Above and below: Some revamped slides from Monday’s presentation. These two companion messages (Engagement and P2P) seem to have resonated with the audience, so I thought I would elaborate on that topic a little.
First: Should companies continue to launch and drive marketing, advertising, promotional and other types of business development and awareness campaigns?
Yes. Absolutely. No question.
Traditional media “push” strategies and tactics, when developed by the right people and used properly, can be extremely effective. I am a big fan of great campaigns, so keep creating GREAT push campaigns.
But “engagement” – and by that I mean customer engagement (even if those customers are not technically customers yet) – is not a campaign. It isn’t even a strategy. It is a commitment to a being the kind of business that people will want to be a part of and whose products and community people will want to share with friends and family. The kind of business that people will naturally want to support proactively for years and years.
What we are talking about here has its basis in culture. Call it company culture, corporate culture, management culture… it doesn’t matter. The point is that if your company still refers to itself as a B2B (biz to biz) or a B2C (biz to consumer) company, you are missing the boat. Thin about every great experience you’ve had with a business: Fantastic service at a hotel – where the folks at the desk (and the rest of the staff) makes a point to remember your name. Think of the same kind of service at a restaurant or retail outlet. Think about how you feel about a physician with fantastic bedside vs. a physician who acts like spending any time with you is the chore from hell. Now ask yourself which you would rather be: The business that makes people WANT to come back and recommend you to their friends, or the business that will either fail to be memorable – or worse, give people a reason to find a better option than you next time.
It doesn’t matter if you are a hair salon, car rental company, commercial lender, real estate agent, architectural firm, coffee shop or IT distribution company: Create great experiences based on building relationships with your customers (and your community) and your brand will quickly find itself on the rise.
Fail to do so, and your situation will NEVER improve. No matter how much you lower your prices, no matter how much money you spend on advertising, public relations, call campaigns and promotional incentives, you will still be struggling to get past 5% annual growth (once the economy recovers, that is).
You must learn to become a P2P (people to people) company. Period. There is no other option for you. Not anymore.
Starting with the way you treat your employees – from the way in which you hire, train, mentor and manage them and the words you choose to use around the office (do you refer to your team members as “headcount”?), to the type of relationship you build with the people you do business with.
Have a great Weekend, everyone. 😉
Brand Building and Online Marketing Blog 
P2P Business! I love it.
It is all about people. Whether it is a customer, employee, or a supplier, its all about people.
I am going to adopt this new term.
Thanks!
Hi Oliver,
I really like how you’ve explained that customer engagement cannot be a campaign but more interestingly to me, not even a strategy.
I find that often as marketers or people building companies, when starting out on a new project we often try and think of what kind of “strategies” we can use to make customers engage with whatever it is that is being promoted.
What it really comes down to is the relationship and experience building which is a basic but often overlooked part of setting up or running a successful business.
Looking deeper into what customer engagement actually is, is especially crucial in these times where social media is exploding and many people may think they have an “engaging brand” just because they have friends on Facebook or followers on Twitter. That is only one part of the overall sincere relationship strategy that needs to be employed.
Sam
Great angle Olivier! I too am going to borrow/steal/adopt P2P – of course all credit will flow back to TBB…
Relationships must be a hot topic recently. I have been seeing a lot of posts on maintaining relationships around – all with a different twist on the topic. Your approach is unique, concise and to the point.
Now – if I could only learn French half as well as you learned English, my writing and grammar skills would be vastly improved! 🙂
Have a great weekend,
J
This was the point that stood out to me in your presentation. It’s simple to engage customers in this way and it can be done with 4 easy words; friendliness, approachability, kindness, and consistency. What amazes me though is how few try to do it at all, and of those that actually try; how few do it consistently.
Succinctly hit outta the ballpark, Olivier. Many thanks!