Was again caught at the railway gate this morning and when the train passed by – it reminded me of the year 2008. Time’s passing by at warp speed, so is technology getting integrated into our lives. The question is – are we adapting to the change? Here are some take aways:
a. This is a take from Forrester on marketing. However, considering the market situation at this juncture, thought the points are apt for our business as well. We all know there is need for a new approach to ensure client delight. The research firm proposes a metric called engagement that includes four components: involvement, interaction, intimacy, and influence. Well, all of us are doing one or more with our clients but the objective should be to ensure we carry out all.
b. Be human – Be more service-oriented. Give a personal touch to all your interactions with clients. Here’s a mail from someone which was forwarded to me - I talk to reporters and bloggers and my publisher. “I get a lot of email. An awful lot. After 13 years as an analyst, a lot of people know my email address, and I’m on many, many marketing mailing lists. I am a target for PR people. In all these interactions I have observed something. When people treat me like a human and not a “marketing target,” I like that. Not only that, when I make a human connection with somebody, whether it’s the client building a social application strategy or the person checking me in for my flight, it goes better. When things go wrong, I can nearly always trace it back to somebody not behaving like a human, and not treating me like a human. I will no longer put up with this. And you, my readers, are going to help me.” Treat clients and journalists the way you’d want them to treat you.
c. Network – Orkut, Facebook, LinkedIn etc. Guess, it’s time to get offline and meet people…