WiFi as a utility to the modern consumer

It’s safe to say now that WiFi is seen as a utility by almost every consumer in the developed world. Most governments have targets to ensure that every home in their country are connected to one form of broadband or another.

In the UK, huge investment is put into connecting every remote village to broadband and schemes have been in place to upgrade the quality of broadband to every business. Investment continues into 4G and now significant money is being ploughed into 5G development and roll out.

But the expectation also exists among each individual consumer and the expectation increases as those born after the boom of email become adult consumers. A whole new generation live with their smartphone as an extension of their body and in their mind, the smartphone has to be connected to two things; Their hand and the internet.

And what does this mean to you and your business? Firstly, it’s important to take advantage of any scheme available to improve the quality of your broadband and realise that it’s actually much more affordable than you think. Secondly, pass that utility onto your customers – they expect it and their experience depends on it.

Generation now expect everything on demand….and usually they don’t want to pay for it.  If they don’t get what they want, they will move on fast. While you may not want to provide WiFi to clients, it’s important to embrace change and understand how it can benefit you more than the customer.

Endless meme’s exist of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs with WiFi scrawled onto the bottom below air and water, (it makes me cringe every time I see one of these), but it’s kind of true. Fulfil their need and you’ll provide a much nicer customer experience.

WiFi doesn’t just benefit the person using it. As a business owner or manager, you should know who’s using your network to protect yourself, but by knowing who is using the network you can use that information to understand more about your customers and maximise your chances of getting them to return time and again.

At Fusion, what we do is not provide free WiFi.  Ok, we kind of do but that’s just 1% of our focus. Our real focus is on making sure that businesses build loyalty and have the strategy and tools in place to build long lasting relationships. Higher customer loyalty and incentive to return leads to more money through the till.

Embrace the demands of your customers and give them what they need, but understand what’s in it for you too. You might be surprised.