rewards.
Just 10 years ago, discreet personal computers, fax machines, couriers, face to face representation, the odd bit of snail mail (and let’s not mention those analogue phones the size of a house brick) were the prescribed ways of communicating within the business environment. The web, email and CD-ROMs were still science fiction and information was a reasonably scarce commodity. Digital technology has changed all that.
Clients in the 21st century, be they end-clients or internal-clients, have much more information at their fingertips and are becoming increasingly active and demanding in their decision-making practices. The 21st century client is hooked into an international network of instant information, opinion and comment and, as a result, ‘word of mouth’ has resumed its status as the most effective form of communication on the planet. MICE planners and practitioners really need to keep their eyes wide open to digital technology as it allows word of mouth and word of mouse to spread at incredible speed.
The National Office for Information Technology (NOIE) ranks Australia fifth in the world behind some of the most connected and advanced Information Economies – the US, Canada, Sweden and Hong Kong. A massive 89% of Australians aged 16 or over have internet access at home or at work and 89% of businesses with 10 or more employees are connected to the internet in 2003. Right now, 65% of us over the age of 16 also use a mobile phone. We’re communicating like rabbits (or is that MICE)!
Despite these phenomenal numbers, many organisations in Australia today are still undertaking old style analogue ‘hit & miss’ (but mainly miss) mass-mail campaigns. They’re sending out slick messages to as many people as they can and hoping like hell for a 1.75% response rate in order to justify the expense of it all.
This mass approach to marketing has been highly effective for over a hundred years, however digital technology has opened up a ‘brave new world’ where individuals are now active participants in the marketing process. As a result, the 21st century ‘client’ is a whole lot more demanding, expecting transparency, integrity and respect in all commercial dealings. In customer speak this translates to: “I might be interested in what you have to say but I have a busy life and I need to know all the facts as quickly and as easily as possible so that I can make my decision and move on to my next project.
“Don’t stuff me around, try to manipulate me, mislead me or treat me like a moron or you’ll never see me again. But if I have a good experience I’ll be back. I have a long memory and lots of digitally active friends too! Do the right thing by me and I will gladly spread the word, without you even having to ask.”
Thus, good client service in the digital paradigm starts long before the ‘sale’ and continues indefinitely. And the right combination of pleasure and information, delivered in a salient mix of online and offline formats will, I guarantee, result in visionary MICE with tails intact!