Beyond Marketing – Establishing a Conversation with Your Customers
The future of marketing is a collaborative process between the company and client, as it always has been.
Give customers what they actually want. They will tell you and even give you chapter and verse, if you actually ask. It is so simple to grasp in concept and yet so very difficult to master nowadays. Why so?
Since front-line salesmen are fast becoming an endangered species, market intelligence is in danger of becoming extinct. For the record, poorly worded incentive based surveys are not the foundation on which to make business decisions. They do not have the human sensitivity and perception of the committed front-line employee of old.
Gold medals are won at the Olympics by truly outstanding competitors separated only by minuscule factors. If ten tiny improvements are made by one competitor they will have a winning advantage over another who has made just five [other things being equal]. Technology now allows continuous improvements in marketing intelligence by facilitating a continual dialogue through video emailing, live person to person video contact, and more….
Customer complaints are sheer gold dust when listened to and the problems solved. Implicit in this, the company must listen to their own sales force and act.
Your ultimate goal is to ignite your customer’s passion in and around your products and services. Give your prospects and customers a voice and listen. Don’t just let people talk to you, give them the opportunity to communicate with each other. If you are dedicated to your customer’s satisfaction, you will succeed!
Marketing is actually very easy. All you need to do is listen. I authored an article on listening called “Listening the Forgotten Art.”
A useful web-based tool is UserVoice. Use it to give your community a voice and prioritize the feedback.
About the Author:
Will Franco is the CEO/Founder of jiveSYSTEMS (a video email marketing software and training company). He also runs an online community / membership group called AskFlywheel, in which he teaches cutting-edge online marketing strategies. His mantra at work is "Think-Automate: Do it, Automate it, Delegate it, or Ditch it"
