This week’s focus: We all know that the 24-hour customer is a reality, but a recent trip to Las Vegas brought this message home to me loud and clear. Everything in Vegas is open 24/7 – casino’s, bars, stores, clubs – but in terms of ‘opening hours’ what happens in Vegas hasn’t stayed in Vegas; 24/7 is now everywhere. DFS, one of my clients, for example, happily sells sofas through it’s website and call centre at 3.00 in the morning, and Amazon has just reported that it has sold more e-Books than paperbacks, meaning that people want to read what they want, when they want – instantly!

Are you doing enough to meet the needs of your 24-hour customers? If you’re not making dramatic progress in this area then I confidently predict that you are losing customers to your competitors 24/7.

Off the record: “Rock Around The Clock” by Bill Hailey and the Comets

When the clock strikes two, three and four

If the band starts flagging we’ll ask for more

© Stuart Cross 2011. All rights reserved.