SalesLab's community of marketing & sales professionals

MY FIRST MESSAGE

This is my first entry to not only this weblog but I think any of them. Can someone guide me through a method to this madness we all seem to possess to commuincate? I believe it is absolutely wonderfull and may be one of our biggest  deterrents to long term turmoil in the world however slow it may develop. Communication is the single most powerful weapon we have to preserve ourselves. I briefly looked at the categories and find interest in more than several of them. Any input or help?

Moving Beyond Sales

My organization has just published its 4^th Annual report of Marketing Best Practices. The study was done on IT & BPO Services organization.

One of the key finds was the fact that Marketing has become too preoccupied in acting as Sales Enabler; especially in the area of New Client Acquisition. While I completely subscribe to the principle that is a key focus area, however our experience shows that this focus comes at the cost of other equally important initiatives. For example, Technology Companies in India devote less attention to areas such as Customer Retention/Relationship and Branding Programs. Why? One reason is that new customer acquisition consumes so much bandwidth that there is little inclination and resources are available for other initiatives. The other more serious reason could be that companies do not consider these other areas to be a priority. This is a major concern. It is time that companies allow marketing to have a broader footprint and venture into previously unexplored areas. Else, it is highly likely that distinctions between companies become even more blurred. And a “Me-Too” image is something that should be avoided at all costs.

One of the Forrester analysts John McCarthy has an interesting view on the impact of the US financial services industry crisis on the offshoring industry. He feels that the turn of events cannot be merely termed as a recession; rather it is a more fundamental restructuring of the industry which could lead to consolidation and paring down, hence leaner IT budgets. Thus, Indian IT and BPO industry, with a significant exposure to financial services could be impacted.

He goes on to say” “There is no denying it will particularly impact Indian companies. In a way, they are paying the price for having under-invested in marketing all these years.”

This is completely in line with the study findings.

Servant Selling

The highest level of service is that of selflessness. A need exists to increase the level of consciousness one has in selling to others. The perceptions and reality of selling to serve other's wants interests and needs has room to grow.

A question for all in the sales arena....

What value besides your products and or service do you provide to your clients/customers?

New to SalesLab

Hello my name is Alba Henderson and I new to SalesLab.  I look forward to being a great part of this community amongst greatest marketing and sales professionals.

I am sure it will be a wonderful experience.

Best

Alba

Customer Centricity - The Old Paradigm Rules

In today’s world, customer centricity is well emphasized. This is what one used to see in the world’s oldest profession from time immemorial. Nothing new. They allowed customers to decide what they want. When they want and where they want. They were symbols of true marketing. They offered the best platform for networking and sharing. Allowed customers to drive policies, drive pricing, drive product and of course, experiences. They allowed customers to give, take and share. An ultimate flexibility that was just a norm of doing business. Frankly, it was really all about personalized interactions. And technology did not enable it. Yes, am still talking of the oldest profession.

Today, corporate marketers try to use the same principles in varied degrees of success. They use the latest widgets in Web 2.0 to increase interaction with customers. Interestingly, Web 2.0 rules on the same premise as the oldest known business. As a consumer/customer, it allows you to share your opinions, beliefs, feedback, dreams, needs, apprehensions, joys, emotions, fears, anger …the list can go on. Believe me, there is someone at the other end who is listening. Or at least we like to believe so. Web 2.0 actually allows you a path to customer centricity. No I am not going to talk about Web 2.0 here. Am talking about customer centricity.

Customer centricity is allowing him to decide on the 'WH' questions and for the marketer to deliver it exactly the way the customer wants or may be a few shades beyond.

Let me give an example. I bought a pre-owned Mercedes Benz E320 last month from a non-Mercedes Dealer. Obviously, I did not have the warranty. I got a good deal, and I could have got the same deal for many other cars in the range, may be much cheaper if I changed the range. It is that basic belief that a Merc is a Merc and always a Merc. My dealer told me that he had bought it from the Mercedes dealer at Bellevue, WA. And that they felt the car was in immaculate condition. A month later I fix an appointment online after registering with Mercedes website as an owner. The website promised that someone would call me soon (somehow I hate the word 'soon' - it is so customer unfriendly). No response from the showroom. I call them back in the evening to fix a date for the next day and I immediately get an appointment - very prompt. Before leave the next day for my car's health check-up, I updated my contact details. My experience was good. I walk in and there is someone to see me. Find what issues am facing with the car and finally giving me a 2 hour schedule (not 'soon') for the entire check-up. I also got a ride from them - the driver was not Mercedes to my mind as he was too grumpy, but I let it go. A $ 5 bill did the trick and he was good.

I was promptly picked up after an hour. My car inspection was over, and I had a complimentary car wash thrown in. I paid my bills, swiped my card and then requested the service manager to tell me what was the issue. This is where the whole Mercedes image fell in my mind.

01. You ask me to pay the bill even without explaining what is the condition of the vehicle - this is not Mercedes 

02. The service manager very grudgingly explains that the car is a piece of shit. He talks very clinically - did not say 'shit' exactly. He of course advises me, "if I were you, I would do these three corrections on the car immediately. The others can wait." Certainly not Mercedes.

03. I get a mail from Mercedes to rate my experience with the dealership. I rate them well. I add a comment about, "how can Mercedes sell a car that is so bad to another dealer and make money and still believe that their image will remain clean?" No response for almost a week. Am still waiting. This is not Mercedes at all.

They did all the right things. Well almost! This is what goes wrong. The almost bit. One, you want to make small money at any cost. Two, you ask for feedback and do not act upon it. This is certainly not Mercedes.

How often have each one of us experienced something such as this? And you feel that these guys do not know their front side from their back side. And customer centricity is just a good word for advertising campaigns. Often, corporate houses and marketers have annual initiatives and customer interaction and customer satisfaction surveys become one of them. Of course they also have sales targets and budgets to achieve them. Invariably these line to-do items reside with a person or a group who take the command from management and drive it to the best possible way – within their limitations and vision. No marketer in her true sense will let an opportunity go when devising the program. They have the best of strategies, best plans ahead, best of intentions yet, they fail to achieve. At the end of they day, it will be a line item in one presentation to the board. 

Yes, there are monthly reviews and reports to management. They talk of leads to walk-ins to conversions. Cost per conversion. Revenue per month. Cost of revenue. Split of revenue from sales and services. How many customers registered with us online. What percentage have liked our clean loos... etc.

Hello! wake up. Its not about your revenues, its not about your product. Its not about your quality of your products. Its also not about what you think the customer said. Its about what the customers feel and what they say - which means, explicit and implicit. Are you geared to handle your brand? Every touch point with the customer injects your brand. The effect of this injection is very delicate. You can gain a customer for life or you can lose a customer for life. Gaining a new customer is tough. Losing an existing customer is the toughest. What are marketers doing today? Why do they create the best of strategies and have such poor implementations? How come the oldest profession beats them - almost every day?

This is how it goes. Tough questions are asked: "how many participated and how many were good remarks and how many were bad". "How many have given a positive recommendation and how many were neutral". These are numbers – and we are so comfortable with numbers. Statistics can tell lies - always. The first two quarters goes and the teams run with flying colors. Good data. The novelty dies - good marketers take a year others take a quarter to two. Now this is a liability and enters the balance sheet on the expense side. The management is no longer interested, as they have proudly tried a new initiative and the finance department asks for a cost cutting there. Most unfortunate are the companies where these initiatives continue for years and years to come - Mercedes for example - and now it is a routine. This is what I call the ISO (or any other quality initiative) - do what you have done every time predictably, even if it is headed wrong way.

Wake up marketers or companies who believe that you are a marketing driven company. Today, it is not about whether I have the will to learn about my customers or not. It is not about making the fast buck. It is about time, we all looked at our customers more closely. Try to understand them. Try to walk the talk of the brand. Intent and execution, each of them are critical from a customer perspective. Take a harder look at your plans for this year and the next or for this week and the next - both from a design and implementation perspective at different levels in the organization. And this is not limited to marketing.

Every part of the organization is working for 'a' customer. Take a hard look. Do not commit on doing what you can't do. That better than not gaining a new customer. At least you will not lose a old one.

Good tools, technologies and ideas have always been the walking sticks of marketers. Bad implementation – a function of commitment to customers is the key. What a lot of companies such as Mercedes miss is customer centricity – it was certainly better done by the oldest profession without these tools and technologies. They were simple – customer satisfaction focused.

The next time you decide to tread upon one of the new buzzes in the industry, remember the old paradigm. "Customer Centricity". You would do any of these only if you are committed to your customers and to serving them better.

How about hearing your experiences as consumers or customers (good and bad) for a change. I am sure all of us can gain a lot of insights about sales and marketing from our collective experiences as customers or consumers.

Capital without the Hassle

Isn't it funny how the economy has drastically changed and it is getting harder and harder for people who own small to medium size businesses to borrow money? Small to medium size business need capital from time to time for various reason:

Possible use of funds by merchants

• Additional working capital
• Opening new locations
• Renovations or remodeling
• Purchasing new equipment
• Advertising
• Purchasing additional inventory
• Funding Payroll
• Emergencies
• Cash flow needs for established seasonal business
• Buying out a partner

What if I gave you the inside loop on an fast and easy way to obtain capital for your business with no liability to you? I know, you say that is impossible. Well, actually its not, here at 360 Merchant Capital we have created a system that will save you a ton of money on your credit card processing and give you an advance of up to 130% or your last 4months average credit card receivables statements in as little as 3-5 days.

What are the benefits to using 360 Merchant Capital??

• Quick approval
• High approval rate
• No collateral required
• No financial statements or tax returns
• No fixed payments
• No cumbersome and costly paperwork for an application/package
• Ongoing source of capital which is renewable as the advance is paid down or totally repaid
• Growth capital for business
• No closing costs

Take the 360 Challenge! We Guarantee we will save you money or we will do it for FREE for one year! To see how much you can save on your monthly processing visit

www.360merchantcapital.com/processing

if you would like to find out how to save money and how much you  qualify for an advance visit

www.360merchantcapital.com

Make sure to put your promotional code of A1019 to waive the application fee.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me via linked in and add me as a contact!!!!!!!!!

Free online services for you, marketing & sales professionals

In addition to the LinkedIn group and this blog being a neat networking platform, what other online services would add value to your daily life?

For example many recruiters are trying to get membership. So far, we've turned down most of them. But would you enjoy checking job offers in marketing & sales?

What else could you think of?

We wish to offer the community as much relevant value as possible, free of charge. Yet we must strike the right balance between a few posts and a blog overcrowded with boring stuff and we need your input in order to get it right!

Kind regards, Christian

Welcome to new members!

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