In the world of small business marketing (and even large biz) we are not balanced in our focus and approach to retention and leads. This is a concept that was originally hashed out by Seth Godin in his book Permission Marketing. I had the pleasant experience to review the idea through Chris Baggott’s book, Email Marketing by the Numbers. Chris does a better job at paraphrasing Seth’s thoughts:
“As marketers, we usually don’t approach our customers like we would approach a potential spouse, do we? No, we’re more like a drunken frat boy at his first freshman mixer. Most marketers approach customers and prospects more intent on the one-night stand than the long-term relationship. We know it’s wrong… but we do it anyway.”
The concept is not what is fascinating… it has taken us eleven years to start moving towards the concepts discussed in Seth’s book.. that is what is fascinating. We are still debating them! As marketing professionals… we don’t have a problem with lead generation. Yes, we probably could use a better rate of return.. a better ROI… or any other acronym with business acumen.
Our problem?
We have a problem building relationships. We focus intently on generating new customers and new leads that we forget our best salesperson is our current customer! Also from Chris:
“At the end of the day, people associate themselves with other people that they life. Your constituents want to like you and have a relationship with you.”
Why is it so hard for marketers to focus on the relationship instead of the lead? I believe we have major… deep seeded issues with building relationships with our customers! Are we actually truly afraid of our customers?
Josh T. Burkhardt
Perhaps, its not a fear of the customers but rather a fear of commitment and of mixing business with pleasure. In marketing you would seemingly view the individuals as potential customers and constituents rather than as someone you want to try and develop a personal relationship with. I believe your right that people could use a shift in their mind state or the way most people view business but how might we accomplish this? What tools or tricks might help specifically a marketer change the way they think? How can a customer become something more? Please feel free to check out the blog @http://joshburkhardt.wordpress.com/
Marketing – the problem is not getting leads, it’s the relationships.. — Saucy Horse Social Media
[…] superb article by Kyle Lacy at KyleLacy.com – pithy, concise and very much the world as I see it, when it comes to […]
Rachel Fransen
I couldn't agree with this more! As a marketing major who is about to graduate with a BS, I can honestly say I have gone though college without ever taking a class on building relationships with customers. It is something many people leave out of the equation (even though that relationship is all you need to effectively sell your products)… but then they can't understand why no one wants to purchase their products. The people that succeed in the marketing business have figured it out, and everyone else needs to learn to those skills or accept that a marketing profession might not be for them.
All Things Real Estate Resource Roundup: Power Influencers | Clean Slate
[…] Marketing’s Problem Isn’t Leads. It’s Relationships. – Do you focus so heavily on generating leads that you forget to build or maintain relationships with new and current clients? Don’t forget that building the relationship is vital to your continued success. […]