Evelyn Rodriguez posts her frustration with Theory X Marketing:
I’ll be fairly honest and say I come away from marketing meetings depressed about how the majority of marketers view people. It’s Theory X marketing.
For instance, the discussion on blogs last night seemed to stress the “uncontrollability” of what customers could say about your product and the risks inherent with amplified word-of-mouth. With moblogs, the power to snap a picture of your lemon and post it on the Internet – hey, look it broke down in just 3 days. Consumer generated media is a double-edged sword, of course. I continue to be surprised by the fear around consumers gaining a voice. It would be nice to see some confidence in the products we sell and a company’s ability to right any wrongs.
Actual comment. What if someone posts a comment on your own blog that’s negative? Can we delete it? Edit it?
The only inspiring marketing example I heard during the evening was one that Volvo conducted. Every new customer gets an email a few weeks (or thereabouts, I forget exact timeframe) after their car purchase. The email contains a video welcome message from the CEO encouraging them to call in to customer service to relate their experience of the car so far and share their impressions. Fifteen percent do phone in and it’s proven to be valuable one-on-one feedback that Volvo has used to enhance the car’s features and the entire buying experience. It’s a model built on respect and trust and interest in a new customer’s perspective that makes the customer feel valued and is leveraged for future customer’s purchases and experiences.
Then someone in the audience raises a hand: Do you know if there is any attempt to cross-sell accessories?
If these people were dancers, they’d be pushing their customers backwards across the dancefloor and pinning them to the wall. And then wondering why weren’t getting those customer satisfaction ratings.
