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Marketing, Sales and Client Service are the new marketing
These concepts are not new, independent of each other; but together they really are the future of marketing. You really need all three working together if you are going to make a difference.
The past few years, the infusion of social media and mobile has confused the issue of marketing and people have worked in silos trying to determine how to fit these concepts into the marketing mix. Once you take social media and you see how it can be a marketing channel, sales channel and service channel together, then you start to see the possibilities of how to incorporate social media into the mix.
Mobile marketing continues to shape the way people receive data and use data for sales, serve and to obtain informational data (marketing).
When you look closer at the information coming from marketing, sales and client service, you really begin to look at the results and how they correlate.
I look at the number of calls and inquiries received and answered each week. When these numbers are up, it tells me a few things:
- Our inbound marketing strategies: social media, promotions, seo, content marketing are working
- More people are taking the next step and using our services. More revenue coming in.
- More new accounts are being setup
On the other hand, , when these numbers are down actions like the following occur
- More emphasis on getting our brand name out there through calls, contacts and promotions
- Review client comments and see what areas need to be improved
- Look for new opportunities to enter the market and focus on a new online strategy.
Marketing, Sales, Client Service and Clients
In the future more emphasis is needed on bringing clients into the mix. Companies will need to look at ways to become more transparent and know that they have some input into the way the company is headed. Some of the key areas that companies will need to look at more will be:
- Inviting clients to tour their facilities
- Evaluate partnering strategies
- Incorporate systems that help client systems perform better – (Better accounting, billing strategies, providing additional services)
We have only touched the surface here. Companies are going to need to step up their games in this area to insure company loyalty going forward.
Marketing, Sales, Client Service and Clients will also need to get closer to Production Lines, Accounting, Human Resources, Top Management
I know this may come as a shocker to people, but as I look back throughout my career at different corporations I have worked for, I am not sure I ever fully understood the way the whole system worked together. I would perform my particular task in my department and would listen each quarter to see how the company was performing. Imagine if I actually knew what the direction of the company was and that my piece was making a difference for the company. I think we are going to get this final level with technology and innovation. I don’t believe we are really that far away.
Today, companies with a handful of employees are changing our world. Look at Instagram, 13 employees, purchased for 1 billion dollars. Small companies definitely have the advantage in today’s culture. It is just a matter of harnessing the technology to make it work.
Top executives will need to be more hands-on and know that employees are watching them closely. In addition, those top executives who are able to fuse these areas together. The companies that ultimately get to this final level will be the companies that will have the most success.
The Future of Marketing
It is about being innovative and closing the loop between internal and external clients. It is not about tools and the latest buzz words. If companies can work closer together and everyone understands the company direction, people will see their role in the process and understand that they are contributing to this success. In addition, technology decisions become easier to make. The question you need to ask is, “Are the actions I am taking today, insuring that we are bringing people closer together” It takes people to make a difference. Why not focus on building a better system and less on focusing on a particular technology.
Image courtesy of renjith krishnan at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
