What if customers expect more than just a good product, excellent service and perfectly performing digital interfaces? And what if new technologies like 5G, artificial intelligence, quantum computing and robotics offer possibilities that go beyond mere ease of use? Digital ease of use is the new minimum. It has become a commodity. The customer now regards it as the most normal thing in the world to have access to limitless products and services with just a single click of a mouse. In the years ahead, companies will need to play an active role in the 'life journey' of customers: helping to make their dreams come true and removing problems from their daily lives. In addition, customers are looking increasingly to companies instead of governments to tackle societal challenges like climate change, health care and mobility. If your company succeeds in providing outstanding digital service, becomes a partner in the life of your customers and provides solutions for major societal issues, you will develop 'an offer you can't refuse'. Over Steven Van Belleghem Steven Van Belleghem is inspirator, coach en adviseur binnen zijn eigen bedrijf B-Conversational. Hij begeleidt bedrijven om zich aan te passen aan de hedendaagse consument. Daarnaast is hij parttime marketing professor aan de Vlerick Business School. Hij is auteur van 'De Conversation Manager' (winnaar van de PIM literatuurprijs in 2010 en meer dan 30.000 verkochte exemplaren), 'De Conversation Company', 'When digital becomes human' en 'The offer you can't refuse'. Steven Van Belleghem is een veel gevraagde spreker in binnen- en buitenland en verzorgt zowel keynotes alsmede workshops en business coaching sessies Table of contents INTRODUCTION Social challenges 12 The biggest digital transformation ever 13 The start of new customer expectations 14 The Offer You Can’t Refuse 16 The research for The Offer You Can’t Refuse 17 The soundtrack of The Offer You Can’t Refuse 19 PART 1. THE OFFER YOU CAN’T REFUSE CHAPTER 1. CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS GO FURTHER THAN EASE OF USE The new minimum 24 How Big Tech moulded the digital norm 25 The largest digital training session ever 26 The new minimum goes beyond digital interfaces 27 Starbucks, mobile commerce and China 27 Meituan Dianping 29 The new form of disruption: good quality, low price and direct delivery to the end user 31 Excellent service is the new commodity 33 Me and the world 34 Hopes, dreams and ambitions 36 The paradox of modern society 37 Concern 1: climate 40 MAX Burgers is climate neutral 41 Concern 2: technology 43 The Digital Dark Side 45 Concern 3: health 47 The Offer You Can’t Refuse 49 CHAPTER 2. THE OFFER YOU CAN’T REFUSE MODEL Surprising that Spotify made it! 54 The Offer You Can’t Refuse 55 Four strategies for building The Offer You Can’t Refuse 56 At last! A smart fridge 57 Aladdin’s lamp 58 Work your way up! 60 Centraal Beheer: NPS +50 61 ‘Small Dents’ Days, outstanding digital interfaces and a ‘royal goodbye’ 62 Partner in living 63 Centraal Beheer: an ‘Offer You Can’t Refuse’! 64 Restaurant Addo in Seattle 65 And in my industry? Do I really have to do everything? 67 Hopper solves a problem that consumers have been wrestling with for years 68 Suddenly it gets urgent 70 Verstraete IML: the story of a printing company in full transformation 71 War on plastic 72 The holy grail 73 Where is your company? 75 A world with technology that goes much further than straightforward ease of use 75 PART 2. GENERAL PURPOSE TECHNOLOGIES CHAPTER 3. FOUR TECHNOLOGIES THAT GO FURTHER THAN ULTIMATE EASE OF USE Complex challenges 80 General purpose technologies 81 5G: more than just faster internet 83 5G hospitals 84 Artificial intelligence 86 A digital companion 88 The start of the AI curve 89 Quantum computing 90 The rapid development of medicines 92 Robotics 94 A robot boom in China 96 The mature smartphone curve 98 Alexa, set the timer for eight minutes, please! 99 The second half of the curve? 100 Technology for good 102 The customer wants more – and the technology can provide it! 104 PART 3. STRATEGIES FOR THE OFFER YOU CAN’T REFUSE CHAPTER 4. LTIMATE CONVENIENCE Tinder wipes its competitors off the screen 112 Personal butlers 113 The automation of your weekly shopping 114 McDonald’s and Dynamic Yield 115 Do people really trust all this automation? 116 The characteristics of the interface of the future 117 Toutiao 119 A filter on everything 120 Amazon’s filter on products and brands 122 Nike pulls the plug 124 Two scenarios 126 The ultimate convenience: automatic and invisible 127 Help! I can see a lion! 129 How can I get started? 130 Convenience as the driver of loyalty? 130 CHAPTER 5. PARTNER IN LIFE Human energy and money are scarce resources 134 The changing mission of Booking.com 135 Google wants to make everything in life easy 136 The three steps to a ‘partner in life’ approach 137 Grab 152 How can I start my ‘partner in life’ strategy? 153 CHAPTER 6. SAVE THE WORLD There is a sense of social responsibility in all of us! 158 Marks & Spencer has had a sense of social responsibility from its very first day 159 How to save the world? 160 The New Year’s letter from the CEO of BlackRock 162 The weakness of a purpose 163 What societal problems will your company solve? 164 From authenticity to a sense of responsibility 166 Twitter versus Facebook 167 How to set your products on fire – safely 169 The concept of shared value 171 Three strategies for applying the shared value philosophy 172 The end of the trade-off 174 Impossible Foods, Beyond Meat, Greenway Foods and many others 176 Three implementation guidelines for your ‘save the world’ strategy 178 PART 4. SUCCESSFUL IMPLEMENTATION CHAPTER 7. THE OFFER YOU CAN’T REFUSE FOR EMPLOYEES One of the greatest myths in the world of customer satisfaction 188 HR departments in transformation 189 The war for talent 190 The Offer You Can’t Refuse for employees 191 Ultimate convenience 193 The Evernote dispenser 194 The 95%-5% rule 195 Working from home versus working in the office 196 GE: a culture of simplicity 197 Partner in life and career 198 At PPG everyone is a painter 203 Adobe makes its employees ‘an offer they can’t refuse’ 205 Employee experience goes further than HR 207 Employee experience ensures a guaranteed return 208 How can I start to build an offer that my employees can’t refuse? 209 CHAPTER 8. THE HOURGLASS MODEL - A PRACTICAL INNOVATION MODEL The Hourglass model – a practical guide for The Day After Tomorrow 215 The origin of The Day After Tomorrow 215 A model based on films 216 Three horizons 217 What does YOUR Day After Tomorrow look like? 219 The hourglass model 220 Sense 222 Try 223 Leaders become losers 225 From zero to one and from one to N 226 A LAT relationship 227 Use your Offer You Can’t Refuse strategy as fuel for the zero to one element of your hourglass 230 CHAPTER 9. DO IT BETTER Luigi’s cafe starts an online game show 237 Blends of industries 238 Ethical choices: machines that lie? 239 Ethical choices: do you ever want to let go? 240 Eternal 242 Transparency in everything you do 243 Case: Veja 243 Tailwind markets 245 How Egmont got the wind in its sails 245 The end customer. Always. 247 End customer focus in B2B 248 Disney+ 249 Responsible decisions 250 Finally. I can’t wait! 251 Thank you 252 End notes 255