Even though we live in an era of self-service and growing online/mobile shopping, the personal touch still has an important place in marketing.
According to Introhive, a sales-support firm:
“Technology has changed the way we do business. It has changed the way we interact with our clients, partners, colleagues, and employers. In a world where information is more readily available than every before, it’s obvious that the practice of sales has changed forever. If you’re a sales professional, you can relate to the ongoing changes as it relates to technology, social media, big data, and the overall sales process.”
Take a look at this infographic from Introhive.
“In a world where information is more readily available than every before…”
In today’s world, consumers have the ability to educate themselves before they make a purchase. Sometimes, they learn the ins and outs of a product before they actually have it in their possession. I think that this results in higher expectations. Consumers know more about a product and what it is supposed to do. If they read stellar reviews, they expect the product to perform that way.
This stresses the importance of maintaining a good relationship with the consumer. They are not afraid to complain to you about a faulty product or service. After all, the internet has birthed many websites dedicated strictly to product reviews. Being there for your consumers when they are unhappy is a form of damage control, and it helps maintain brand loyalty.
I think this info-graphic is very relevant for business to know. As society and businesses continue to move towards a more technological way of doing things, relationships will become more and more critical. Everyday selling and buying for businesses mostly takes place on the internet. People find new companies based on internet reviews and comments. It is very important to maintain a good relationship with those sellers and buyers you have, so that they put out a good word about your company. Because cold calling has really died off, it will be important to make a good impression with your online sites, reviews, and reputation which will all remain intact through good maintenance of relationships.
I feel this info graphic is great at representing the relationship between consumers and businesses. Companies have to keep adapting to the needs of its consumers and to do that they need to continually do surveys and other analyzing methods to make sure what they are offering is what the consumers want. More and more companies are starting to realize that in this day and age people look for products online so they want to be the first company to pop up on their search engine when they are looking for the specific product. The company must then maintain the relationship with the consumer by giving out coupons or having sales that make the consumer want to keep coming back to their company.
As a business to business salesperson with 28 years experience selling to hospital’s in the NY Tri-State area I have to say that cold calling still has a place in modern selling. It is very easy for both prospects and customers to hide behind technology (voice mail and email) and avoid seeing a salesperson face to face.
My philosophy today is such – reach out first via technology – voice mail and email. If no response then that “target” or “prospect: can expect a “cold call” visit.
I always explain to customers on a cold call that I tried reaching out via technology but the information I have to present is so vital that I wanted to present it to you in person.
This is definitely a great cultural difference between China and USA. In China, relationship has been always very important in any corner. No matter you are operating B2B, C2C, B2C or C2B or whatever you name it, relationship is always the first thing you would want to build between you and your consumers. Thats always why China is a high-contact country and USA is a low-contact country. In China, when people say something, they probably mean something else; when they say yes, they probably mean no. It is always very very important to be able to identify the real meaning behind the word. But also, it is a bad thing. Because start-up companies would have longer and harder time to grow up comparing to American ones unless the founder has very strong relationship, especially with the government. Doing business in China not only needs you to have a business mind, but also needs you to know how to start a relationship with someone and keep the relationship healthy and long.
Interesting. 🙂
My father had a small pizza shop that he eventually had to sell because he didn’t want to further pump money into it when he had to put three girls through college. My mother was a pediatrician at a hospital before starting her own practice. While the two different businesses are not that comparable, the difference in starting with relationships already forged or already in place is evident in this. While my dad had to go out of his way to constantly please people and make them come back, my mother had already been with most of her patients for years. She moved to a building across the street from the hospital, along with another pediatrician from the hospital and together, they basically overtook an entire branch of a hospital.