Relationships should be easy, after all we are all humans and we should know how to treat each other! However, maybe because they should be easy.....we neglect them. I think this happens personally but also at the business level.
- We take our consumers for granted. Business believes "They love us, and they always will" Not true...consumers want to be loved, valued and respected. I never understand why people give great deals to new customers and awful deals to existing ones?
- We take our internal talent for granted. We pay them well...they should be grateful in these difficult economic terms. What we fail to see is that if we pay them then they will turn up...however if we engage with them, at the emotional level, they will give their utmost to deliver the vision.
- We take our brands for granted....all we have to do is advertise and people will buy....wrong. People have the ability nowadays to create their own brand message from their interaction with you and your competitors. Tell and sell has been replaced by offer and listen.
The relationships with consumers are becoming ever more complicated and just like our personal lives....the only way to understand each other is by having the conversations, and by wanting to understand how each other are feeling.
Business has now become personal......indeed in reality it always was....maybe we need counselors rather than marketers!
