I've written quite a bit about valuable on-demand interactions and how delivering a return on information exchange is key to building productive relationships. Utilizing your website or portals to deliver useful context in exchange for attention is the basis behind my assertion that a web interface is a powerful tool to collect and deliver personalized information to both customers and legacy applications.
John Hagel posts about his experience speaking recently at the CMO Summit. It's a lengthy post, but there's a lot of meat. A few of his key points are:
- The shift from marketing that focuses on the three I's: Intercept, Inhibit and Isolate to the three A's: Attract, Assist and Affiliate. Which is summarized by his definition of "collaboration marketing" which is moving from one-to-one marketing to the many-to-one mindset.
- He defines the customer-centric promise as: “Buy from me because I know you as an individual customer better than anyone else and you can trust me to use that knowledge to configure the right bundle of products and services to meet your individual needs.”
- ROA Measure - Return on Attention. "the question that customers will increasingly ask is: “Of the total attention I allocate to a particular source, what is the productivity of that attention in terms of value received for effort and time invested?”
- ROI Measure - Return on Information: "the more quickly a vendor can turn around and deliver tangible value in return for information from a customer, the more quickly and effectively the vendor will be able to build trust and willingness to provide even more information."
He also talks about reverse markets and a disappointing adoption rate for vendors. What I see as the holdup is the fear of relinquishing control. But what I can't figure out is why companies are often convinced that they have control?
In a marketplace increasingly short on time, getting attention from customers and prospects is going to be the biggest challenge to confront in the near future, if it isn't already. I'd like to suggest that in addition to the three A's, we also add the three E's:
Engage: The key to ROA and ROI is going to be how well you can engage and impact the customer in exchange for their attention and information. This will be determined by the value they perceive you provide.
Empower: In using your products and/or services, are your customers more powerful in accomplishing their strategic goals? How helpful are you in making sure?
Expectations: Have you gone beyond and exceeded them? Consistently? Not yours but theirs. Okay, just checking to make sure you're still with me.
I wanted to include Experience as an "E," but I think all three of these play to the customer experience. Experience is the umbrella for the future of marketing, sales and extending the lifecycle span. The more interactive the experience is, the more emotional impact on building relationships that will last for a long haul that's mutually beneficial.
John's post is a great read. Take a look at the comments too as there's some argument about his assertions on reverse markets which is interesting to consider.
How collaborative is your marketing?
