17: Next Steps in Building Customer-Brand Relationships
(EN: This is a "summing up" chapter that will likely provide no additional information.)
The author reiterates that much has changed in the past few decades: products are more commoditized, there is greater competition in the marketplace, customers and prospects are exposed to more information and are skeptical, new media forms have emerged, and the scope of competition has increased. What's more, this represents an evolutionary change rather than a temporary aberration, which requires a paradigm shift rather than a few simple "tricks" in the context of an outmoded marketing operation.
START WITH CUSTOMERS AND PROSPECTS
One of the most fundamental changes is that power has shifted from producer/supplier to the customer, who are cognizant of a broader array of options as well as their power to choose among them. They are for more skeptical, fickle, and ready to run to the competition than those of generations past.
And while organizations claim to realize this, they seem to have placed little effort into learning about their customers and prospects, and still assume that the company knows best, and that marketing is simply a matter of educating and guiding the herd. Even companies that speak of the importance of the customer act in ways that reflect this outdated mind-set.
Only a limited number of firms have embraced customer service in deed as well as word - and such companies have reaped the rewards of customer loyalty. The author's sense seems to be that their competitors will either recognize the important of customer service and act accordingly, or will slowly bu certainly fail as customers move to firms that have done so,
REEDUCATION IN MARKETING COMMUNICATION
Marketing Communication is another area in which much "reeducation" is necessary to transition from the traditional, outbound approach to communicating information to the market - or in other words, of inflicting unwanted information on the masses, in hopes it may find fertile ground.
The author reflects on his own model: considering the content and channels that the customers are open to receiving in planning a marketing communications strategy. that will reach the right people, with the right message, in a way that will build and improve upon their relationship with the brand.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The author provides "a final thought" that seems to cram a lot of tidbits together:
- Customers choose the firms they do business with
- Understanding their motivation is therefore critical to getting their business
- Open and interactive communication is necessary to understand their needs, and suggesting that you can serve them
- Serving their needs is critical to keeping their business
A company that fails to grasp these basic concepts, or fails to act accordingly, will not be able to build and sustain strong and lasting relationships with customers.