mobites - ideas, inspiration, insight
ideas, inspiration, and insights from the folks at mobium
Being it before saying it
There I was last Saturday, as I am every Saturday, slouched over a cart bulging with $215.00 worth of groceries in a line longer than a Kevin Costner film. One solitary soul in sea of humanity. A sea of other schmucks with bulging carts in six more lines just like the one I was languishing in. It was shaping up to be a long, slow, boring afternoon in paradise.
Then, all of sudden, it happened. Out of the corner of my eye I saw him. And so did everyone else. It was Joe Sixpack with three packs of Bud and seven cartons of Twinkies striding down the aisle right up to the cashier and out of the store.
No matter how you view it, but especially if you view it from a lifetime customer value perspective, there is something terribly wrong with this scene.
It made me think of my mother
My mother recently passed away. So I’ve been thinking a lot about our relationship. We had a good one. Chiefly because she believed in me. Even when I didn’t believe in myself. And as a result, she treated me differently than she treated other people. She treated me special. And as a result of that, she talked to me differently.
I guess my mother understood one thing the great marketing minds of the food chains still don’t understand. You have to actually treat people differently before the act of talking to them differently will mean anything to them. After 20 minutes in a grocery store line watching snacker after snacker glide through the checkout counter I was not ready for a message about how valuable and appreciated my long term patronage is to Food Circus.
Earning the right to be heard
Once someone buys something from you they are no longer part of the market. They are your customer. And they deserve to be treated differently.
The root of relationship marketing, it seems to me, is not a fancy schmancy CRM system. Relationship marketing is treating customers differently — specially. Everything else, including brand communications, emanates from that. Being it comes before saying it.
But that’s just my opinion. I could be wrong
Tags: business branding, integrated marketing, IMC, marketing change, aligning marketing department with innovation, be real, brand advantage, brand advocates, brand communications, brand experience, CRM, customer relationships, customer value, dialogue communications, hug your customers, integrated branding, whippersnappers
December 17th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
I could not agree more, Gordon. Relationships are earned — over time, patiently and selflessly. Sorry about the loss of your mother.
I created a series of free webinars based on the problems in the hotel industry — bringing in experts. My prospects LOVE it.
December 28th, 2008 at 8:36 pm
Sorry to hear about your mom, Gordon;
now youʻre an orphaned adult, I will treat you special.
I suppose you now bought that chopper you always wanted?